"I am not your mommy right now, I am your teacher"

I have taught my own two children for many years on both the piano and the cello. One thing that seemed to really work for us was to start with a conversation just the two of us on the couch, not the piano bench or cello chair. We talked about learning a new instrument and why they wanted to learn. We talked about what it means to "take lessons" and practice and what it is going to look like. I told them what I do when I teach other kids and that I am going to treat them the same way. At the beginning of each lesson I reminded them, "I am not your mommy right now, I am your teacher." When they would start to throw a fit I would remind them that I am treating them just like I do all of my other students. At the end of the lesson I give them a big hug and say, "Guess what? I am your mommy again." It is hard at times to separate the roles, but the more I treated them like a student of mine during the lesson than my own child, I had more luck.

Lacey Holzbauer