I think it was both, Grinity. I had some awesome teachers in high school who tried to challenge me, but still understood that everyone had SOMETHING that was tough for them. But some of the others, and my mom, didn't see it that way. Therein lies the problem - my mom was constantly setting ridiculous expectations for me so I was all but sure to fail. As a result, by about 8th grade I got sick of failing and stopped trying. So the straight A's that I was getting with minimal effort fell to C's and I lost all drive to do anything that required effort for fear that I wouldn't be able to do it right. I don't want to be that parent - I want to encourage him and push him to do his best, but not push so hard, he loses interest. Still working on finding that balance.
