Am I an idiot if I think when teachers say my child is a joy to work with that they aren't saying this to everyone?

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher and we do sugarcoat things but we don't outright lie. "Your child is very bright (but needs to work on staying on task)" could mean she's a PITA and knows it, but a joy to work with can't mean much else. Just make sure there is no "but" after it.