I’m a Teacher and I Can Tell You, You’re Doing a Great Job Mom

I know you’re wondering how time has flown by so quickly. Your adolescent seems to have grown up in front of your eyes. If you’re finding yourself contemplating how you’ve been doing as a parent lately, wondering if you’ve done enough, I’m here to tell you don’t worry.

You see, while I don’t have children of my own just yet, I am a piano teacher to 26 amazing children. A good amount of them are now considered tweens and teens.

A teacher gets a unique perspective of a child. Since piano instruction is one-on-one, I get to know each of my students, figuring out their personalities, quirks, likes, and dislikes pretty quickly. Once they enter into their teenage years, I end up hearing some venting and rants about schoolwork, family members, or just general frustrations.

Being a piano teacher, I get to see students every year as long as they take lessons with me. A recent student of mine became my first to graduate from taking lessons with me. She’ll be entering her freshman year of college this fall.

Parents, you’re doing it right. Your teens and tweens I work with are genuine, good, hard-working kids. They are determined to get their assignments correct, passionate about the music they choose and are respectful of me, their peers, and their siblings during lesson time. I am constantly in awe of how much they know and understand not only about themselves but the world around them. Lord knows I did not know a thing when I was their age!

Sure, there’s the inevitable bad day or two, but I always remember my students are young. They’re figuring life out and taking things one day at a time in today’s crazy world. With every sweet note and compliment to me, I know that I am constantly telling myself what great parents my students have.

So next time you find yourself doubting your parenting abilities, don’t worry. Unlike most teachers who work with children for one year of their lives, I’ve had the unique opportunity to watch your child grow for years. My students who are in high school have grown into such incredible young adults. They’ve shown a sense of resilience and courageousness when faced with issues I never had to think about growing up like school shootings, global pandemics, financial crises, and more. They have shown me what determination looks like these last few months, transitioning to online schooling, learning piano just as well as they did before.

If you simply just love your child, they will be okay. I can tell how loved my students are, as the older ones have become respectful, wonderful young adults and my younger ones are so kind and generous. Speaking of my younger students, I am constantly in awe of their genuine kindness. My birthday was earlier this month and I felt so loved by my students—two seven-year-olds made me handmade cards and I got a video message from one of them.

While I don’t yet have children of my own, I can’t imagine what it’s like to raise a human being. As they grow, I can imagine the self-doubt, worry, and wonder you might sometimes fear. I hope that by writing this letter and providing a unique perspective, just one person can show you that your son or daughter is going to be just fine. It is an honor for me to be able to teach everyone I have so far. It’s truly a rewarding job and makes me look forward to parenting someday.

So parents, don’t worry. You’re doing it right. I see it every week at the keyboard when 26 extraordinary human beings visit to learn a new skill with me.