Every year in January, I forget about how busy May is. I forget about it not only in January, but also February, March, and April as well.
I always make the mistake of looking forward to May. That is, until I get to May.
And then I remember why there’s a thing now called “Maycember.” This is the label that so many moms have put on the time in May. It has all of the stress and busyness of Christmas, but none of the fun. (Here’s a realistic, but funny musical explanation of Maycember.)
Even when parents have made deliberate choices not to put their kids in too many sports, dance lessons, extracurricular activities, Maycember still happens.
If you are not directly in the parenting scene right now, let me paint the picture for you. Of course, you know all the recitals all happen in May! But in addition to those, parents have to attend all the band and choir concerts, all the end of year games and tournaments, all the celebrations for academic excellence, and all the end-of-year parties for these activities. But on top of that, even if you don’t have your own child graduating, you usually have to attend the parties of your friends who have kids graduating. You’ve got all the end of year parties at school and some schools even have the audacity to have an entire week of teacher appreciation where every day is themed! Each child is supposed to bring something for the teacher – every. single. day. Then there’s all the sign-up forms that parents have to navigate, signing up for bringing cookies, drinks, and snacks for the whole class or team.
And if you happen to have young students AND students in high school, you end up with each of your children being dismissed at different times since many schools let high schoolers leave after each day’s finals! You end up picking up and shuttling your kids more than once a day, at different times, but every single day on the last week of school.
It’s exhausting. The overwhelm is second to none.
What’s This Have to Do With Piano Teaching in Maycember?
Now I know I don’t have to tell you how busy piano teacher‘s lives are in Maycember! I’m sure it’s crazy for you too! So why do I tell you as a piano teaching friend about parents’ lives during this time?
It’s really easy for us piano teachers to think about what we need for our business in May. We need to know who’s coming back in the fall. We need to know who’s signing up for summer lessons. We need to know who’s bringing what for the recital. But if you are like me, and you tend to be a stickler for deadlines and get frustrated with people who aren’t organized like you, I want to share a few tips that I’ve learned and am still learning!
I just think we need to give parents a break right now. I know it would be really nice to have our schedule for the fall already done. But these parents are struggling with just the schedule for next week! And they’re trying to plan for what their kids are doing to do in the summer. They don’t have time to look two months in advance to pick an autumn lesson time for their child.
We’re just barely surviving as parents. We’re barely functioning. And most of the time, the only thing that’s on our minds is making sure that we survive the next day and don’t forget to pick up the kids on time!
So I just want to encourage all of us to be mindful of how difficult it is to parent and plan in the month of Maycember. If your parents are late getting back to you, or don’t respond to you at all, it’s not about you or how important piano lessons is to them. It’s because our lives are in disarray in Maycember, even for the most organized of us.
Practical Advice for Piano Teaching in Maycember
So here are some practical applications:
- If you want to provide all of the snacks for your end of your party instead of asking the parents to bring some, I think parents will appreciate it.
- If you want to wait to extend your deadline for signing up for summer or fall lessons, I think parents will appreciate it.
- If you want to rethink when your recital is next year and have it in early April instead of May, I KNOW parents will appreciate it.
- You probably can think of other ideas – so please leave a comment to share with everyone!
And if we can all just be a little more patient with parents in Maycember, not only will parents appreciate it, but you can feel satisfaction and contentment, knowing that you are probably the most understanding and kind person in their life right now.
We make a big difference in our students’ lives. But we make a big difference in the parents’ lives as well.
Excellent and right on point. Thank you.
So true, I’ve experienced that Maycember in my studios in past years so I totally relate.
This year I experimented with having our big recital in the first weekend of May instead of end of May or in June and called it the Spring Recital to avoid the rush and it worked out really well. I feel way less stressed as it’s also not so close to the end of the piano year where we’re trying to wrap things up.
I found out that March is a great time to collect schedules. Some of my studio families needed to arrange after school care early on like in March/April each year so this year I collected of current students in March, met prospective students in early April and have next year’s schedules ready by the second week of April! I really liked it because it avoids trying to collect information from families during Maycember and Juncember as well as July & August when families are away and the rush of September.
Of course, for those kids involved in sports and won’t know their practice and game days. I just save a spot for them at the end of a teaching day and we’ll adjust them in September if needed to but at least it won’t affect all the other students.
Thank you for this, Wendy! I’ve been so focused on my studio and my piano recital, etc., I just have not taken into account what young parents are dealing with these days! I loved the video too…it really drives home the point!
Scheduling the recital this year has been a nightmare, but we got ‘er done this past Sunday, two days ago! I’m thinking of pushing it all the way back ( or is it forward?) to May 1st. Unlike other great planners, I’m in the midst of trying to schedule summer lessons! I have to learn my lesson!
Such a thoughtful and kind article! I feel this on many levels as a mother of two young children and as a piano teacher. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and insight!
Thank you for the empathy check, Wendy! My daughter is 8, but since she is (and I was) homeschooled, I had no idea May was like this for school families. I knew there were finals etc, but wow this sounds hectic! I’m so thankful we opt out of the overscheduling madness, but this helps me have some empathy and compassion for my studio families. <3
Thank you Wendy! This is a super helpful perspective to remember. I’m intrigued by the idea of doing an April recital!
My end of year recital is last Saturday in July every year so the parents know to plan vacations around it. Even though we do start on recital pieces in the spring semester of school, we have the chance to harvest those extra summer hours the kids end up with for memorizing and perfecting (term used loosely) their piece. I’ve had several parents beg me not even to schedule a group class in “Maycember” due to all the things you mentioned, so I save my final piano party/group class for first week in August after recital is over. It takes the place of weekly lessons as they gear up to start the school year as well (I have seven different school systems/schedules to accommodate!). And typically, I’m WAY done with my promised 40 weeks of teaching by then anyway so we can party and then I take the rest of the month of August off because that is ALSO a busy time of new beginnings. One less thing on parent plates is always welcome. I probably am more cognizant of it due to having my degrees in education and being a classroom teacher for several years before my children were born. Just as an aside, I do my Christmas recital the first Saturday of December every year as well in order to get it OFF the plate early and just enjoy the holiday season with the families I’m privileged to be attached to!
I teach year round, so I totally avoid May recitals. We have them scheduled in the fall and the spring and even a summer once in a while. I make every effort to get these scheduled between sporting seasons. Of course the summer is difficult with vacations, but we do the best we can! We still have Christmas music and all the seasonal music as much as possible, but I try to encourage families to have the children play for family or other gatherings rather than adding another event on their plate. I even tell the parents to have the children play during dinner. One song sets the mood and they can go right back to the table after they have completed their piece.