caffeinatedcatholic:

Please pray for me. I’m really struggling with some students’ parent at work. I teach both of her sons piano and they’re good kids, but she insists on sitting in on the lesson every week (which isnt allowed). I usually dont mind if the child is shy and just wants the parent’s presence during a lesson, as long as the parent is simply an observer. But she manhandles her sons every lesson, throws their hands across the keys, telling them they’re doing it wrong and they she cant believe shes wasting so much money on them for this. The boys are always jumpy around her and of course lose their focus even more whenever she starts yelling. The lessons always go badly.

I’ve been trying to get my managers to help me with this for about a month but no one wants to confront her, so I’ve never had the green light to say anything.

Yesterday she came in really hostile and sat in the lesson with me and told me that her boys never know what to practice bc I never teach them anything. I took that opportunity to say, “I cant control what happens at home, but I know that lessons are more productive when have just one on one time with the students.”

And she went off on me. She started yelling and screaming about how their old teachers never had any trouble and their old teachers this and that. Basically it boiled down to me being a bad teacher. Lady. This is guitar center, not julliard. Also if you want to teach them at home, maybe you should, since that’s pretty much what you are doing now.

I took it to my managers and finally got them to step up, and I’ve told them I’m willing to give her one more chance to back off but if she doesnt, I’m finished teaching them. Her boys are great, I’m really concerned for them, but it’s too much stress on me and I dont deserve to get screamed at in front of my students ever.

I’m having the same talk with the lead manager today before I go in to teach lessons. Please pray that I stick to my guns and stay resolved to step down from teaching them if things continue like this. My other managers were on my side but I’m afraid the main manager may try whatever he can to keep her and her sons taking lessons here and our other main piano teacher is pretty much out of a job bc he’s constantly hungover or high or sick from not taking care of his body (hes been out with pneumonia for the past couple weeks).

My husband says I shouldn’t even give her another chance, that I should just decline to teach them from now on. We have another lesson this Friday so I’m going to see how it goes. If she can’t not be in the room, I’m going straight to my manager about it, I’m not even going to teach the lesson.

I just came home so raw and exhausted. I still feel so terrible and stressed. I’m trying everything to take my mind off it, but I just feel sick.