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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think Emma Watson's parents were wrong to give her alcohol aged SEVEN?!

52 replies

doodlebug113 · 09/11/2010 12:41

tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/emma-watson-drank-wine-seven-3882601

She claims it gave her a mature attitude to alcohol and stopped her binge-drinking as a teenager, but I can't help thinking seven is FAR too young! It surely can't be good for her growing liver and digestive organs to be exposed to such toxins at such a young age?

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 09/11/2010 12:43

don';t think there's anything much wrong with it myself assuming it's very small amounts and not on a regular basis

we were allowed to have sherry at my nana's house froem around the same age

HecateQueenOfWitches · 09/11/2010 12:43

Many children have wine mixed with water from a young age. When I went to france as a child to stay with friends, me and my younger sister were given wine mixed with water.

AitchTwoOh · 09/11/2010 12:44

oh we all had sips of alcohol around that age, if not before. worse toxins in the environment, i'm sure.

anyway, not scientific but four kids, none of us have ever had anything approaching a problem with drink or drugs. dd is four and has asked to try my wine. i let her. it touched her lips and she thought it was revolting.

Miggsie · 09/11/2010 12:45

DD is 7 and tried our home made sloe gin...she hated it!

ColdComfortFarm · 09/11/2010 12:45

Gosh, yes, she turned out so badly as a result, didn't she? Fat, unhealthy, poor, no work ethic, thick, promiscuous, binge drinker... oh no! Sorry, you mean the Emma Watson who is wealthy, sensible, hardworking, doing brilliantly at university, barely drinks, has strong ethics, and is a slender, beautiful picture of health! Remind me of her problems again?

wineonafridaynight · 09/11/2010 12:46

I see no problem with it at all.

As with the other posters, I tried wine at a young age and agree that it does give children a more mature attitude to alcohol as they grow up.

OneTwoBuckleMyShoe · 09/11/2010 12:46

Same happened to me and my sister/cousins etc.

Very normal in Belguim where my grandmother is from and none of us have any problems with alcohol/binge drinking etc.

MollysChambers · 09/11/2010 12:49

Like other posters I don't see a problem with introducing wine at an early age BUT I have a seven year old and, for me, that is just too young.

Chil1234 · 09/11/2010 12:51

YABU Maybe before you take the high horse for another turn around the paddock.... a little wine mixed with water and consumed with a meal is hardly 'toxic'. Lots of kids this Christmas will be tasting gran's glass of Bailey's. If Watson's father had been force-feeding her pints of stout with whisky chasers she might have a shot liver and messed up organs etc., etc.

I'm the last person to condone underage or binge drinking having lost a friend to the problem not so long ago. But I think we have to keep a sense of perspective

NordicPrincess · 09/11/2010 12:51

i dont think there is anything wrong with a sip, just be sure its wine and not an alcopop that might taste nice and make them want to drink it again

pagwatch · 09/11/2010 12:54

DD is 8 . She has had a teeny champagne on a special occasion before. She has snowballs at christmas where DH pretty much just wves the advocat past the glass. If she askes for wine at lunch she would be allowed a tiny amount with water. She doesn't tend to ask.

We did the same with DS1 and now aged 17 he can have a glass of wine if he likes. He isn't that fussed and never gets drunk.

YABU. I am not really sure that the pissed teenagers throwing shit at our house or vomitting up outside pizza hut are doing so because their parents allowed them a thimble of wine at sunday lunch.

MollysChambers · 09/11/2010 12:54

Are we talking a sip from your own glass or a glass of their own though? For me former is fine but seven to young for latter. I do give DC's "kid's wine" in wine glasses at Christmas though - Appletiser or the like.

DamselInDisgrace · 09/11/2010 12:54

I always wonder how exactly it comes about that young kids actually drink alcohol, even watered down. I've always let DS1 taste if he asked, but he always recoils in horror (and now recoils in horror at the thought of even tasting). Unlike broccoli (etc) I don't feel the need to ensure that he gets to enjoy (perhaps endure) a bit of watery wine with his dinner.

cupcakesandbunting · 09/11/2010 12:56

YABU.

My DS aged 3 is partial to a tot of gin. Helps him sleep too,so we're all happy.

Bue · 09/11/2010 13:00

I probably had my first sip of beer at 2 My dad would let me take a little bit to foam off the top of his. I loved it! We were always allowed sips or a teeny tiny little glass (like 2 spoonfuls) on special occasions, probably from about 8 or 9.

Aloneinthehouse · 09/11/2010 13:03

Quote from article - . I was never not allowed alcohol - I was seven when I had my first glass of wine, mixed with water and with a meal. I found it really strange when I got to school and everyone was like, 'Ooh, we've got alcohol!' I wasn't interested," Watson said.

Exactly what is wrong with that??

pagwatch · 09/11/2010 13:03

Mine would have a glass of their own. Clinking the glass and being the same as the others around the table is kind of the point.
It always starts via curiosity as to what we are drinking the same as they often try new foods after watching us eat it. They like dinner and sunday lunch when the meal feels more grown up that tea after school

Fortunately that extends to good conversation, good food and the ability to say 'no thank you. I don't want anymore'.
If my DCs are mimicing the daults then the fact that we never leave the table pissed is better (IMHO) than their first experience of alcohol being teengers falling over after pouring as much cider down their gullet as is possible.

NinkyNonker · 09/11/2010 13:04

I used to have the odd teny bit of ginger wine or creme de menthe...that kind of thing. But literally the teeniest sip. Alcohol has never held much mystique for me.

MollysChambers · 09/11/2010 13:07

Boak at creme de menthe and ginger wine!

buttonmoon78 · 09/11/2010 13:07

YABU.

I (and my 2 sisters) had alcohol from a much ealier age - a little wine mixed with water. I have followed the same practice with my 3 children and the eldest occasionally has a stubbie on a weekend. She's 13.

When we walk past the local teens at the park drinking white lightening she thinks herself much better off having a small beer or wine at home. And there's no mystery to it - no sense of rebelling.

Oh, and all 3 of us siblings have never had a problem with any drug of any sort.

NinkyNonker · 09/11/2010 13:07

We used to have teeny little sherry glasses to have it in...oh the joy! And watered down wine thinking about it, wasn't a fan though. My sister still won't drink anything other than sweet rose and she's 27.

DamselInDisgrace · 09/11/2010 13:08

I think your kids are much more sophisticated than mine, pagwatch! Then again, DH doesn't like wine either, which means we rarely have any with dinner. boo.

ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave · 09/11/2010 13:13

We used to have wine and water as children -- to begin with it was basically water with a splash of wine in, and as we got older the mix adjusted. I'd do the same with mine if they were interested (no signs of it yet, though).

SantasMooningArse · 09/11/2010 13:16

We used to drink tiny amounts of dad's home amde wine from about that age, even a shared babycham (look, I grew up in the 70's OK? [grin[).

We are the first generation not to have a strong alcohol addiction problem; sis likes a drink but knew to stop and none fo us were teen drinkers becuase not only had the mystique gone, Dad's wine tasted nasty and you wouldn;t want to repeat the experience.

Fibilou · 09/11/2010 13:17

i was drinking watered down sherry at that age, it has done me no harm.

Surely the fact that she doesn't binge is proof that it worked

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