Alcoholic Kids

When you become a mom things pop into your mind that you would have never even thought of before; we think not only about our children but about other children that we know and don’t know. The thing I’ve been thinking about lately is drinking around the kids. I hear people that I know talking about how drunk they get on the weekends with their kids around and it makes me cringe. It usually involves a family get together and family members that they can’t stand and do not want to be around. I can’t help but feeling like we they are raising another generation that isn’t able to deal with the stresses of everyday life and teaching them escapism.

I should first say that I have no issues with kids seeing adults have a drink, which is perfectly reasonable to me. I have issues with teaching children that it is ok to turn to substances to deal with the stress of everyday life; drinking, doing drugs, behaving inappropriately is not going to teach kids how to be upstanding members of society.

The other part that worries me about kids seeing their parent drunk or otherwise intoxicated is that they are seeing their parents out of control. It is very important for me to remain in control of a situation, especially when my child is present. If I am intoxicated I cannot protect him or defuse situations that are potentially hazardous. I believe that above all else, children need stability and need to be able to count on the adults in their lives to protect them and keep them safe.

What are you worried that we are teaching our children?

Swt