By Pingting / May 17, 2026
有天晚上睡觉前，
娃儿突然冒出一句：
“完了，那个times我会，可是time不太会。”
我刚开始还愣了一下。
什么times？
什么time？
后面听他解释了半天才明白：
原来他说的是——
乘法的times他会，
但是“看钟表时间”那个time，他不太会。
接着他有点沮丧地说：
“我今天是最后一个交作业的。”
“连平常数学没那么好的学生都会。”
听到这里，
我一下就明白了。
原来人家今天受挫了。
而且已经开始进入那种：
“是不是只有我不会”的小低落里了。
接着他说：
“我明天不想上数学课了。”
“明天肯定还是这些。”
那一瞬间，
我其实特别能理解。
因为小孩很多时候害怕的，
不是“不会”。
而是：
“明天还要继续面对这个不会。”
我问他：
“你的作业是什么样子的？你跟我说说。”
“今晚太晚了，明天晚上妈妈给你讲讲。”
“没关系，每个人都会有mistakes。”
“我们就是从mistakes里面学东西的。”
结果娃儿马上接一句：
“可是明天又有数学课了。”
言下之意特别明显：
“等明晚再学，已经来不及了。”
我突然觉得，
小孩其实也挺有压力的。
尤其是那种：
“明天马上又要面对”的焦虑。
于是我看他那么急，
就让他先口头讲了几道题。
我们躺在床上，
临时开始了“深夜数学补习”。
结果讲着讲着，
人家明显安心了一点。
第二天晚上，
我看到娃儿在整理学校带回来的作业，
就顺口问了一句：
“这里面有没有时钟的题目？”
于是他拿给我看。
然后我们又顺便一起做了几道。
他边做边说：
“我现在知道一些了。”
“但是还没那么comfortable。”
结果下一秒，
人家突然又轻松起来：
“不过今天数学题很简单。”
“今天只是填am和pm。”
我听完差点笑出来。
小孩真的很真实。
昨天还觉得人生完了，
今天又突然觉得：
“哦，这个简单。”
结果更好笑的还在后面。
我刚好跟他抱怨：
“妈妈前两天太傻了。”
“我把闹钟设到凌晨十二点，结果半夜被叫醒后就睡不着了。”
没想到娃儿立刻进入“技术指导模式”。
主动跑来帮我研究闹钟。
我设了一个下午三点十五分。
结果他突然很认真地说：
“你设置错了。”
我说：
“没有啊，我说的是下午。”
结果人家马上纠正我：
“三点十五分是上午。”
“你这样设，闹钟又会乱响的。”
我愣了一下。
后面才突然反应过来：
原来这几天学校学的，
就是这个。
难怪。
昨天还在那里怀疑人生，
今天已经开始现场教学妈妈了。
这小孩，
学东西还真的是现学现卖。
而且特别爱活学活用。
婷妈的亲子日常 创作于 2026.05.17
原创发布： tingtingma.com
写给孩子，也写给正在成长的大人。
未经授权，请勿转载。
《Ting Mom’s Daily Parenting Notes｜261. Growing Through Small Frustrations》
One night before bed, my son suddenly blurted out:
“Oh no… I understand times, but I don’t really understand time.”
At first I just stared at him, confused.
What times?
What time?
After listening to him explain for a while, I finally understood.
What he meant was:
he understood “times” as in multiplication,
but he wasn’t very good at “time” as in reading clocks.
Then he said a little sadly:
“I was the last person to turn in my homework today.”
“Even the students who usually aren’t very good at math knew how to do it.”
The moment I heard that,
I immediately understood.
He had gotten discouraged today.
And he had already entered that little emotional place of:
“Am I the only one who doesn’t know how to do this?”
Then he said:
“I don’t want to go to math class tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow is probably going to be the same stuff again.”
At that moment,
I honestly understood him so well.
Because what children are often afraid of
isn’t simply “not knowing.”
It’s:
“having to face the thing they don’t know again tomorrow.”
So I asked him:
“What does your homework look like? Tell me about it.”
“It’s too late tonight, but Mom can teach you tomorrow night.”
“It’s okay. Everybody makes mistakes.”
“We learn from mistakes.”
And immediately he replied:
“But there’s math class again tomorrow.”
The meaning behind that sentence was obvious:
“If we wait until tomorrow night, it’ll already be too late.”
And suddenly I realized:
kids actually carry a lot of pressure too.
Especially the anxiety of:
“having to face it again tomorrow.”
So seeing how worried he was, I had him verbally practice a few problems first.
There we were,
lying in bed,
suddenly starting a “late-night math tutoring session.”
And little by little,
he visibly relaxed.
The next evening,
I saw him organizing the homework he brought back from school, so I casually asked:
“Are there any clock-reading questions in there?”
So he showed them to me.
And we ended up doing a few together.
While working, he said:
“I understand some of it now.”
“But I’m still not very comfortable with it.”
And then literally one second later, he suddenly sounded relaxed again:
“But today’s math was really easy.”
“Today we only had to fill in am and pm.”
I almost laughed.
Kids are honestly so real.
Yesterday he felt like life was over,
and today he was suddenly like:
“Oh, this is easy.”
But the funniest part came afterward.
I happened to complain to him:
“Mom was so silly the other day.”
“I accidentally set my alarm for midnight, and after it woke me up, I couldn’t fall back asleep.”
And instantly, my son entered full “technical support mode.”
He immediately came over to help me figure out the alarm clock.
I set one for 3:15 in the afternoon.
And suddenly he said very seriously:
“You set it wrong.”
I replied:
“No I didn’t. I said afternoon.”
And immediately he corrected me:
“3:15 is morning.”
“If you set it like that, your alarm is going to go off again.”
I paused for a second.
And then suddenly realized:
Oh.
This is exactly what they’ve been learning at school these past few days.
No wonder.
Yesterday he was still questioning his entire life over time-reading problems,
and today he was already teaching Mom on the spot.
This kid really learns things
and immediately puts them into action.
And honestly,
he absolutely loves applying what he just learned in real life.
Tingma’s Parenting Diary
Written on May 17, 2026
Originally published at: tingtingma.com
Written for my child, and for the adults who are still growing.
Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
Originally written in Chinese by the author.
This English version was translated with the assistance of ChatGPT.