The Alcohol Lesson

I read a comment on the front of my local newspaper, The Courier Post, the other day that got me thinking. In fact I was surprised at how different this point of view was from my own. Of course, I am usually shocked that not everyone agrees with me all of the time. It was from a mother that said she was shocked that her friend was drinking a wine cooler in front of her daughter and let her have a sip. She even mentioned that she had thought about calling DYFS about it but decided that it was too extreme. You think?

Frankly, I am surprised that women with children are not drunk more often. After a day full of excruciating conversations with three year olds and hours spent dragging the nine month old off of various objects I could easily dive into a vat of beer and spend a few minutes chugging but I digress :-)

I used to drink a fair amount on weekends (before children) and rarely touched a drop during the week. Now I am more

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likely to have a single beer after the kids go to bed a couple of nights a week and maybe two on a weekend night. It is not often that they do see me have an alcoholic beverage but that is not by design just a desire to savor my drink in peace.
I feel that if you hide the fact that you do indeed imbibe responsibly you are doing a disservice to your kids. I am not suggesting that you get loaded in front of them but show them a good example of enjoying a treat (one that is for adults only). Alcohol is a fact of life after you turn 21 and lets face it, before that even. If you hide the fact that you drink alcohol or make it a mysterious subject you are only encouraging the taboo factor that will make it irresistible to kids.