Have patience, have patience...

I'm sure this won't be a new or interesting idea to anyone who teaches, but sometimes I really struggle with patience.  One particular student really has me frazzled lately.  I know every student is different and abilities vary wildly.  Having said that, I can't remember an age-6 student I've had before who had such poor fine-motor skills in conjunction with an inability to focus, follow notes on a page, and/or sit still.  It's sort of a jackpot of teaching misery.  The rub of it is that she's generally very well-behaved and polite and seems to genuinely want to learn piano.  If that weren't the case, I would have already dismissed her from my studio; that's what happened with her brother!
What's funny is that sometimes I wonder why I'M being so impatient when the student is really in no hurry.  Clearly, the burden somehow lies with me and my own needs to hurry a student along.  I don't really know what prompts this, other than my own ego.  I suppose I don't want to be "that teacher" who never pushes students or allows them to aimlessly work at a snail's pace.  But, I also don't want to be the teacher who won't allow a student to finish a song until it's perfect. 
As is often the case in my life, finding the happy middle ground is a struggle.  And, I think my almost unstoppable desire to compare one student to another is not always the most helpful.  Based on some of the experiences I've had with this student, I have to wonder if she has some kind of learning disability.  Several parents have told me that a child's inability to track words (or in this case, notes) on a page, is indicative of a learning deficit that can be corrected with proper help.  Obviously, I'm not equipped to deal with this, nor am I expected to diagnose/treat learning disabilities.  It just makes me feel rather helpless.  But, in so many ways, isn't that a huge part of teaching?  We try to prepare our students and motivate them to practice, but the rest is really out of our hands.  How many times has a student who seemed utterly prepared then totally bombed at a recital? 
Suddenly, I'm sort of loving this blog thing, for which I have to thank my grad school professor (what's up, Bill Miller?!).  I started writing this blog entry thinking I had a problem with patience, but really my problem lies in control.  I just want to be able to control my students and make them do what I want them to!  Is that too much to ask?  :)

My first-ever blog post

This wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, though I am being "forced" to do this for a graduate school class.  I love music, I love teaching piano, I love talking about both.  Here we go!