Money can’t buy happiness, but it can make you awfully comfortable while you’re being miserable  ~Clare Boothe Luce

Kyle, accompanied by an excited Scooby, this past Easter morning… I stocked him up on books.. he was excited to start reading! 4/20/14

Teaching life lessons to a child seem to be much harder than I could have ever imagined.  Truly, when Kyle was a baby I used to think, lead by example and that should do it.  Now, I have resorted to actually taking money from a kid to prove a point.  One that I don’t think he’s getting.

About a month ago Kyle and I were in the store.  Previously, he saw these movie and gaming posters that he really liked and wanted for his room.  Great!  “You have money, so buy yourself a poster.”  Was my only response.

On a side note, I swear that soon to be thirteen year old kid always has more money than me.

I stood with him going through the posters, not appreciating the scantily dressed women in bikini’s with up close and person bottom shots, but we quickly got past those.  He considered The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Minecraft and Halo.  Which one he chose?  I have no idea, I think it was The Hobbit but don’t quote me on that.

At the same time, dad asked me to get him some air fresheners for his car.   While we were on location, it made sense to pick up a few fragrant smelling plastic clips too.

Now, for the story of my frustration.  We get to the checkout and I’ll admit, I was testing Kyle, for I put everything together.  I wanted to see if he would offer to pay for all the items, at the very least his poster.  Let’s face it, the total was maybe nine bucks, with his poster being five.

What Kyle did next, totally blew me away.  He stepped away from the register as the lady was ringing us up and never offered a penny!  I thought he’d at least throw in five dollars to cover his purchase.  Nope, he physically stepped back and gave me a look, expecting me to pick up the tab for everything.  I was floored!  Needless to say I paid.

Me, dad & Kyle went fishing on Loyalhanna Lake, mom tagged along. We got the boat out & got it stuck in the mud… 6/1/14

All I said to Kyle was, “This is your poster you know.”  followed by him saying, “Ya, but that other stuff isn’t and I’m not paying for it.”  followed by me saying, “But the poster is yours and it doesn’t seem like your paying for that either.”

We left the check out before I tore into him.  I was totally flabbergasted!  He didn’t even offer to pay for his stupid poster, and not even care about the items for his pap?  The man who gives him everything, treats him like gold, never asks for anything from this kid, except for maybe good behavior.  The man who truly loves him with all his heart who takes him hunting and fishing, makes sure the kid is never without.  The man who goes well out of his way for the happiness of this little boy.  Ya, that man Kyle would not spend four dollars on, knowing that his pappy would compensate him tenfold for the gesture.  Heck, I would have given him the money for just simply offering.  And probably taken him to the movies or bought him another poster as a reward.

Nope, instead of being considerate and generous to those who love him the most, he chose the self-centered, greedy avenue.  One that marked him for life, or at least until the next incident.

As we were walking out of the store, I exploded!  None of us in my family are like that at all.  My brother certainly was never greedy, in fact he was too nice and generous with money, letting others take from him and never paying him back.  Granted, I don’t want Kyle to be that nice, but come on, this purchase was for him and his pappy.  I wasn’t expecting him to buy a months worth of groceries.  In fact, I wasn’t asking him to give up anything, it was the gesture or in his case, the lack of gesture that ticked me off as well as his attitude.

I don’t want Kyle to be greedy, not even close to greed.  That’s why I’m always Warning Against Materialism – Encouraging Dreams  I don’t want him associating with it.  I certainly don’t want him to be THAT guy who expects everyone to pay for him and he won’t even step up to return the gesture or meet halfway.  YIKES!  I hate that type of guy or gal. (not playing favorites)

Then, to make matters worse, I too do for him all the time.  I take him to the movies, to the store, to his piano lessons and I run around extra to accommodate him and his plans.  Not that I’m keeping score, but come on buddy, at least appreciate what you have and try to give back!

Did I mention that the money in his wallet was probably given to him by my dad, his pappy?  Frustrating!

Recently, Kyle called me about two hours before his piano lesson to inform me he didn’t want to go.  Now, I get the reasoning, he had family that was in town and surprised him, and it wasn’t totally his fault.  But he needs to learn that two hours beforehand to cancel on someone is not acceptable.  Yet, he was still planning on going to his baseball game that night.  Let me see, it was that important for him to cancel, and I still have to pay for the thirty minute lesson, but he can spend two hours at his game?  Granted, again there was a lot of political pressure put on him that was out of his control, but he needs to learn appropriate behavior and stand up for whats right.  So I said, “That’s your decision, but you’re paying me for the piano lesson.”  His response?  He cried.  My response?  I didn’t care.  Maybe a little.

Did you know, that kid tried to get out of paying me for the missed lesson?  Yes!  Then, to make matters worse, Kyle misplaced his piano books, so therefore he was not practicing all week.  He waited three hours before his lesson to ask me to look for his piano books at his Gigi and pappy’s house or my house.  Missed again buddy.

Naturally, we couldn’t find them and he had to go to his lessons without any music.  Before it was Kyle’s turn, I made him sit there and come up with a few good solutions to the problem.  Telling him it wasn’t the teacher’s problem, but yours alone and one he needed to find a reasonable solution.   I had to help him with suggestions like, “Ask your teacher if you can practice scales, or if he had other music you could play etc.”  The teacher was very accommodating but I was beyond angry.

Kyle waiting his turn for piano lessons at Seton Hill Performing Arts Center. 9/23/13

Now the lesson not only included wasting my money, but it was inappropriate protocol.  Waiting till we leave for lessons to look for his book, when he should have been practicing all week, not acceptable!   I was more than furious that he felt it was admissible to not practice simply because he didn’t know were his books were located.  And somehow it became my responsibility and not his?  Wrong again buddy!  He needs to be held accountable for his actions.  I told him he was paying for that lesson too and if he thinks I forgot about the previous one, he was wrong.

Now Kyle must have realized I meant business and I was not happy with his behavior, for the next time I picked him up, he handed me five dollars for the poster, still refusing to acknowledge payment for the piano lessons.  I guess that was too steep for his budget, but I didn’t care.  Again, I reminded him and again he ignored my warning.

So now we have missing piano books for another week.  I told Kyle to call me on Monday giving a status update if he looked for them, he waited till Wednesday, the day before his lessons.  Getting better buddy but not there yet.  While we spoke on the phone, I was extremely calm, probably eerily calm for him.  I told Kyle he has a few choices to make, either we stop by the music store and pick up the books, which he has to pay for, or I’m pulling him from piano all together and he has to pay for the rest of the lessons that I pre-paid, about two hundred dollars worth.  I also asked for his suggestions, which he had none.

Kyle was stunned and completely speechless.  He didn’t know what to say or do.   Although, I will give him credit, he started to come up with temporary solutions like, “Aunt Heather, could you grab my old piano books, maybe I could play something in there.”  Good effort, now you’re slowly getting it, but still missing the mark.  Sadly, for Kyle it wasn’t about getting the most out of his lessons, or letting me down or not appreciating the opportunity I gave him with music, it was all about the money, his not mine.  Now I was depressed, realizing the materialism and greedy nature of this little boy.  How sad!  Again, my family would never in a million years act like this, apparently he’s learning it elsewhere.

Long story short, Kyle got out of any decision when I found his books.  And yes, he wanted to place the blame on his Gigi, because they fell into her box of photo albums that no one realized.  Yet, the books where still his responsibility and he should of had us looking long before he did.

This past weekend, Kyle had his wallet on him, the nice chain and leather gift given by his pap.  Would you believe the kid handed me forty bucks to cover the two piano lessons?  I was stunned actually.  No apologies, but he handed the money over to me saying, “Here Aunt Heather for the piano lessons.”  I could tell, he thought I was going to give it back with maybe a speech on being responsible and accountable that sort of thing.

I didn’t waste my breath.  I’ve said it all before.  I simply took the paper currency and said “Thank you.”  His eyes were sad for the loss of money.  I also noticed he did this in front of his pappy, thinking his pappy would do what he normally does and replace the cash.  Dad did no so such thing, knowing the situation.  We’re on to you Kyle!

Now what Kyle doesn’t know, is I’m planning on adding the forty bucks to his education fund.  He’s had that account since he was almost three months old, set up by my cousin Paula, who was Ryan’s godmother, Kyle’s dad.

I do believe Kyle is not a lost cause, he just needs more guidance.  In fact, not even a year ago, someone handed Kyle five bucks for doing a good job serving mass.  That was way too sweet.  Without thought, Kyle immediately gave the money to father for the church.  I was so very proud of him!  It was something he wanted to do and I could tell he felt it was the right thing.  I never steered him one way or the other.  It actually happened so quickly, Kyle already had his mind made up before I knew about it.  He is a generous kid!  Sometimes.

I’m working with him, everyday!  I just need to pray for patience.

Below is a video of Kyle playing the piano with his instructor at the Seton Hill Performing Arts Center.  Normally he won’t let me video him, but this time he did. 10/21/13

The greed of gain has no time limit to its capaciousness.  Its one object is to produce and consume.  It has pity neither for beautiful nature nor for living human beings.  It is ruthlessly ready without a moment’s hesitation to crush beauty and life.  ~ Rabindranath Tagore

Seven is such a stinker!  Actually both dogs are, but this one takes the cake, or should I say the aluminum foil.  I think I’ve mentioned it a time or two how Scooby and Seven are like children Dogs Acting Like Two-Year Olds! – Aunt Heather Piper.  Yep, that still holds true today, maybe even more so.

Last Wednesday or Thursday, dad had the dogs out. Naturally, being cooped up in the house all day while the parents were at work, makes the beasts a little hyperactive and rebellious. Nothing new, except this one came in the form of mischief that ended badly.  Mom put the garbage out on the porch, why she placed the bag of unwanted items by the the trash can instead of in it, I will never know, but Scooby took this as a sign to help himself.  He chewed a hole in the bag and began to pull out goodies, at least according to him.  Dad saw the disaster unfolding and yelled at the blond troublemaker.  Just then Scooby dropped the wad of aluminum from his mouth, my guess mom cooked with it and it still had a food taste.  At that moment, dad said Seven ran up to troublemaker number one, Scooby, and snatched up the wad of aluminum foil like it was gold and downed it in one big gulp. Dad didn’t even have a chance to get it from Seven.  Yes, Seven swallowed, in one big gulp a mass of aluminum foil the size of his fist. What? Are you kidding me? Seriously? Was that necessary? Seven just didn’t want Scooby to have what Scooby “found”. Greedy dog!

Now what?  We knew that couldn’t be good for troublemaker number two, Seven, but what do you do?  Mom called the vet to ask the professionals.  They said we had to temporarily remove Seven from his usual diet of dog food and start giving him small amounts of chicken and rice.  Well, then what do we do with Scooby who wanted what Seven was getting? Again greedy little buggers!  We gave them both small amounts of chicken and rice.  Mom did slip Scooby a bit more, while monitoring them.  Like children, you can’t turn your back on the greedy beasts.  It was almost comical, because of Scooby’s orneriness he was now on a diet too.  This was suppose to go on until either Seven passed the wad of aluminum foil, or Seven showed signs of sickness, meaning the item was lodged.  At that point we were instructed to take troublemaker number two to the animal hospital for surgery.  Yikes!  As humorous as this was, and almost unbelievable, I didn’t want that.

By the time I saw Seven last Friday he seemed perfectly fine.  The only problem was, we really didn’t know if he passed the obstruction.  The dogs have a nice area to run around and they usually go into the woods to do their business.  And let’s face it mom and dad are not going to run around checking the dogs fertilizer in the woods.  Not to mention trying to keep up with those two is next to impossible, even for me.

As Saturday rolled around, me and Kyle took the boys out for their weekly hike.  The ground was covered in a blanket of white, a few inches or so, and the sky was dropping more fluffy white snowflakes all around us, really quite pretty.  Unlike other hikes, my goal was not to take in the scenery, but to get Seven’s digestive system moving along.  The hole hike I watched him intently so I could check on the outcome of his bathroom duties.  Gross!  But someone had to do it.  I really wanted to report back to mom and dad with a victorious, passed!  But alas it did not happen.

As Kyle and I hiked through the woods, a rather difficult course might I add to give Seven a good workout but to Kyle’s demise, Kyle and I started talking about the issue.  He was concerned, as was the rest of the family, about Seven’s health and what was going to happen.  I took this situation as an opportunity to prove a point.  Nonchalantly, I said, “See what happens with greed. You get a shiny turd!” Kyle laughed and agreed.  To reinforce my point, I continued “If Seven wasn’t being greedy and wanting everything Scooby had, then we wouldn’t be in this position.  Now Seven has to take longer walks (not that he minded) and he is only allowed small proportions of grub.  No more all you can eat.  Let’s not forget, the worst case scenario, he will need surgery to remove the aluminum foil.”  Kyle pondered my summary and nodded in agreement.

By Sunday, Seven was running around and playing, although early in the morning he was making a retching noise like he was going to blow chunks, but nothing.

Once Monday rolled around, to ensure all was good, mom took Seven to the vet for an X-ray.  The wad of foil moved from his stomach, through his small intestines and into his large intestines.  Well that’s a good sign, things are moving along so to speak.  The doctor put Seven on these horse pills and re-outlined his eating choices.  He was allowed dog food and a special treat, Mom was to give him a slice of bread a day coated in Vaseline.  Yuck!  As mom said it, I was gagging.  Kyle was talking to mom on the phone at the time and all I heard was Kyle inaccurately repeating “You have to give him bread with gasoline?”  Kyle was horror struck!  All of a sudden, my attention was moved from our ravioli dinner to the conversation.  Once mom clarified she said Vaseline and not gasoline, Kyle was put at rest.  A little disgusted but not alarmed.

During all this, something struck me as a mystery.  I asked mom how they got Seven to sit still while they took the X-ray.  As a waving thought mom uttered, “You know, I’m not sure. I wasn’t allowed to go back with him.”  Outraged, I retorted, “Mom! They probably clubbed him and you didn’t know!” Kyle busted out laughing at that comment, which did uncover a giggle from me. To reassure us of Seven’s well-being, mom interjected, “I think they gassed him.”  To make it easier on everyone involved on this call, Kyle and I were listening to the conversation on speaker phone.  We both looked at each other after that declaration and lost all control and busted out laughing.  The way mom blurted that out, was too funny!  Not letting and opportunity like that one pass me up, I added, “That’s what we need, is for that dog to have more gas!”  All three of us found such humor at the expense of Seven.

Needless to say when a member of the Piper family is in trouble, the rest of the family is on standby, following up and offering support.  Mom has been keeping us all in the loop via email, phone and text.  On Tuesday, I received an email from mom stating that she had to sleep on the couch with Seven on the floor beside her.  Apparently, those pills gave him gas and mom was afraid of Seven having an accident in bed.  She said every time the dog passed gas, she would get up and take him outside in case he had to make a deposit.  Nothing!  Not really finding this funny, probably due to a lack of sleep, mom said, “He would just stand on the porch and look at me like ‘what?’.”  That’s our Seven.  Who would have thought we would be going through this when we picked him up from the pound.

As of today, there were no accidents in Seven’s corralled area of the kitchen.  Did he pass the aluminum foil?  No one really knows for certain, due to the fact the restroom for the dogs is in the woods.  There could be a foil lined pile of crap by a big tree.  I’ll take them for an extra long hike this weekend to make sure everything is moving along, but Seven seems happy and healthy and Scooby is excited he is no longer on a diet. Our boys, they are such a part of the Piper family.  As I’ve said to Kyle greed is a shiny turd!