Earlier this month. we had our first Quote Quiz. Recall from a prior post that I replaced our wifi password that was in our hallway with a quote. To recap, I wanted to inspire and impact my family and use that prime real estate for something more substantial than a wifi code they all already know. And. despite being in their faces literally every day, no one really noticed the awe-inspiring quote I lovingly selected. So, I instituted the Quote Quiz. The person who recalled the quote would get a 10-minute massage from me. Not a shabby prize, IMO.
This month was the first round of quizzing. As we sat down at the kitchen table to have a family meeting, I passed out 3 little sheets of paper and pens to Vince, Gianna, and Scarlett. They looked confused. “It’s Quote Quiz time!” I said.
Gianna and Scarlett groaned.
Vince looked like a dear in headlights.
This wasn’t going to go well.
They spent about 5 minutes or so with their writing utensils. Searching the heavens for the words to come. Mind you, the quote was literally 5 words. I made this one easy. I thought recall would be simple so I even said I would give points for notating what the quote meant and who said it.
I was being ambitious with their recall though. Only one of them remembered the quote at all.
The results:
-
- Vince: Blank.
Nada. Zilch. After 5 minutes his paper was blank. He’s all big on motivation
and shit so I was surprised this was his answer. But secretly, I wasn’t mad.
Massaging his back is like massaging a damn boulder. My hands were grateful for
his lack of memory.
- Vince: Blank.
-
- Gianna: ““Something about feet.” How this kid is in advanced classes befuddles me. That’s one word out of the 5, girl. Not a very good score.
-
- Scarlett: “Be where your feet are.” And she nailed the meaning too: “Be present where you are and don’t worry about the past or future.”
My girl! She was my favorite this day. She may grumble, act spoiled/selfish, and be mean to her little sister, but I know inside of her hormonal cyclone is a sparkling little gem of a human just waiting to come out once she overcomes this transition period.
She got the purpose of the quote, and I hope in some small way, she applied it. We all should. Being where your feet are and being in the moment, enjoying life, is a key to true happiness.
Come on, fam. 1/3 isn’t the results I was looking for. Hoping October’s quote is more successful. It’s another goodie and one the entire country needs to take to heart:
"A coin doesn't have 2 sides. It has 3 - the face, the back, and the edge. On the edge is intelligence."
I’m not having high hopes that recollection will be high, though. Better to have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised than to have high expectations and constantly be disappointed. Gianna will probably say “something about coins.”