Parents are the bane of my existence.

Not MY parents. My students' parents.

I have a student whose mother insists on "teaching" her at home...why pay for piano lessons if you're going to do the job yourself? And if I try to correct what her mother has taught her, she doesn't listen. Oh, and she has to call her mom "Mommy." I have another mother who came in last week and asked me if her daughter's recital piece was too easy. (Um, no. Your daughter still doesn't know her notes, so it's definitely not too easy.) I have another student who says his mother won't let him practice playing loud. (What?) Oh parents. What do you do with parents who are weird?

I know you're not supposed to have favorites in life....but it seems that I always have one. I have a favorite piano student. She is amazing. She learned her whole recital piece in one week (it was perfect when she came in yesterday!), and when I asked if she wanted to learn another Christmas song, she picked one out and then admitted that she had already "kind of" practiced it. And it was nearly perfect too. She is such a sweetheart, and I love her enthusiasm for the piano. Reminds me of a kid I used to know....

It seems that there is something in the water in the greater Naperville area...I found out last night that 2 more of my friends are pregnant. So I will only be drinking bottled water from here on out. It's catching. Watch out.

Little-known fact about Charissa #27:
Sports movies generally make me cry. It's kind of pathetic, I know. I feel like Shelley. But the story of the underdog winning the big game....gets me every time. Hoosiers is one of my all-time favorite movies. I loved Remember the Titans. I cried at Glory Road. And probably countless others. But there is a movie coming out that was previewed when I saw James Bond the other night with Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox (which of course caught Breanne's attention) called We Are Marshall. I know that I'm going to go see it and I'm going to cry, especially since there is a plane crash involved....
The funny thing is that I don't even really like or care about sports for the most part....but those dramatic sports movies--every time.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!