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"I can wait as long as it takes. I only want Saturday 9am slot."

This is what a new mom told me.

I do not have Saturday 9am open currently, and will not have it open maybe in 2 years. I have two high-school students graduate from Level 10, and it would be 11am schedule after CM test. I offered Saturday 11am to this new mom but this is what she told me: "I can wait as long as it takes. I only want Saturday 9am slot."

What would you do?
1. Ask 9am student move to 11am so that new mom can fit into 9am schedule

2. Let new mom wait two years (who will know what happen in two years?)

3. Since the new mom is so rigid in her schedule, maybe I should avoid taking her because she will cause more trouble in my studio in the future?

What would you do?

At this point I feel like I am "begging" her to take piano lesson after an email threads of 20 plus message back and forward discussing our schedule.

I find what she says quite reasonable, unless you try to interpret what she says under a cloud of suspicion. If she is willing to wait as long as it takes, and if it takes two years, then that is admirable patience. She may only have Saturdays available. She may, in fact, have thought things through and will prove to be an excellent student (or parent) as she plans through everything else that are required of her (or child) once lessons start. I don't understand the angry face heading this post.

Immediately my mind went to No.3: She seems too strong minded... I would appreciate her willingness to have her child study with me, but in all honesty such a strong mind means trouble...

haha....

That is not true.
She has only Saturday 9am available. I offered her Saturday 11am started in March because that is the time my high-school student graduate from piano, and she refuse 11am slot.

"I can wait as long as it takes.
I only want Saturday 9am slot."

There are a lot of "I's" in the introduction, indicating an unfortunate rigidity.

Your solution no. 3 is the way to go ...

"Since the new mom is so rigid in her schedule, maybe I should avoid taking her because she will cause more trouble in my studio in the future?"

My own experience as a Piano Teacher has never come across this problem ... but then I always invite prospective students (and their Mums) to call at my studio before acceptance for lessons ... perhaps it was my broad 6'2" frame at the front door which blanched any backchat.

Once upon a time I accepted two siblings who wanted Saturday 9 am - 11 am. They turned out to be two of the best students ever. They almost never missed lessons. I just had to drag myself out of bed.

I am currently teaching from 7am to 4pm on Saturdays.
Believe it or not, 7am to 9am students are the best.
I don't understand how your comment help me, AZN.

ez: AZN means that even if you feel negative for whatever reason, you may find out that things could be much better than you expect!

The long back and forth e-mails are cause for concern. A statement that someone will wait until a desired time slot is open is not cause for concern. If it will take 2 years, then either that person will wait 2 years and must really care to wait that long - or they don't, and then your problem is solved too.

Ah...
Thanks Nikolas.
I thought ANZ means that I am lazy and not wanting to wake up at 9am to teach, so, I only offer 11am slot and pretend 9am slot is not going to be available for two years to this new mom.
That is why I reply with I teach from 7am on Saturdays, so, no one can say I love my bed so much I can't wake up to teach by 9am.

Sorry ANZ.

How would you reword this to express these two wishes, but not use the first person personal pronoun? The statement doesn't "indicate" anything. It indicates that this person would like to come Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. and is willing to wait for it. We don't know why. We don't know the person's circumstances. Seriously - I'm a linguist, and am not sure how it would be reworded.

As long as it takes is fine with me.
You can count on me to wait for as long as it takes.
Time is not of the essences, any amount of waiting time is acceptable to me.

All of it sounds obscure and devious.

No.3 all the way.

If her schedule is that tight then you can bet there will be no time for practice or support.

In any case, she wants 9am and you don't have it so that's that.

If I were the 9:00 student I'd be VERY careful crossing the street.

I'm pretty sure that student's favorite composer is Mozart, by the way.

Also we are talking about the mum here and not the student. If you want your child to learn piano or they have expressed an interest then you want them to get started right away. Waiting for years until one particular time slot becomes available is just daft. Either be more flexible or take them to someone who can accommodate.

haha...

But I don't understand why Mozart? Sorry for being not getting the jokes.

Do you think the 9am student would want to move to 11? My daughter has early starts on Saturday (7am and is done by 10:45) and on Sunday has a class from 11-12:30. I most definitely like the done by 10:45 more! But I know others who like a later start.

But if you think they would like a later lesson (they come in looking like they rolled out of bed, tend to be a few minutes late), then it wouldn't hurt to ask.

K. 525, the famous Nine O'Clock Music.

AKA Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

But we always called it Nine O'Clock Music.

That is a fair question, Maggie.

This 9am student has been with me 3 years. When I said 2 years to have this slot open, it means maybe I am unlucky, this student will stop piano in two years. It is just my earliest prediction. He might continue for another 8 years as far as I know.

For three years he never asked to move his time to a later one. So, I assume that he likes his 9am slot. I could ask if he wants to move, but do you know that mostly Asian parents like to please teachers, they will say yes even if they do not like it. I do not want to take advantage of this good virtue.