Dad Helps Daughter Study for a Big Test By Dropping History Facts Into Their Text Chain

Parents

Helping your child cram for a test usually involves sitting down one-on-one with a textbook, notes, flashcards, etc. But for a Florid dad named Marc Caputo, who also happens to be a reporter for Politico, the process was a bit more tech-savvy. His daughter Ana, who is in sixth grade, had reportedly prepped for a big government test on Wednesday night alongside her mom Erin, who is a public school teacher, and her older sister Liv. On Thursday morning, Caputo decided to pop quiz her while she headed to school.

Caputo told TODAY, "Ana was grouchy and mopey when I dropped her off this morning. She told me she hated school, and I told her school was a reality she had to live with and she could either learn or not learn—and be happy or unhappy—and so she should just decide to learn and be happy."

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A few minutes after dropoff, he received a text from his daughter: "I hate school and there is this one kid who gets on my last nerves." That's when the proud dad decided to weave in some highly important government facts into their conversation.

Caputo tweeted screenshots of the exchange, which quickly went viral. "My daughter has a middle school government test today," he wrote. "So I figured the best way to help her study was to weave the material into our convo when she complained this am."

Examples of Caputo's premiere dad coaching: "Federal Bureau of Investigation is the FBI" to which Ana responded "IK," short for "I know."

He noted, "National Aeronautic & Space Administration is NASA." Her reply: "IK."

When she pleaded, "OMG DAD STOP," he replied, "I will not stop because the First Amendment gives me freedom of speech."

The screenshots end with Caputo checking in at the end of the day and asking his daughter how she thought she did on the test. "IDK" was the response—one any parent of a tween knows all too well.

The relatability factor contributed to the tweet becoming a viral sensation, wracking up 2.7K retweets and 26.3K likes. "I was delighted by the overwhelmingly positive reaction on Twitter, which can be a truly hateful place (as a political reporter for POLITICO, I’m accustomed to lots of grief from all sides)," Caputo told TODAY. "So all of this today was a pleasant reminder of our common humanity and the goodness in people. It left me thankful."

Here's hoping he and Ana feel equally positive about the test results.