She rubs out every line until the page tears

fern_drum_288812 Apr 2026

Homework that should take twenty minutes takes an hour, because every letter has to be perfect. If a word slants she erases it, writes it again, erases it again. By the end the page is grey and thin and sometimes torn, and she's in tears because now it 'looks dirty'. Her teacher has never once complained about her work. It's all coming from her. I've tried hiding the eraser (meltdown) and telling her neat enough is fine (she doesn't believe me). Not sure what the next thing is.

1 comment

mango_notebook_650312 Apr 2026
Our elder one was just like this in primary. What helped a bit was a rough book. First attempt there, as messy as she liked, then she copied it into the real notebook once. Fewer rubbings in the final copy, fewer tears. She's a teenager now and still a perfectionist, but these days it's colour-coded notes 💛