[KarenBoo]

So I've been wanting to find a voice coach for Kitten for probably 2 years now, but it's been on the back burner.

But, she has an audition this Friday, (her first real audition!) and her regular acting coach is out of town. So I asked friends, and this guy was highly recommended by 2 friends of mine.

We went yesterday for her first private lesson, and he's really GREAT! However, he gives lessons in his home, and I could smell mold in his house the instant we walked in.

This man *loves* his house. He told this sweet story about how he never had a great childhood and doesn't have "real parents." (He's 68 years old.) And years ago he met this woman who "adopted" him and he "adopted her" as his mom. She had never had kids. He ended up caring for her and moving her into his home when she was 70, and she was an interior designer. So, he let her redo the entire house. She's been gone for 8 years now, and he hasn't touched anything. His desire is to leave his house decorated the way she has it.

Well, his house is FULL of EVERYTHING!!! It is the most cluttered house I've every seen. But, I digress. Clearly, he and the lady loved the way she decorated it, and to each his own. Oh, and he has his "piano room" and his "voice room." His house *is* the studio!

My point is, he LOVES his house. He wanted to show us around yesterday, but we ran out of time. He's planning to show us around during today's lesson. (I scheduled few lessons before her audition.)

I do not want to go back to his house! I would rather him come to us, which he does for a fee. (ugh!) But, how do I politely decline coming to his house???

He knows Kitten has asthma. He himself has asthma and can't be around pet dander, so I was excited to find him!! (Do you even KNOW how difficult it is to find a music teacher who doesn't have pets in their home???)

Neither Kitten nor I actually had a reaction, but I don't want to do the repeated exposure thing. I considered saying that I reacted to his house (which may be true - I found myself like an angry person yesterday - out of character. I wondered if that was a type of reaction because that does happen to me with a reaction to fragrances.)

Anyway.....WHAT do I say to this man???? Part of me thinks it would be kind to tell him he's living in a mold-infected house, but that seems quite rude since we just met him. But it's unkind not to tell him too!!

HELP!