Now that Cat is in second grade she has timed math tests. She needs to be able to answer 50 addition or subtraction questions in under five minutes. By the year end, she needs to be able to answer 100 and her score on that test will determine her third grade math placement and apparently her potential admission to Harvard.

Last night when I walked in from work Cat was waving a paper in my face and hopping around the kitchen. “Mom, Mom, Mom, LOOK. I got 49 out of 50 right on my math test. I ROCKED it.”

Sure enough, I looked at the test and she had correctly answered 49 out of the 50 addition problems, in under five minutes. “Wow, I am really impressed, Cat” I said. “Good work.”

She then handed me a second test. On it, she scored 9 out of 50. “What happened on this one?” I asked, secretly relieved that I may not be footing the bill for Harvard after all. “Well, it was subtraction and I ran out of time,” she said.

“Looks like we need to practice a little more on subtraction so you can get better at it,” I said.

“I guess so Mom but really I like getting more things a lot more than I like having them taken away so I may always just be better at addition.”