Aparna, a friend of our Managing Editor, Anumita, read a trending article by her. This is what she said, in her Facebook Timeline: “I have to thank you @ Anumita Chatterjee Roy for the article you wrote about your children, on learning to unlearn, Confessions of a Special Needs Mother. Must say, I drew immense strength to write this piece from your post supermom. Here’s a DT Impact.

Fear of mathematics or Arithmophobia is not very uncommon but the courage to overcome that fear is very rare, especially when both parents of the child are from non- mathematical background.

It was really painful to see my son struggle with difficult problems all alone in his study days on end for his ‘blocks’ as his promotion to class XII depended upon his performance in this subject mainly. The best I could do was to sit with him and stare blankly at the questions, which were almost Greek to me.

It is not at all easy to perform in a stressful situation like this, not at all easy to hold oneself together and be calm in the face of fear and uncertainty. But the manner in which my 17-year-old handled the pressure is truly commendable.

When his Maths teacher told me yesterday (April 5) that my son has performed well, I was overwhelmed. But once home, I broke down. This is how weak I am. But I am happy that my child knows how to hold on to dignity in crisis. His faith in the Almighty and the shlokas (Holy verses) that he recites did not waver even for a nanosecond.

Today, I realised my son is a very strong individual and knows his strengths and weaknesses. His preparedness to deal with an outcome, negative or positive was so balanced.

I’m writing this here because I know there are many parents out there going through the same situation and are clueless about how to handle this kind of stress. You know, you don’t have to. These teenagers are far more mature than we think.

Just have patience and faith.

Pix sourced from Author and Net

Aparna Bose

Aparna is a postgraduate in Business Management and a diploma holder in Mass Communication, who chose to pursue the most coveted career as a homemaker after a brief stint with print media. She is a woman bestowed with the new found freedom in expressing her wavering thoughts in weaving the ethereal and sometimes her surreal mind into words. She resides in Kolkata (India) and besides writing she is successfully running her food venture.