She was struggling with some of her school work.
She came home with a school report. Her day hadn’t been good, but she found a letter waiting for her when she got home. She was looking forward to reading it. It was sure to cheer her up.
Her mother sat looking at her report card shaking her head. The youngster was never any good with numbers, so trying to remember the dates of historical events, like battles and the reigns of kings and queens, was a major problem for her. Her mother wasn’t happy with her poor results. She was told to go to her room and study for next week’s test.
After a while she called out, “Mum. You know you said that getting dates wrong was never a good thing?”
“I do, of course, yes.”
“My letter from my pen pal in America has a problem with the stamp.”
“Oh. Yes?”
“Yes. The year showing on the stamp; it’s so wrong.”
“Wrong, dear?” She came into her room. “Show me.”
“It has next year’s date in the corner. We haven’t got their yet.”
“Well, I never! You’re right!” She thought for a minute. “This could be worth a lot of money.”
In an instant, her mother was happy to be made wrong.