We've survived another round of final exams.

Whooohoo!Can I tell you a secret? I LOVE that my kids have to take midterm and final exams.I know, I know. I'm supposed to be outraged at the ridiculousness of a kindergartner taking a final exam. I'm supposed to be upset that we put too much pressure on these kids at too young of an age. I know there are many parents and students out there who think I'm completely nuts, but I have my reasons.First of all, for kindergarten, everything they do all year is cumulative anyway.I sincerely hope that E didn't just learn what a triangle is for the test. Her foundation in handwriting will carry through for the rest of her life. I know we will work diligently all summer to be sure she doesn't lose the rudimentary reading skills she has been developing.So, for her, I view final exams as a nice way for her to showcase EVERYTHING that she's learned all year.G is finishing up second grade. Again, everything he is learning at this point is cumulative. His reading test, for example, is not recitation of stories that he has read, but rather using different reading strategies that he has learned to answer questions about new passages.I hope that distinguishing fact from fiction is something that he is capable of doing outside the classroom setting, especially when sometimes it seems that he is living in a Minecraft world and we're all just visitors.A is completing fourth grade. Some of his exams, like math and reading, are cumulative. Adding and subtracting fractions isn't something he should forget once the test is over. Science and social studies have been more of an exercise in memorizing and regurgitating facts, but someday, when he's on "Jeopardy," he will appreciate having the state flower of Pennsylvania and the Moh scale of hardness stuffed into his brain.I think that having exams like this benefits the kids in many ways. Their teachers have taken the time to review with them thoroughly before the tests, as well as sending home study guides well in advance of the exams. They have plenty of time to do a little studying every night instead of cramming the night before. I do my best to support and help develop these good study habits. As a notorious procrastinator and last-minute crammer, I want to break the cycle in my kids. I don't want them to be the stress case that I still turn into when I hear the words final exam.Finals now help them understand that these tests are NOT THAT BAD. I didn't have midterms and finals until well into middle school. I had no idea how to prepare for these exams, and they were a major source of stress for me all through high school and college. I ended up in the emergency room with hives the night before my high school calculus final. I was that stressed out. I send my kids out the door every morning of exams with that same knot in my stomach that I had when I was 16. So far, their biggest concern seems to be what movie their class will watch when exams are over, rather than what will happen if they blank out on the exam.Just in case actually studying and knowing the material isn't enough, I make sure everyone is in bed as early as possible the night before their exams. Since we are on a pretty regular bedtime anyway, this isn't the biggest deal in the world, but sometimes, even an extra half-hour helps.Breakfast is not an option on the morning of exams. It's never optional to begin with, but certain members of the family have been known to skate by with nothing more than a yogurt or a piece of toast on some mornings. On exam mornings, I channel my own stress and inability to sleep into gourmet breakfasts of French toast, scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes and fresh fruit. Add a few sharpened pencils and new erasers to their book bags, and off they go, blissfully unaware that I will spend the rest of my day anxiously chewing on my nails, waiting to hear how they think their exams went.So far, it has been smooth sailing. I'm not naive enough to think this will last forever, but for right now, these exams are helping to build their confidence and prepare them for what lies ahead.Someday, when they take their last final exam, whether it's in high school, or college or graduate school, I can't wait to tell them how stressed out I've been over these exams for the past 20 years!Liz Pinkey is a contributing writer to the Times News. Her column appears weekly in our Saturday feature section.