I feel like blowing off some steam because I had a pretty rough week. Here's a list of things that bother me with parents of students who take piano:
-(after hearing me play in recital): Oh my, that was awesome! Can you teach my kid to play that last SONG? (now to their defense, their son was actually pretty bright, but he was a teenager and struggling with RCM 6 pieces. Plus I'm 99.99% sure he would have NO intention of continuing with music after high-school. This goes to show how deluded some parents can be.)
-What SONG was that? (Please, call it a piece, not a song).
-I want my son/daughter to learn Fur Elize, Moonlight Sonata, (insert another overplayed piece here).
-You're such a good teacher! My kid doesn't need to practice (oh, yes he/she does...)
-Teach my daughter ONLY classical music, please. (Possible response: "Can you define what you mean by 'classical', please?)
-Anyone who said that Bach, Mozart and Beethoven were the most "perfect" composers in history, and never even HEARD of Ravel, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, and a large number of standard composers.
-Asking me this question: "Why are piano lessons so expensive?" When their kid is taking hockey lesson, going to private school, or both. That's right, their child is going to private school and they're too cheap for piano lessons! WTH is wrong with some people?!
-So...HOW GOOD ARE YOU? (usually, if there's a piano nearby, I play the coda from the Chopin ballade in F minor at breakneck speed, and that leaves them speechless and if there are kids around, they start screeching: "Oh my god, you're so good!" . It's not exactly a modest thing to do, but they asked me a question.

).
-You're not Asian...
I tried to keep it annonymous, just in case a parents stumbles on these boards. If anybody is feeling like it, please make a "parents say the darndest things" list.