TESTING?!?

This morning, my nine-year-old was walking me through the events that will take place from now until the end of the school year. 
"Today, tomorrow and Thursday is testing, Monday is a walking tour of Bozeman, Wednesday is our field trip to Virginia City…."
Wait. 
This week is testing?!?
Testing?!?
TESTING?!?
Did I somehow miss all the email blasts from school? You know, the ones that shout: 
"TESTING! 
TESTING IS COMING UP! 
EARLY TO BED! 
EAT PROTEIN! 
CLEAN THE WAX OUT OF YOUR EARS! 
TAKE EXTRA VITAMIN B! 
FREAK.THE.HECK.OUT." 
I combed through the emails and newsletters from the past week. 
Nope. 
Not a word.
There was no alarm sounded. 
No trumpets blared.
Can I say something?
I love that. 
I love the message our school is sending by not sending the messages. 
You know what it says to me? It says, "Yeah. It's time to test. It's time to see what all this good teaching and learning has accomplished. There's no need to freak out. It's not THE END OF THE WORLD. It's just a test. It doesn't determine whether or not your child will grow to be a productive member of society or be a good parent or be a good person. It's just a test. It gives us some good information about what our students know and where we need to take them next. But, it's not A BIG FREAKING DEAL." 
I love that. 
Truly.