Oh my GOODNESS.

It's been a day. Quite a day. A day which has just culminated in me writing a very nice nasty email to a parent basically saying "My house is MY HOUSE! Have some respect!"
Let me clarify: students come to my home.
Their families often come too. I respect that bladders do not always operate to schedule.
But please, instigate a "Have a try" before you leave the house rule.
Your house.
And don't let sibling and friend run amok through my house.
Or my backyard.
Break limbs at your own house.

To the violin parents reading this blog after loving my adventures in Japan, I know you are sympathetically nodding. Let me restate, I CHOOSE to teach from home. But it's still my home. Today my lounge was covered in washing. Not all my knickers are white cotton and that's fine, because they're hung over a clotheshorse in my private home.

My husband should feel free to saunter through the house in a towel (although he'd have to be crazy or courting hypothermia to do so) and nothing else because he LIVES HERE. And unless you want to teach your children that it's ok to wander through people's houses unsupervised, start with the good old foundation of "Sweetheart? Just wait a minute and check that's ok."

Odds on I will say "Sure! Mum will go with you so you don't get lost." or "Yep, I'll just make sure there's a light on up there." (And that my vicious pug won't lick you to death when you get to the top of the stairs.) But just ASK. (Should note that for under-fives, toileting is almost expected; over-tens should CERTAINLY need to know when they need to go)

Running through the music room, friend in tow, disappearing through the door that connects studio to house WITHOUT SAYING A WORD TO ME is not the way to win my respect. Or anything else. Maybe I'll instigate Association fee scheduling for people who want to treat my house like a school. I'm sure they'd love paying the extra $8 per lesson for what amounts to unlimited toilet privileges. Hmmmmm....... Maybe I should install thumbtacks in nasty places.

Actually, I must add that my last two students took advantage of my absence to begin fifty-day practice challenges. Now on Day 18, their attitudes were great, their playing was great, they'd progressed past the goals we'd discussed two weeks ago... and they and their mom were excited by what they achieved today in their lesson because there was very real and discernible progress.

I would like to add that, as siblings, they were both present in my studio for an hour (half lesson, half while other child played) and that in their downtime they read or played quietly with puzzle blocks. Neither seemed in need of toileting. So some people totally get it. Sigh.

Well, my day just got better with this magical clip of a Coldplay song; it's chalk-on-pavement stop motion and whimsical and beautiful and not a bad way to end a post hoping for a better day tomorrow...