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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how many of you smoke?

123 replies

Misunderstood48 · 09/10/2012 13:32

It seems, having read previous threads that smoking was wrong.

I know smoking is bad for your health as does a majority of the other smokers.

I have a 1YO and I smoke outside a couple of times a day and all my family smoke.

I wonder how many other mums are not admitting to having a cheeky fag now and then.

Is it really wrong to do so or am I not seeing the point here?

OP posts:
steben · 09/10/2012 17:00

I am what I would describe as a secret smoker - don't do it in public or in front of others unless with 2 very close friends that also engage in the illicit activity. I smoke at home a couple of nights a week when enjoying a drink (outside wearing clothes, gloves and a hat which I take off when I come in so I don't smell). Never smoked whilst pregnant and can go several nights/weeks without being bothered. But when I do do it I really enjoy it.

MummifiedBonkeyMollocks · 09/10/2012 17:01

Alcohol is just as bad!

Ponder that! Wink

Lottapianos · 09/10/2012 17:01

I used to smoke 20 a day. Have cut down massively and now smoke about 5 a week. I don't have kids but wouldn't smoke around other people's. I smoke outside because it's not fair on DP, he used to be a 40 a day man but stopped last year

usualsuspect3 · 09/10/2012 17:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sheepsgomeeping · 09/10/2012 17:02

mummified it infuriates me and Ive been known to say something. How can people be so ignorant is beyond me.

And the baby stinking of smoke and the child often has asthma. Oh its nothing to do with me smoking dontcha know Hmm

Sparklingbrook · 09/10/2012 17:03

I think that's the thing Help. After seeing both DH's parents pass away from cancer when the DC were babies seeing smokers does make me feel sad.

doinmummy · 09/10/2012 17:07

Ex smoker here . I only smoked outside, but I didn't realise just how much I must have stank.....really really stank when I had just had one.

I work with the public and the smell from them when they must have had a fag outside before coming in is still very strong. Also I now notice items of clothing that dont get washed very often (coats etc) absolutely stink...it's a horrid trampy , dirty smell. I cant bear to think that I must have smelt like that.

doinmummy · 09/10/2012 17:08

Steben trust me...you will still smell

Lueji · 09/10/2012 17:12

I don't.

And often have the urge to smack anyone smoking upwind from me in the street or close to me at bus stops. Angry

Hate smoke.

usualsuspect3 · 09/10/2012 17:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

monkeysbignuts · 09/10/2012 17:31

none smoking house hold here too. Its smelly and expensive not to mention poison.

MamaMumrOrangeTheGolden · 09/10/2012 17:52

Our friend was told to put his fag out up a mountain usual as smoking wasn't allowed Grin. All this smoking talk... I would so love one right now... Sad

digerd · 09/10/2012 18:15

My dad gave up smoking at 65 as he had a very bad cough, but the cough never went away and he died 10 years after being very active. His friend gave up smoking when he was 87, was an inactive person and only died at 91 because he fell and broke his hip and was bed ridden for ages and died of an embolie, so it really is in the genes what your body tolerate. My brother smoked double the amount dad did, and he is 71 and has no cough and has the fitness of a 20 year-old, the GP said, but has cut his cigarettes down recently due to a grandchild and his wife's pleas/demands. But it is like russian roulette, and best avoided

Boomerwang · 09/10/2012 18:34

I smoke around 15 a day. More if I drink beer. I smoke in the kitchen under the extractor fan which is ancient so probably not much good despite cleaning out the filter. A lot of people in Sweden smoke so I don't feel like a sore thumb if I light up in the street, but I feel like a criminal if I do it in the UK so I don't. My parents think it's tacky to smoke in a public area like a town full of shops although it doesn't stop me smoking in front of them if I want to. They look at me but say nothing when I light up. They both quit when my mother got breast cancer. I asked my doctor if cancer can run in families and he said no so I've been slack about giving up smoking as my life is so drab it's a bit of a highlight.

doinmummy · 09/10/2012 18:41

A doctor that says cancer can't run in families Hmm. I'd be looking for a new doctor.

Boomerwang · 09/10/2012 18:47

Well I was specific about breast cancer, I suppose. Was he wrong then?

Xiaoxiong · 09/10/2012 18:57

I absolutely hate it. My mother smoked and it made me lose so much respect for her until she managed to quit. When I was pg I would catch a faceful from the commuters having a last one on their way to work and retch.

The only people I know who smoke are colleagues, one of whom is unfortunately my officemate who is also my boss. Every time he goes out for a smoke he comes back reeking. We're due to ttc soon and I'm seriously considering asking to switch offices as he may take it the wrong way if I vom every time he walks past...

Tressy · 09/10/2012 19:00

You will be at a higher risk of breast cancer if your mum has had it, I'm afraid.

I used to smoke, for many years and only stopped around 2 years ago. My mum smoked, lots of parents did when I was younger. They didn't think twice of smoking around the kids. People smoked on the trains, buses everywhere. Most people survived it.

I also don't look older than my age, in fact I look younger than most of my friends whether they have smoked or not.

Anyway I'm glad I've quit, got sick of being shoved outside, the cost and didn't want to become a breathless old woman. I feel much better and will say that my skin looks brighter.

mosschops30 · 09/10/2012 19:00

I smoked from the age of 13 until February this year (36).
Over the years I've given up through 2 out of 3 pregnancies, various other times of giving up to times when I've smoked 20 a day.
This year I gave Paul McKenna a go, and yes it really did work, I did everything he said. Now the smell of a cigarette makes me retch and I can't find the joy in filling my lungs up with smoke.
Even when the old part of my brain says 'ooh be nice to have a fag with this glass of wine' the Paul McKenna part won't let me. It's amazing.

I'm not a sanctimonious ex smoker but I do tell people to try it. I hate the smell of it now so much that it would be a deal breaker in a relationship.

Nice to see some sensible people on here smoking outside and having a smoking jacket which is great.

For those of you just worried about cancer, how do you fancy a stroke? Oh and surprisingly a lot if 40+ women smokers have brain haemorrhages, a lot more than none smokers

Sparklingbrook · 09/10/2012 19:03

Can I ask what prompted you to start smoking at 13 moss? I saw some kids that age in their uniforms outside school yesterday having a cigarette before school.

How do you get them/afford them etc? Genuine interest as Ds1 is 13.

doinmummy · 09/10/2012 19:05

Breast cancer does run in families . I cant believe a doctor said it doesn't.

Meglet · 09/10/2012 19:05

I don't smoke. I tried it during a 'partying phase' (ie; down the pub all the time) one summer in my 20's. But stopped after a few weeks, I couldn't see the appeal when I was sober.

It's too expensive, rots your teeth, gives you wrinkles and cancer.

MummifiedBonkeyMollocks · 09/10/2012 19:06

Sparkling I started at 14. Just tried it one day and that was that.

Lunch money paid, or shared a pack between a few of us.

Although I don't know how kids get hold of them now. I could get away with being served then but now I'm not so sure I would.

Mintyy · 09/10/2012 19:10

Well, yes, it is always wrong to smoke. In all circumstances. Its a no-brainer really isn't it? Confused

Plenty of Mumsnetters smoke. They are all, without exception, very wrong to do so.

Actually, I am confused by your op: you have heard that smoking is very bad for your health? You do know that it cannot and does not do anything positive for you?

Inneedofbrandy · 09/10/2012 19:11

I started smoking at 13 to. What prompted me was plain old wanabe cool. A boy I had a crush on smoked so me and my friend started smoking to be able to go behind the garages to see him. My whole family smoked at the time to so wasn't out of the norm, growing up I loved the smell of fags esp roll ups, even now the fresh smell of tabacco makes me remember going to work with my dad.