I know, I am late again. Maybe I should call this Saturday Sass. . . .
I was giving a piano lesson earlier this week. It always amazes me what kids say. They are just so honest. And invariably, we will reach a point where one or two of them would like to try out their newfound spunkiness on a teacher. I understand this, and I can roll with it. On the inside I am rolling on the floor, laughing like a fool. On the outside, I am trying to keep a straight face. I keep the studio a pretty safe place so that the kids know it's perfectly fine to make mistakes- the musical and the personal kind. After all, there is a certain comfort level achieved with each other if you have been working together for some time. And I'd much rather it happen here than out there where someone is going to mercilessly make fun of them or they will encounter consequences far beyond what is necessary. At least here, in the studio, we can work it out and walk away still liking each other (most days, anyway. That IS the goal).
So I'm teaching this lesson to a soon to be fourth grade boy. I don't remember what was happening, what I was saying, but he stopped playing, turned his face toward me and said,"Listen here, Woman!" I know that I must have looked at him like,"No you didn't. I KNOW you did not just say that to me." He flashed me that"heh-heh", nervous grin when I replied quietly,"Sir, I believe we have crossed a line."
He began to ever so slightly scoot away from me on the piano bench. I simply looked ahead and said,"Oh, it's okay. I won't hit you. . . . not hard, anyway."
He was stellar the rest of the lesson.
Yours, keepin' those kiddos in line,
Melissa
4 days ago
A very brave, yet profoundly unwise child! Guess he needs to learn the personal safety rule!
ReplyDeleteI'm doing my best to teach him. :-)
ReplyDelete