Would you let your kids drink

**bamamomto4** · 03-03-2005, 08:28 PM

alcohol? I've heard some parents say they'd let their kids drink,as long as they were at home.

I know kids will sneak around and do things but isn't that saying it's ok...?

Thoughts?

**Darlene** · 03-03-2005, 08:40 PM

Nicole hasn't been interested but yes Mark's had a glass of wine or champagne at special dinners since he's been a teen. That amounts to a couple times a year. He's 18 and if he wants a beer on a nice warm afternoon without anyplace to go, yes we'll let him have a couple.

**guest2** · 03-03-2005, 08:43 PM

I was raised in a home where my parents bought into that theory and guess what???? 3 out of 4 of us ended up drinking outside the home as teens. One of us was fast on their way to becoming an alcoholic when we finally woke up(ok, it was me

) and realized how stupid we were being. And one of us is an alcoholic now.

Why encourage your children to do something like that thinking it will "make them responsible drinkers"? All it does is reinforce the thought of it's ok to drink!

**pip** · 03-03-2005, 08:48 PM

Our oldest child is 16, and we don't let him drink in our house. I don't think he is drinking elsewhere (yet) and I am encouraging him to wait for as long as he can before starting. There is a strong family tendency for alcoholism in dh's family, and I just think that the longer he waits and the less exposure he has to it now, the better.

**kymom** · 03-03-2005, 08:59 PM

I have 4 teenagers.<19-18-17-16> And we don't let them drink. We do have two that smoke. I wish they wouldn't . But there Dad lets them. He is afraid they'd burn the house down sneaking and doing it. They get 4 a day no more. I still hate.

**bamamomto4** · 03-03-2005, 09:29 PM

Guess I should've answered my own question

Ashley is 15 and she has never wanted to drink any. I've asked her before,thinking if she'd taste it,she wouldn't like it and she wouldn't drink it anywhere else. She's never been interested and turns up her nose.
Steve and I don't drink very often. Maybe a few mixed drinks New years eve,and the 4th of July.

I grew up in a family who drank every single weekend. I've seen my family fight and even fire guns at one another.I vowed to never be like that or to have my kids see me falling down drunk,like I seen my dad many a times. My mom would drink,but I dont think i ever seen her drunk. My dad still drinks.He's an alcoholic and I haven't seen him in 2 years.It saddens me to think he'd rather have a beer than see his kids or grandkids.

So,I hope my kids never drink. I know peer pressure will get to them at one time or another in their life.I guess I'm hoping and praying if they don't see us drink very often,they won't.

I've seen my uncle give his 13 year old son a beer. Once at Thanksgiving and again New Years Eve. My aunt would not allow it,so my uncle gives it to him and he goes in the bathroom to drink it.I think thats saying it's ok to drink,even if you're sneaking around and doing it.

Now if one of my kids came to me and said I wanna try a beer. I'd rather them drink the beer here than out somewhere where they may end up hurt or hurting someone else.

The schools here have police officers that talk at the schools and explains what can happen if you drink and drive. Ashley and Katie have both came home and said how wrong it is to drink,drive and do drugs. I just hope they remember this when someone offers them drugs or alcohol.

I just thought of something (boy am I talkative tonight lol) I was taking my thyroid medicine one morning (couple days after the DARE cops came) and Katie says " Mom--why do you do drugs? It's not good for you.People can get hurt,and even die.I dont want you to die." lol
I had to explain some drugs people HAVE to take. And I told her we call mine medicine, not drugs. I didn't want her going to school and say "My mom takes drugs" LOL

**TanyaMT** · 03-03-2005, 10:21 PM

I grew up having occasional alcohol, but my family didn't drink much at all so it was special occasions type of thing. I still only drink occasionally, similar to the rest of the family, a single glass of wine, etc. I probably would let my son have wine at a family dinner if he wanted it or champagne, like I did as a teen. He is a toddler still so it hasn't come up yet.

**forestdale** · 03-03-2005, 10:44 PM

we don't drink much, although at times we've both gone overboard, but our kids have never seen that. It's legal to drink here at 18 and both my boys waited until then to buy alcohol themselves. Before that though, when they were 17, we allowed them to share beer or wine that we were drinking at home with meals. We never sit around and just drink. I think that is why they now just drink with meals or with their friends, moderately. Both work in the hospitality industry and have seen countless drunks where they work and both of them think it's gross.

**Dixie** · 03-03-2005, 10:53 PM

No I don't. Both their grandfathers were alcoholics and dh was a problem drinker. He's been sober for almost 20 years and we don't have alcohol in the house. ( No use having temptation staring dh in the face) I quit drinking when dh did, not that I drank much at all. Btw, dh's parents allowed him to drink from his early teens, which I feel led to his drinking problems.

**pita1213** · 03-03-2005, 11:48 PM

mine are 9 and 7 right now so this hasn't come up. all they will be allowed will be a sip of champange or wine for specail family celebrations if anything. we aren't big drinkers. if my folks have a bottle of wine when we go to their house, i'll try a sip and that's usually it. right now i do have beer int eh fridge, but it's been there for a little over a year and hasn't been touched. they are leftover from having some firends over for the superbowl last year i think. they will probably get used to drown slugs in teh garden this spring if it ever warms up.
but i'd never let the kids sit around and drink or let their friends come over and drink.

**Mommy2five** · 03-04-2005, 02:31 AM

I don't know, I have a few years before I have to decide. My FIL is a heavy drinker and I would hope after seeing that they would choose not too, but peer pressure is so much!

**AmyMCGS** · 03-04-2005, 09:02 AM

I think I will let DD have a drink once in a while-- like Darlene said with her son-- for a special occasion or something. My teenaged sisters had champagne at my wedding... I'd let DD do that sort of thing. Not regularly and not often, though.

We rarely drink--- once in a while a beer or two with dinner-- probably six times a year. Our backgrounds and views on alcohol are very different. DH's family has several alcoholics, including his father (who is now deceased). My family, on the other hand, is a huge family of German Catholics who used to have kegs at family reunions. Nobody there drank to get drunk, beer was just another cold beverage-- everyone would have one or two and that's it. So, DH and I have conflicting views sometimes when we talk about alcohol.

**DaisyLady** · 03-04-2005, 01:30 PM

We are not big drinkers here. We do not let our underage kids have any alcohol. Josh is 18 and is legally allowed to drink in Quebec (where his grandparents live) but he doesn't even drink there. He knows it is not safe for him because of his health problems. When our children are of legal drinking age they may drink wherever they like. We have taught them the dangers of drinking in excess, of drinking and driving etc, and we "practice what we preach". We have even been open and honest with them about what we did as teenagers.

So while they are underage and at home - no alcohol. Once they reach the legal drinking age and/or move out they will have to make their own decisions then.

**jlxian** · 03-04-2005, 02:02 PM

Originally posted by hmsclmom
I was raised in a home where my parents bought into that theory and guess what???? 3 out of 4 of us ended up drinking outside the home as teens. One of us was fast on their way to becoming an alcoholic when we finally woke up(ok, it was me ) and realized how stupid we were being. And one of us is an alcoholic now.

Why encourage your children to do something like that thinking it will "make them responsible drinkers"? All it does is reinforce the thought of it's ok to drink!

I definitely agree that this is a foolish outlook. The idea that if I let my child drink at home then at least he is not out on the streets drinking is wrong. It is illegal for minors to drink -- anywhere.

**mommy2many** · 03-04-2005, 02:04 PM

Would I let my kids drink? No

I hope they choose not to drink to "get drunk" when they get older also. I don't see anything wrong with having a galss of wine with a nice dinner or something like that but to just "party" like some of these kids and young adults do just makes me sick.

My parents were quite the drinkers and I thinkt hat made me not want tto drink as a kid. I never had any at all till I was over 21 and even then it wasn't a big thing. Just not for me.

I pray that my kids stay close to home and don't go and sneak doing these kinds of things.