He Did The Math

So remember awhile back when I wrote how Tommy got a C in math on his progress report card? He was so upset about it. The rest of his grades were As and Bs and all he wanted was to be on the Honor Roll. I reminded him that he had time to pull up the C. It seemed he was trying harder in math. And if he’s anything like me, he has to study HARD when it comes to math. I don’t get it. At all. I barely remember long division.

“It’s too bad I don’t have the Aspergers kind where I’m good at math,” Tommy sighed. He reads a lot of articles about Aspergers. He likes to read about how grown ups cope with it. He reads several stories about math geniuses and will go, “Why can’t I be a math genius?”

Anyway, he started to get better grades on math papers. None of them perfect, mind you, but I don’t expect perfection. Especially in math. But he’d bring home a lot of Bs and I’d tell him to keep it up and to ask for help if he needed it.

Well, last week I knew they’d be getting report cards. Tommy was worried about it that morning.

“What if I still have a C?” he asked.

“Then you’ll try again next semester,” I answered.

I was in the kitchen cleaning after school. Suddenly I heard a bang from the front door and Tommy shouted, “I DID IT!”

Honestly, it scared the mess out of me. Who? What? DID SOMEONE JUST BREAK INTO MY HOUSE?

But nope, it was my son holding up his report card. “I did it! I pulled up my C! I got As and Bs! I’m on the honor roll!”

“Woohoo!” I shouted, grabbing the paper. There it was. A B in math.

“It was hard,” Tommy said seriously. “Math is hard.”

“Math is hard. But you did it. I’m so proud of you.”

Tommy grinned. “I’m proud of me too!”