Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be furious with adult dd

227 replies

Nolitoad · 25/09/2022 09:13

I have 2 dc, dd (23) and ds (13). Dd does not live at home but I had her round for dinner last night. I was in the kitchen serving up and when I brought it in I saw that she had poured a glass of wine for herself, me and her brother.

I immediately remarked on this and said ds is not allowed to drink. She said really well he is when he is with me. DS has sleepovers at her house 1-2 times per month and has done since she moved out around a year ago. When I asked her what she meant it turns out she has being allowing him to drink when he stays over.

I didn’t want to have a big row with her in front of ds so just whisked the glass away from him. Later in the evening I asked her why she had allowed him to do this she told me my approach to alcohol is wrong and she said she wants to introduce him to alcohol in a safe and structured way. When I said it’s not her place to decide this she said the only way my approach is going to end is him drinking in secret in a park. I am really cross with her as he has been staying over at hers since he was 12 and she has been giving him alcohol during this time without mentioning it as she knows I would disagree. I know ds is also guilty of this and knows he is not allowed to drink so will deal with him also.

I messaged their father who said he didn’t know this was happening and it’s not ideal but it’s hardly the end of the world as we can’t micromanage their relationship.

AIBU to be really annoyed about this?

OP posts:
Katekeeprunning · 25/09/2022 13:26

I would be absolutely furious

EstellaRijnveld · 25/09/2022 13:29

It's sad that she thinks everyone needs alcohol in their lives, they don't but it is a nice thing to have. However, it's not her decision to make and it seems to me she wants to make him alcohol dependent to justify her own choices. She's put you in a tricky situation now because if you ban their visits, you'll have ds kicking off.

SunshineLoving · 25/09/2022 13:31

12 and 13 is very young to me to be drinking alcohol. Having a sip or two maybe but not their own alcoholic drink.

I think at 15, I would let him start having a drink like a fruit cider but the age he is now is way too young IMO.

I think your DD's done this with good intentions and to 'help' him in the way that she thinks it will stop him drinking in secret with friends. However, the whole thing is very concerning to me. The fact he likes wine at that age? I wouldn't have thought any child of that age would be able to drink a glass of wine. As pps have said too, drinking very young like this often leads to alcohol related issues and I say that from experience with certain people I've met over the years.

Somethingneedstochange · 25/09/2022 13:38

I was allowed a little bit on special occasions Christmas etc andon holiday. Never got drunk. Usually with plenty of lemonade. If you let them have a little bit under your supervision they are less likely to go behind your back.

I wasn't stood on street corners drinking as some of my peers did who's parents didn't allow any alcohol. My own kids are on quite a lot of medication and they don't understand the affect alcohol has on them. So I wouldn't be happy if a family member did give them alcohol. But if they didn't have underlying health conditions it wouldn't bother me.

HoundofHades · 25/09/2022 13:38

What happens in a year or two when hormones kick in for your son, he has a girlfriend, and they want to have sex...? Because if your daughter is treading the path of allowing him to behave as though he is an adult, already, then what's to stop her from allowing him and his future girlfriends to have sex at her place, without their parents knowing anything about it? And if a pregnancy occurs, is your daughter in a position to pay the child maintenance, until your son is old enough to leave school, get a FT job and do so himself? Because if it happens under her care, because she has assumed herself to have parental responsibility enough for him, to unilaterally make such decisions/choices regarding him - she needs to be the one to deal with the inevitable consequences.

Such as him getting drunk (because I doubt she's only allowing him to drink wine!) and either vomiting in his sleep and choking to death on it, or otherwise suffering injuries - potentially life-changing ones - whilst under the influence of alcohol which she, as an adult, has provided him with and allowed him to drink without parental consent in her home. Is she prepared to either live with the guilt of being responsible for his death, or to become his FT carer...?

These are all questions that you (calmly) need to ask of her. Because, despite her being an adult, in this case, she's not thinking like one. As another poster said, she's thinking/behaving like the "cool older sibling", and is probably revelling in thumbing her nose at your more sensible, adult, parental rationalisations about what is best for your child.

I'd hazard the guess that the only reason you found out about the alcohol drinking, @Nolitoad, is because your daughter forgot that you/their dad don't approve of your 13 year old child drinking (yet). Your daughter's an adult - she can freely consent to her own alcohol consumption... your son cannot.

I have children with a similar age gap. My 26 year old constantly tries to undermine me with my 17 year old son - but I will only call her out on it, if it's a parenting issue. If it's something that most siblings get up to? I leave them to it. However, I also know that kids get up to all sorts of (normal) mischief. Drinking without parents knowing, having sex in weird and inventive places, and sadly, experimenting with drugs (will she introduce him to them, too, in a "safe and structured way"?). This generation aren't the first - and they won't be the last. My son lost his virginity when he was 14, which I only found out about last year. My daughter got hideously drunk at 16 and ended up in hospital having her stomach pumped, with my only finding out that the innocent sleepover she'd been at, was another parent behaving like your daughter and allowing a bunch of teenagers to get hideously drunk... when the hospital called me! (And she ended up with Children's Services involved, and a lot of legal letters to read from all of the parents who were oblivious until my daughter and one other - out of 5 guests - ended up in hospital that night!) With my son, there is a lot of frank and open communication - because I learnt the lesson with his sister, the hard way, at times. I daresay that your daughter is like mine, and only wants to protect her little brother... but she's opening herself up to all sorts of problems/issues down the line. Because she isn't mature enough yet to rationally think about these things going down the line into her brother's future. You are. It's why you're the parent... and she isn't.

There needs to be a boundary placement between you/their dad, and your daughter with regards to your son, I'm afraid. Otherwise how can you trust her with his safety during their sibling sleepovers? Flowers

StaunchMomma · 25/09/2022 13:40

YANBU but it's more about her not respecting your boundaries, really. It doesn't sound likes she's giving him much alcohol.

I think she'll feel very differently when she has children of her own.

It sounds like she has experience of teen drinking in parks, as do many of us. Maybe try having a conversation with her about that and her worries with regard to her brother going through the same? Great opportunity to let her know where her boundaries lie.

HamiltonFan1 · 25/09/2022 14:08

@HoundofHades Confused

Wtf has this got to do with teens having sex, also so what if she does let her teen brother do that at her home, she isn't accepting any degree of parental responsibility

diddl · 25/09/2022 14:18

Does he even want to be drinking wine with his evening meal?

I agree that alcohol doesn't need to be some great big mystery, but is a glass of wine with a meal going to stop him getting shitfaced with his friends?

He's effectively drinking in secret already!

HoundofHades · 25/09/2022 14:56

HamiltonFan1 · 25/09/2022 14:08

@HoundofHades Confused

Wtf has this got to do with teens having sex, also so what if she does let her teen brother do that at her home, she isn't accepting any degree of parental responsibility

She's making decisions for him, whilst she has a duty of care/responsibility towards him, which reflect that she seems to think she has the same authority/right to do so as his actual parents...

And my point was, what else will she gaily authorise him to do, underage, in her home, without any concept of the potential consequences of her choice to undermine her mother's decision to raise her actual child one way, rather than how his sister sees fit...?

Nolitoad · 25/09/2022 15:27

I have been speaking to ds about this. He has been drinking alcohol with dd at her flat for the last few months. He has had alcopops,beer and wine. Dd has only let him have one every time he has stayed over with her.

I told him that he knew that he wasn’t allowed so why did he do it and said he was interested and dd let him.

I have told him he is not his phone or console for a week and his laptop is for school work only.

OP posts:
Nolitoad · 25/09/2022 15:30

Pressed send too soon I have asked to call dd this afternoon/evening.

OP posts:
EveSix · 25/09/2022 15:35

Your DD is thrilled to be seen to be independent and it showcasing it to her younger brother by nonchalantly applying a laissez faire attitude to both alcohol and parental boundaries. It's an intoxicating double whammy for her ego.

Your DS should definitely not be soft-nudged into drinking by his sister who clearly does not have his best interest at heart.

Smineusername · 25/09/2022 15:58

I wouldn't be surprised if she's given him a joint

HamiltonFan1 · 25/09/2022 16:00

Smineusername · 25/09/2022 15:58

I wouldn't be surprised if she's given him a joint

Biscuit
picklemewalnuts · 25/09/2022 18:17

Is this the DD that bought him expensive trainers, when you'd said he couldn't have them?

lannistunut · 25/09/2022 18:37

I think you are right to put a stop to it OP, your DD is behaving very badly. I have a large age gap between some of our kids and they have always had a very responsible approach and looked out for their younger siblings. I had much older siblings myself and they were people I could trust to look out for me, they would not have done that.

Thestagshead · 25/09/2022 18:43

I don’t think she is behaving badly, she’s limiting it to one and she’s looking out for her brother, she’s putting her brother above her mother.

im shocked the op is punishing him for it. That’s aappalling.

YanTanTetheraPetheraPimp · 25/09/2022 19:06

Thestagshead · 25/09/2022 18:43

I don’t think she is behaving badly, she’s limiting it to one and she’s looking out for her brother, she’s putting her brother above her mother.

im shocked the op is punishing him for it. That’s aappalling.

Seriously!?

  1. The boy’s old enough to know he’s underage for drinking AND his parents’ views on drinking alcohol
  2. wtf do you mean about ‘…she’s looking out for her brother….putting her brother above his mother..? She’s not the parent, her behaviour is irresponsible, she’s breaking the law by supplying alcohol and quite honestly I would be furious too.
GettingItOutThere · 25/09/2022 19:19

i agree with you OP, your DD is well out of order. She is not the parent and should not be making decisions like that without your say so.
I would also stop the meetings too, until she respects you as a boundary

roarfeckingroarr · 25/09/2022 19:22

Yes YABU and wrong.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 26/09/2022 00:51

I'm surprised he's drinking wine and beer at all, as it seems that the intoxicants of choice with 14 year olds round here are

Edibles
Balloons
Skunk
Snorting solpadeine
Pills. No idea what, usually
Amphetamines (often somebody's ADHD meds)
Cocaine if they've got a mate at the private school
Vodka

None of them are having a pinot noir on the swings.

Trouble is that if you hurt somebody enough by, for example, banning them from contact with a sibling, they tend to do what you blame for hurting them in the first place to a greater extent and with fewer safeguards.

tiredinoratia · 26/09/2022 03:13

I think punishment is not warranted. The approach you have taken is not logical to the issue at hand and will actually cause resenent and secrecy rather than learning and trust. Im not surprised your dd felt the need to step in if this is how you raised her too. Your response makes no sense to me.

MummyDrinksWine · 26/09/2022 03:39

Conflicted; it’s not her place to give him alcohol. You are the parent, not her.

However, I agree with her. My mum let me drink at home with her from quite young, probably 12ish.. it was only the odd alcopop type drink when we had a take away every so often on a weekend. I’ve never been an out of control drinker (despite my username!), I never hung around parks or town to drink, I never used to hide the fact I’d be drinking at parties when I got a bit older. She taught me how to drink responsibly.. I can’t say I haven’t had my fAir share of awful hangovers. But I’ve always had an open and honest relationship with my mum, because she was lenient and showed me that although she’s my parent and can advise me; she’s also not there to look for reasons to slap my wrist.

In contrast to myself, I have friend who’s parents were incredibly strict and threatening when it came to drinking and every single one of those friends ended up lying to their parents about where they were and what they were doing. Because well, why wouldn’t you when your scared of your parents reaction and can’t tell them anything?

DD was wrong for giving your DS alcohol without your knowledge, but she’s right to try and teach your DS that responsible drinking is better than sneaking around.

MummyDrinksWine · 26/09/2022 03:42

and if you want to get super technical, it’s legal to drink in your own home or on private premises from the age of 5.. 😂 so he’s actually well above the legal drinking age.

Feelingconfused2020 · 26/09/2022 03:51

I'd be furious. There is no evidence to back up her view. Alcohol is addictive. She's also shown a lack of maturity in going against your rules like that. She won't like it in future of she has kids and you undermine her with them.

I don't know the solution long term but for now at least I wouldn't be letting him stay unsupervised. She's clearly not nature enough.

Swipe left for the next trending thread