I usually regard the Inbox with something close to dread, especially when I’ve been offline for a few days. Stuff piles up. Things need to be dealt with and e-mails deleted.
Every now and then, though, I welcome this mode of communication. This time of year – a week or two before lessons resume – I need to confirm scheduling with everyone. In years past, that meant a phone call to each and every student – extra calls when I had to make the inevitable tweaks. And I dreaded making all those phone calls way more than I dread a pile of e-mails.
One year I didn’t bother calling anyone to confirm – I assumed that what I had set in May held true at the end of August. I was horribly surprised when lessons started and a number of students didn’t show up. They had changed their minds and never let me know. That was nasty. The spots could have been filled with others.
So I thank the heavens above for being able to do all this in one electronic fell swoop. The schedule has been sent out – and I can just sit back and wait for that Inbox to overflow with replies. What a life!
My inbox is buzzing as well. Sometimes I go back and forth five to six times with one parent. It feels like the sports world always gets 1st dibbs on the schedule and then piano lessons get squeezed in, even when the slot was secure in May.
No, we can’t compete with sports! And just when we think one sport season is over, another begins. Sigh!
I have a love-hate relationship with my inbox too! I love it when parents do respond to my email inquiries about studio things, hate it when they don’t and I still have to call them. They almost always know what I’m calling about because they immediately start answering any question I had in the email. LOL!
I must admit – I think I’m guilty of that, too!