Has The Head For Math But Not The Ears For Listening

(One day about two weeks into the third grade school year, while I am working on homework:)

Me: *crying* “I hate math!”

Mom: “Why?”

Me: *still crying* “Because I’m really bad at it.”

Mom: “You’re not bad at math. Why do you think you’re bad at math?”

Me: *still crying* “It’s really hard! We have to do all the problems in our head and we’re not allowed to write anything down!”

(My parents are shocked and upset about this and decide to talk to my teacher later that week, at my school’s open house. After the introduction my parents have an opportunity to talk to my teacher.)

Dad: “[My Name] says that he has to do all of the problems in his head and thinks he’s bad at math.”

Teacher: *surprised* “What? I had them do that one time for a test. Are you telling me he’s been doing all of his math work in his head since then? That’s amazing; he’s been doing very well in math.”

(When my parents came home they explained the situation and told me that I was actually very good at math because most kids couldn’t do all of that in their heads. I felt very proud, but from then on I started writing down my calculations. I kind of like math now.)