when i was in the 9th grade, i was somehow plopped into an advanced placement math class. i had no business being there. every night, i would sit at our kitchen counter and burn through eraser after eraser, crying, while i tried to figure out why x and y and z never equaled the right answer. my mom can vouch for my pain. this continued through high school, where my straight A report cards were marred with C's and D's from those stupid AP math classes. i don't know why the teachers didn't just put me back in normal math class. i wish they would have, because to this day, math makes me shudder. i am a bona fide mathaphobic.

so. along comes firstborn son, who i swear was doing math in the womb. we would tap out a sequence on my belly and he would tap the sequence back. the kid loves math.

loves. it.

fortunately, he has an amazing first grade teacher who has accelerated him and pretty much lets him set the pace.

last night, his homework consisted of problems that look like this:

(3 x r) x (3x4) = 72, what is r?

crap. algebra.

my hands started sweating. i was having flashbacks. i curse you, algebra.

then i realized something. this could be my chance to go back and actually GET algebra. i will learn right along with my kids. and if that doesn't work, i'll ask my six-year-old to TEACH me.

because in another year, i will be of no help to him whatsoever in the homework department. it will totally be the other way around.

how pathetic is that?