Friday, December 19, 2008

Teddy needs a job and to be thumped upside the head.

My son Teddy is a brilliant jazz trumpet player.  Sadly he's also a bit of a Diva.  This attitude may interfere with him playing at State this year.  

He made the band, we just can't afford to send him.   People are worried about the economy and as a result our income is down about $1800 a month.  (balloons are fun, but food is funner for most people)  It's picking up, but I'm not skipping the mortgage payment to send him to state.  We're only talking about $200, but right now it might as well be $20,000.   Here's where the Diva kicks in.  He totally doesn't understand that holding his hand out to me isn't going to get him the $$.  He needs to get his ass in gear and WORK for it.  Countless kids do this every year.  I've given money to this team or that player trying to head to this or that tournament.  Teddy feels different, but he's not.  I know from experience that he can earn $$ playing his horn for tips.  He used to do it all the time, right up to the point where he realized exactly how good he really is.  Now all of the music that he used to play on the street is "boring" or "stupid" or "not very challenging".  I tell him that challenge is great, but knowing how to play songs people can sing along with pays the bills.  His trumpet teacher told him the same thing.  

Keep your fingers crossed that he gets past his arrogance in time.  Right now I am annoyed enough that even if I found $200 hidden away and forgotten, I would not give it to him.  If he doesn't do something missing state is going to be a harsh and rather painful lesson to learn, but nothing compared to what the real world will heap on him.

2 comments:

MoxieMamaKC said...

Make him earn it. Reality is a hard lesson to learn, but if he earns it, it will mean more.

Stacey K said...

I told him that if he can't earn it, he won't be going. I'm just hoping he believes me. I will feel bad for him if he misses out, but not as bad as I will when he's 45 and sleeping in my guest room because he doesn't know how to work for a living.