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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

not to let my 13yo drink Coke in the evening?

66 replies

Greensleeves · 08/01/2018 20:18

He thinks IAVU! He's got a maths exam tomorrow, he's supposed to be doing a bit of revision after dinner and he'll be going to bed at 9.30. He just asked for a can of Coke and I said no. AIBU?

OP posts:
EllaHen · 08/01/2018 20:34

Oh, what my 12 year old would give for a can of coke. On a week night though? Snowballs chance in hell. And, she knows I wouldn't be impressed by her asking.

So, YANBU. You must task yourself with drinking the coke to remove it from temptation.

Sparklingbrook · 08/01/2018 20:34

I find the boot of the car very useful for any secret stash of stuff I don't want the teenagers stealing. Grin

Original poster
Greensleeves · 08/01/2018 20:35

Sparklingbrook my 15yo is also obsessed with elderflower cordial and fizzy water! He also likes black coffee and thinks the rest of us are terribly unsophisticated

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 08/01/2018 20:36

I had a coffee machine for Christmas Greensleeves, and DS1 has his eye on my capsules. Angry

The Elderflower cordial is quite nice with some ice in.

Original poster
Greensleeves · 08/01/2018 20:37

I quite like it with gin Grin

OP posts:
PasstheStarmix · 08/01/2018 20:38

YANBU sparkling you're letting him have a can just not before bed. Your ds will be fine, you're just being a good parent and doing t for his benefit so he gets a good night's sleep. My parents didn't let me have snacks after school before my dinner and I didn't take it personally. No need to worry.

PasstheStarmix · 08/01/2018 20:38

it

Sparklingbrook · 08/01/2018 20:38
Grin

I think when I was 15 it was orange squash or water.

Original poster
Greensleeves · 08/01/2018 20:39

I remember sneaking glugs of fresh orange out of the fridge (and risking a thick ear)

OP posts:
PasstheStarmix · 08/01/2018 20:40

I mean greensleeves

Sparklingbrook · 08/01/2018 20:41

What no glass Greensleeves? Shock

Original poster
Greensleeves · 08/01/2018 20:41

thank you Starmix Flowers

OP posts:
Oblomov18 · 08/01/2018 20:42

Whilst coke isn't good, I don't see it as the crime some of you seem to.

user1486076969 · 08/01/2018 20:44

Crikey, I must be a seriously bad parent......we have lots of diet coke, pepsi max here (admittedly DS is 15 and probably won't have had one on a weekday at 13)....but never full sugar versions. Genuine question, is it the sugar, or the caffeine, or the sweetener that you are concerned about?

RB68 · 08/01/2018 20:44

Yeah timing wrong - he is not realising or understanding the impact of sugar and caffeine on his body

Original poster
Greensleeves · 08/01/2018 20:47

It's mostly the caffeine...though the fact that the stuff is muck doesn't help. Honestly I think its mostly just a sort of visceral semi-irrational knee-jerk thing Blush

I wouldn't let him have coffee in the evening either though, but did offer him a glass of fruit juice which is full of sugar...so I guess the major sticking point is the caffeine, and the absence of anything nutritious to mitigate it

I think I may end up on one of those "loopy crap your parents came out with" threads one day

OP posts:
NaughtyNoraTheNamechanger · 08/01/2018 20:50

Of course YANBU op.

Around a similar age my parents said to me that if I wanted stuff like cola and Irn-Bru I'd need to buy it (they refused to buy it).

That being said though from about 14 caffeine stopped affecting me and I could have coffee at 11pm and still sleep absolutely fine Shock

Sparklingbrook · 08/01/2018 20:51

YY Greensleeves my two will be all 'My Mum kept Pepsi and biscuits in her car boot. She thought we didn't know'. Grin

ShatnersBassoon · 08/01/2018 20:54

Mine will be 'my feckless mum let me drink Coke to keep me buzzing through my revision Confused. I failed everything and now have a full set of dentures'.

user1486076969 · 08/01/2018 20:55

I'm not sure caffeine affects everyone in the same way? I've never felt any effects, coffee before bed has no adverse effect, nor does a diet coke (ignoring 'bad' sweeteners) so I guess I've never really given much thought to its effect on DS either (it doesn't seem to affect him either).

Sparklingbrook · 08/01/2018 20:56

I drink coffee before bed and have never had trouble falling asleep but I am exhausted the whole time anyway. Sad

Reallycantbebothered · 08/01/2018 20:57

Only on mn Hmm
I too must be an awful parent...my Ds was and still is rather partial to Diet Coke....he's now 18 , 6ft 2, has 3 A levels and now at Uni ...hobbies include rock climbing and baking and will eat vegetables ...and he has no fillings in his teeth
Should I be worried?
Grin

TherealDeeBliss · 08/01/2018 21:01

YANBU. If I drink coke after about 2pm I'll be awake all night and 34. Def not unreasonable for a child!

FlashTheSloth · 08/01/2018 21:05

"Whilst coke isn't good, I don't see it as the crime some of you seem to."

this!

Bloody hell, I sometimes wonder what planet MNetters are on! I agree OP I wouldn't give coke before bedtime either but it's not the worse thing ever to give a child. My DS is 9 and he has the very odd drink of coke when we are out. I think depriving children of something they want completely will lead to them go overboard when they do have it later on. Everything in moderation.

MrMeSeeks · 08/01/2018 21:07

Whilst coke isn't good, I don't see it as the crime some of you seem to.
Me neither.

I can drink coke and be asleep 30 minutes later.
I don't know anyone that it keeps up!