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Haha...get it now...it is Nine O'Clock Music!!

It always amuses me how people get about their time slot. If you ever ask them to move for some reason there is just no way it's happening. But then when they miss a lesson and want a make up they can suddenly come anytime haha!

I do not want to take advantage of this good virtue.

True! I think you have your answer - they are choosing to wait for 2 years, piano isn't "that" important to them, "winning" a time slot is important to them.

There are no other teachers who can do the slot she wants?

Either way, if your timeables don't match, you can't take her on. Maybe the slot will become available, maybe it won't, maybe she'll find another teacher, maybe the family is too busy for piano anyway.

I'm just bowled over you have students that will get up for 7am on a Saturday.

^^This^^

Me too! I didn't even realise there was such a time as 7am on Saturday

Yes folks, Saturdays at 7am
That is why I started a thread a while ago that if I should raise my rate for Saturdays.

I've always done Saturday mornings but only start at 9am. Well almost....my first ones are always ten to fifteen minutes early. Recently I did try to clear Saturday until someone contacted me with three kids who could only do Saturday!

That's a valid concern. Here's one way you could go about it: Tell your current student that you now have two time slots open, 9:00 or 11:00, and he can have his choice. If he says he'd prefer 11, you can take on the new (demanding) student. If he says he'd rather keep his current schedule, you can safely turn down the new (demanding) student and breathe a sigh of relief that you dodged a bullet.

I'm thinking the new student will be high maintenance, so I'd advise not trying to accommodate him.

Same here! I never wake up early on weekends unless there's some piano competition or CM thing that I must do. 7 AM is an ungodly hour for lessons. My neighbors will call the cops on me.

Heck, I'd just put the family on the waiting list, and then forget about it. You never know about the family currently occupying the slot -- they may suddenly have a time conflict, and then you'll have a ready student to fill in.

I agree with what Monica and John said.

However, I am curious about when the child would practice. If the weekly schedule has only a single hour open for lessons, then when is there space in the weekly schedule for practice?

Of course I'm just conjecturing, but it sounds like this parent wants piano lessons at the least busy time of the week, so they can have the rest of the weekend to do other stuff. Not very many events are planned on Saturday mornings around here, except for soccer matches and swim meets.

What bothers me is that this mother is willing to wait years before her child gets piano lessons.

Time's a-wasting, lady...get another teacher...start the kid on lessons!

I was thinking over, just yesterday, the small danger signs that I had let go by, early in certain relationships.

Turns out, I should have paid more attention; the signs were right there. And I say the same for this prospective student's parent. I have found the comments interesting and worthwhile, but since you say you see the potential for trouble yourself, I think you have also seen the answer for yourself.

I’m going to bet my bottom dollar that Mummy Dear
(Two-ton Tessie) can’t play the flipping piano and would prove a feckless frump in monitoring her progeny’s daily piano homework ... probably wants the 9am slot to avoid cancelling a mid-morning bridge session.

These ambitious Mater’s ooze a heady confidence that they have spawned another Mozart ... (don’t they all?)

It would appear that most of the seasoned Piano teachers subscribe to the OP’s 3rd alternative ... don’t touch with a barge-pole.

I agree with this - listen to your gut feeling on this one. It raises a red flag in my book anyways.

Also, I would not ask the current student if they wanted 9 am or 11 am, because it still implies that you want them to take this other time, or you wouldn't offer. If the mom wants to wait years, let her wait. I would also give her a list of other teachers in the area to contact in the meantime that may have that time available.

Agree with you.

I decide not to take this new mom. Any suggestion how to write an email? Do I need to explain why I cannot take her? Not now, not in two years?

Sometimes the best way to interact is not to think too much into other people's mind, but to take what they say as what they mean. Just put the family on your waiting list. If you have the spot open up in one month, or in three years, give them a call. If they are still interested, sign them up. If they have already moved on, you can call the next person on the waiting list. You have no information about what this family is like and how the student will practice and how busy they will be. No speculation is better than another speculation.

Dear Family, As we discussed I do not have a Saturday 9:00am lesson available. If you are not open to any of the options I discussed with you, you are welcome to call back next fall to see if I have an opening for that time slot. Kind regards, Piano Teacher.