Do you drink in front of your kids? - Page 6

[hellyaellen]

i drink in front of my kids. usually its light to moderate drinking though if shes around. usually with aa meal or at least snacks.

moderate to heavy drinking happens when i am not around her or after her bedtime. and as i'm nursing a 6 mos old i haven't had that kind of night in quite a while. dh has had a few more wild nights than i but mainly at the urging of his friends none of whom are parents and who thankfully have moved away for college, jobs, etc. so its been more infrequent for him too as of late.

i also talk with them about drinking. dd (6) knows that drinking "too much" can make you mean, or loud, or just stupid. she knows that sometimes if you drink "too much" ypu throw up or feel bad the next day. most of these things have come up as a result of me talking about this or that friend as i don't usually drink that much. i think she has seen dh suffer through a hangover but don't know if she has connected it all b/c anything more than a coupla beers happens after shes in bed.

as far as family issues there is some alcoholism in the family. dd's dad is a recovering alcoholic. in fact i recently had the very first conversation with her about his drinkiing. my maternal g-ma and paternal g-pa had some problem/alcoholic drinking. dh and i both have overindulged at times. theres only one set of teetotalers in the family and thats my dad and his wife. (and even they give it up for my g-mom's eggnog) for the most part though the family is full of moderate responsible drinkers who occaisionally exersice poor judgement. we try to share the whole process with the kids.

[LIZnCHAD]

Yes. I think it sets a good impression on what responsible drinking is.

[Greenie]

Originally Posted by hellyaellen

i drink in front of my kids. usually its light to moderate drinking though if shes around. usually with aa meal or at least snacks.

moderate to heavy drinking happens when i am not around her or after her bedtime. and as i'm nursing a 6 mos old i haven't had that kind of night in quite a while. dh has had a few more wild nights than i but mainly at the urging of his friends none of whom are parents and who thankfully have moved away for college, jobs, etc. so its been more infrequent for him too as of late.

i also talk with them about drinking. dd (6) knows that drinking "too much" can make you mean, or loud, or just stupid. she knows that sometimes if you drink "too much" ypu throw up or feel bad the next day. most of these things have come up as a result of me talking about this or that friend as i don't usually drink that much. i think she has seen dh suffer through a hangover but don't know if she has connected it all b/c anything more than a coupla beers happens after shes in bed.

as far as family issues there is some alcoholism in the family. dd's dad is a recovering alcoholic. in fact i recently had the very first conversation with her about his drinkiing. my maternal g-ma and paternal g-pa had some problem/alcoholic drinking. dh and i both have overindulged at times. theres only one set of teetotalers in the family and thats my dad and his wife. (and even they give it up for my g-mom's eggnog) for the most part though the family is full of moderate responsible drinkers who occaisionally exersice poor judgement. we try to share the whole process with the kids.

That's a really good way to teach it! I'll def. Bookmark this to come back to later on.

[LunaMom]

DH and I drink very little. We might have a glass of wine with dinner on occasion, but we might go a month or two and not drink any alcohol at all. In the summer if we barbecue we'll have a beer or two.

I agree that it's good for kids to see what responsible alcohol consumption looks like. DD knows what too much alcohol can do to a person, because we have talked to her about it. She did once ask to taste my wine and I let her have a tiny sip. She said she liked it, but I made it clear that she was not allowed to have any more because it was a "grown-up drink." None of our relatives are drinkers, either.

I grew up with a mother who came home and had a couple of glasses of wine a night, and in retrospect, may have been a little too dependent on it for relaxing after a day at work, though I didn't realize it at the time. So what I saw was that an adult can enjoy a drink or two and it wasn't an issue. I did my share of drinking in high school and college, but it never got really out of hand. And because i grew up in the city without a car, driving was never an issue - I never drove under the influence (I didn't get my license until I was in my twenties!), nor did I accept rides from anyone who was drinking.

My college roommate was the only survivor of a drunk driving accident - she was out with her two friends, they were all drinking, and the one who was the "least drunk" took the wheel. He lost control of the car when it skidded on some wet pavement and crashed into the divider and he and the other passenger both died. It was horrible. I think that had an impact on me, too.