I’ve been reminded this week, (as if reminding was necessary), how rubbish I am at maths.

When it comes to signifiers of my ignorance and my poultry grasp on all matters academic let me tell you, I’m truly spoilt for choice. The arrows that remind me how little I seem to know about anything at all rain down on me in greater numbers than if I were a foot soldier at the Battle of Hastings.

But for all this rich and varied vacuum of knowledge my particular uselessness in maths holds a special and rather affectionate place in my heart.

It is with a certain fondness that I realise I am incapable of multiplying fractions. Perhaps not exactly with pride, but certainly with a certain friendly familiarity, as if putting on an old and comfy jacket from yesteryear, I find my eyes begin to swim when confronted with calculating the square root of anything over 144.

From whence has this sudden affectionate reunion with maths uselessness come?

I’ve been helping my son with his maths homework.

I remember being in my Year Six (or the fourth year of junior school to convert it back into old currency) and being taught maths by Mr Savage. Yes that really was his name. What would happen is that Mr Savage would chalk things, I’m guessing they were sums, onto the blackboard while incoherently shouting in a broad Cornish accent. He would then patrol behind us looking over our shoulders as we struggled to comprehend the questions let alone the answers might be. His pungent aftershave was the tell-tale sign he was approaching. He would gleefully beat the living crap out of anyone who struggled with his methods. Which was in fact, all of us.

I haven’t adopted this approach with Reggie. Apart from the pungent aftershave obviously. What we do is sit together and do something called “Mathletics” on the computer. I have to say it’s rather fun.

So far this week we’ve got 580 points. That’s none too shabby for our abilities I can tell you. If you can create an atmosphere where learning is relaxed it can be really challenging without making you feel thick. The only drawback is that I fear all this relaxed learning will make me actually good at maths.

It’ll feel like losing an old friend.