My Dad's lesson

My Father and my Mother - a long time ago.

My father once taught me how to cheat on a test in school. He did.

I was about twelve years old, if I recall. We were going to have a test in school and I was too nervous, afraid I wasn't going to do a good job. I had my book and was trying to memorize the lessons that were going to be part of the test. History. With boring dates and names, something that I hated with all my power.

My dad saw me close to tears and he asked me:

- Why don't you prepare a cheat sheet for the test tomorrow?

I remember looking at him twice, in order to see if he was joking. And he was serious. I looked at my mom and she was also looking funny at him. But he maintained his serious face and added:

- You do like this - take a piece of paper and write all the important names, dates and episodes of the specific lesson you know will come on the test. I will show you. Just do it.

And he left.

I looked at my mom again, she shrugged as to say "do as he says", and left.

And I did. I took this piece of paper and wrote it down. In a hurry, anxious to learn the awesome trick my dad was going to teach me. Oh, boy, I thought. I've got it made!

When I finished, I took the paper to my father.

- Is it OK? I asked.

He read it slowly, turned the paper over, turned it back and gave it to me.

- No. This is not good. It is not complete. It is sloppy and does not have all that you will need. Think about it, Miriam. Imagine that you have only one chance to check on your cheat sheet. So, you will have to write it down in a way that you will understand it and, more yet, you have to be sure you included all that is important on the subject. Do it again but do it carefully. Do it as it was a test itself. Don't be in a hurry now.

And I went back to my work. And I wrote it once, including things that I had not added on the first attempt. I wrote and wrote. I tossed it away and started again. I did not want to fail. I wanted my dad to be proud of my cheat sheet!

When I took it to him the second time, he seemed to approve of it. He read it slowly, and asked me a lot of questions, confirming that I had added the information correctly. He asked me about the subject, the names and the dates and other details I can no longer remember. He spent a long time with me, working on my page and making sure I did it good.

- Now, you go back and do one more thing. The only thing you need to do now.  He said.

- What?

- You need to re-write all of it, but this time on a much, much smaller piece of paper. You have to remember, this paper will be in your pocket and it has to be small. Otherwise, how will you be able to open it during the test? If you pull this thing out of your pocket, the teacher will see it.

Boy, my dad was smart! How could I have been so stupid to think I could use that monster sheet of paper during the test?

My dad said I needed to make it so small that I could fold it only in half, and when the time came, it would be a piece of cake to pull it out of my pocket and unfold it. And BINGO!

There I went. And I spent half of that day writing and re-writing that same amount of information on a much smaller piece of paper. Names, dates and facts. Until it was clear enough and the paper small enough.

When I finally decided it was good, I took it to my dad again. And he said it was perfect!!

- You are done! Now, stop thinking about it and go play. You did your work, and you did it very good!

I was so happy and proud. I remember that I calmed down, and the day went by on a breeze. Oh, I was so happy!

Little did I know of what my dad had in mind the whole time.

You have probably guessed already, haven't you?

Yes.

I remembered every tiny little detail of that lesson to such an extent that there was absolutely no need for a cheat sheet! The piece of paper went in my pocket, and came back home in it.

When he arrived home that day from work, my dad asked me if I had used it. When I told him I did not need it, he and my mom (his accomplice) gave each other a funny look and laughed with pleasure.

For a long time, whenever I was aggitated with a upcoming test, someone would tell me "Write a cheat sheet".

I kept that piece of paper for a long time, as a memento.

I miss you dad!