This happened a long time ago, so the specific details might escape my memory, but I know I was about eight or nine years old.
It was a Saturday evening and I was at home doing my homework. My mother was always trying to help me, but me, being a very stubborn child (a defect I still very much have), refused any kind of help from her. To me, her offer was absolutely outrageous; in my head, that meant that she believed that I wasn’t good enough and that I couldn’t do anything on my own. That, of course, had nothing to do with my mother’s actual intention, which was to simply ease my work process. I remember spending about two hours working on some math problem, when I finally gave up and asked her for an idea on how to solve it. You see, I admitted not knowing something shamefully, as if I had lost the battle with myself, with my mother and with maths itself. I was absolutely heartbroken and without any shred of dignity left. But, with her help, it took about ten minutes to finish my problem, and I actually understood it. My mother turned out to be quite the teacher. Still, my momentary bliss caused by the quick solve of the homework faded as soon as it settled in, since I was deeply ashamed to present the homework I didn’t do completely on my own to my teacher. The next day, I handed in my notebook with fear and regret. The teacher asked everyone in the class if their parents had helped them. Everyone raised their hand with no sentiment whatsoever, but my hand my hand was shaking as I slowly raised it. I looked around. Nobody cared, yet I spent the previous two days concerned that a little help would ruin me. It just saved me who knows how much time.
It might seem like an insignificant example, but looking back, this little event changed me…  I’m still very stubborn and cold as a person, and I rarely accept advice or help, I have learned that it’s not a bad thing. As a bonus, I also realized right in that moment, that I had been in fact a complete fool for waiting years until I first asked my mother to help me with something. To this day, I always keep that reminder in my brain: my mother is a very good mathematician and I should ask for her help when I get stuck.

Last edited by eye_rolls_and_sarcasm (2018-10-12 00:26:07)