When Christmas Math Refuses to Math 🎄
The festive season has a funny way of speeding everything up. Shops get louder, 'ebibiina' interests are allover the place, calendars get fuller, and suddenly everyone is speaking a language made entirely of numbers-buy two get one free🙄, Budgets, Savings, Spending, Discounts- 23% off for first 200 clients😄, Deadlines, and money 💰 💷 💵.
The math is mathing in all corners.
And as Christmas draws closer and Janworry starts whispering in the background, I find myself thinking about Mwesi—one of my former pupils—and how this season might look through his eyes.
Mwesi has dyscalculia- a specific learning difficulty that affects understanding of numbers, estimation of distance, size , quantity and money.
For mwesi numbers never quite behaved themselves around him. They slipped, flipped, and sometimes disappeared entirely. Estimating distance was tricky. Weights were a mystery. And numbers on a page? They often felt like "money during janworry" 😀 playing hide and seek.
I remember once asking Mwesi to count how many pencils were on the desk. He paused, looked at them carefully, then said, "Madamu, I think they are… many."
And honestly? He wasn't wrong.
Now imagine people like Mwesi during Christmas. While the rest of us are calculating how much rice to buy, how many gifts we can afford, and whether we can stretch the budget "just a little more," Mwesi would be navigating a season where numbers shout from every corner.
"How much is this?" "Buy two, get one free." "You only have this much left."
For some people with dyscalculia, Christmas budgeting may be quite confusing, frustrating and depressing.
I can picture Mwesi holding money in his hand, knowing it matters but unsure how much it matters. He might buy three kgs of sugar because one feels "too small," or skip buying himself a present because the numbers feel too risky to trust.
Yet here's the thing about Mwesi—while numbers confused him, people never did.
He knew exactly how much joy it took to make someone smile. He could estimate kindness perfectly through sharing. No calculator required.
I remember one afternoon at school when Mwesi brought his lunch: one boiled potato. He sat with three friends. There was no discussion about fractions or fairness. He looked at the potato, then at his friends, and began breaking it with his hands—trying to make the pieces feel equal.
Not equal by number. Equal by care. He gave the smallest piece to himself.
This reminds me that this festive season, as numbers seem to follow us everywhere, I keep thinking about Mwesi. His story reminds me that dyscalculia is not about being lazy or slow. It is about finding numbers confusing in a world that depends on them so much.Individuals like Mwesi may struggle to count, estimate, or plan with money, but that does not mean they do not understand life.
Inclusion means making accommodations and space for stories like those too.
Because while the math may be mathing everywhere, kindness, patience, and understanding don't need numbers at all—and those are the gifts that truly last beyond Christmas, even when Janworry finally lets itself in. 🎁✨
#dyscalculia #Inclusion
#MerryChristmas and an eye opening 2026.