I just caught my kiddo with beer in his clubhouse!

[princess buttercup]

My DS (13) is having a friend stay the night. (his friends parents are out of town). They are sleeping in the club house under the porch. I went out and saw a bottle of sprite...with a head on it. Took a sniff and yep its beer. When i started asking he handed it over and admitted it was a stupid thing to do. I did a breath "wiff" and they don't smell like they have drank any. I also shook them down and checked all their bags and pockets.
What do I do!

[Rachel Fox]

OMG!!!!! I have noidea what in the heck to tell you, but i sure feel for you, i couldn't imagine....

[MamaOui]

Well...Princess buttercup, I don't have teens, but I remember being a teen. At 13, a bunch of my friends and I tried beer and wine coolers a couple of times. A very small quantity and a couple of times. But then there is the other extreme, so it is all individual. I know...not much help, right? What kind of dialogue have you had about this kind of thing so far? What is your ds like? What is your attitude about alcohol in general? What do you think you should do? I am hoping these questions will spark some helpful discussion with parents of teens.

If you're interested, I could tell you about how my parents handled things and what I think did and did not work with me. It is a tough subject, because every young person is so different.

[thejmeister]

OMG! I am sooo sorry!


When I was fourteen, I did the same thing. My dad caught us before I had taken any more than a sip (blecchh! It was sooo gross!), and he stayed completely calm... too calm. He told me to go to my room and wait. That was the most frightening ten minutes of my life! When he came up, he told me that he was disappointed in me, but that he understood how hard peer pressure could be. He said that the same thing had happened to my grandfather, but that he ended up dying of liver cancer forty years later. Then he said that he wanted me to decide for myself what kind of life I wanted to leave, but that he prayed that he would never have to bury his baby girl. Then he broke down and started crying.


I am not saying that this is the best method for you, but it sure worked for me. I think that it made me feel as though I still had some control over my life, like an adult (which is why I'd been drinking in the first place- to feel more grownup).

Good luck!