To think encouraging kids to "drink" at christmas is a bit stupid?

[jesusofutopia]

My friend told me yesterday she is intending to allow her 8 and 10 year old a bottle of lager each on christmas day she said she intends to make the bottles last all day by watering them down with lemonade to make weak shandys but even so, aibu to think this is bloody stupid?

[disneystar]

you know i am amazed at the responses to this thread amazed and shocked
im not saying another word except listen to yourselves some of you
totally disgusting and very irresponsible

[Goober]

Mine always have Shleor over Christmas, but this year they will be having a small Bucks Fizz with Christmas dinner.

[Goober]

BTW, they are 10, 13 and 14.

[TheLadyEvenstar]

My eldest has a breezer at xmas, new yr or parties....well except our last one as i forgot to buy them. He is 10....

ds2 is a mini wine thief at 14m lmao he nicks my glass everytime so I allow him to have a sip...

mind you we discovered he doesn't like white wine only rose

[cory]

As far as I can see, the majority of the posters to this thread have actually answered that they do find a bottle of lager an inappropriate thing to give to a junior school child. What's so disgusting about that then?

I had sips of alcohol regularly from the age of 13, as I was the only Christian in my family and therefore attended Holy Communion. My parents were pretty well teetotal so this was the only alcohol consumed by my family during my childhood years. Neither I nor my three non-Christian non-communing brothers have grown up with an excessive interest in alcohol. It's something we might have with a special meal- or might do without.

Dh was brought up by parents who drank often and occasionally to excess, though they were in no sense addicts and never had any health or social problems related to drinking. He was encouraged to taste alcohol from his early teens. Funnily enough, his attitude to alcohol is almost the same as mine- pleasant but not essential.

Hopefully, this is the attitude our dc's will pick up from us.

[Quadrophenia]

I think stipulating a certain amount seems a bit wierd and almost forced, like trying too hard. TBh my 8 year olds would much rather a coke

[disneystar]

ive read enough damn idiots most of you on here and yes you know who you are
cant read this thread no more its so wrong to even think its funny to give a sip to a child and laugh about it
i dont care if people moan about what i said either
i care about my dc health and everything what happens to them

[Quadrophenia]

I think it is too simplistic to compare the UK to the continent and try and emulate for the benfit of bringing up children with a similar attitude to alcohol. Surely the binge drinking in teens and subsequent effects are realted to other social factors then just being allowed a drink on special occassions.

[bellavita]

Leave the thread then disneystar.

I did not say I actively gave them alcohol, but if they asked to try it, I let them - a sip, not a jugful.

AFWIW - mine prefer coke/lemonade (which they do not get very often), but they also like water too.

[TheLadyEvenstar]

if i don't give it to them....one day as teens they will get it themselves, I would rather they have their first taste of alcohol in a safe environment.

[TheLadyEvenstar]

Bellavita,
whats your secret????? ds1 will drink flavoured water....ds2 well you would think i was poisoning him.....mind you i think water is a poison lmao

[disneystar]

bella i never mentioned names

but good point

hey mom you smoking a cigarette can i have some

yes son but just one puff

no more said

[bellavita]

I don't know, they just drink it.

They do have squash at mealtimes, but they are allowed one beaker then if they ask for a refill, I give them water - end of.

[cory]

You mean the vicar was wrong to let me have Holy Communion?

Sorry, but you do need to specify who is being a damn idiot.

Also, to remember that some of us who may allow one sip of wine have older children. My dd is at secondary school and almost as tall as I. One tiny sip of weak wine is not going to have an intoxicating effect on her. I did not use to come out reeling from Sunday communion. I do care about what happens to her, I just do not believe that this occasional sip will do her harm, I believe it may even do her good. I am well aware that in a few years time she will be attending parties where alcohol will be available and she needs to exercise her own judgment as to how to handle it. In 6 years time, she may well be living in halls at the other end of the country. Hopefully, she will be cool about it and not feeling rebellious or needing to prove anything.

[TheLadyEvenstar]

Cory exactly my point

[disneystar]

i also have older children

22,20,17,8,7,4,5mths

older ones make there own choices
20 year old doesnt drink thinks it pointless
17 year old never has and he has a good social network of friends always ou etc....
i was merely pointing out its not right

communion is a different thing altogether

[cory]

I have a different attitude towards smoking, as most people I know who have tried smoking have ended up addicted very quickly; on the other hand, I know an awful lot of people (in fact, most the people I do know) who take the occasional drink, yet have not ended up with any addiction whatsoever. I think nicotine is more instantly addictive.

Coffee, on the other hand, is addictive and I am well aware of it. Bad for the blood pressure too. But once dd hits her teens, it's still going to be hard to forbid her to drink it.

[cory]

disneystar on Mon 17-Nov-08 22:48:06

"communion is a different thing altogether"

You mean alcohol is not a poison if used as part of a Christian rite. But it is a poison if used as part of a family rite?

"older ones make there own choices
20 year old doesnt drink thinks it pointless
17 year old never has and he has a good social network of friends always ou etc....
i was merely pointing out its not right"

Why would it not be right if one of them choose to take a glass of red wine with a special Sunday dinner? (This is the context in which most people I know drink.)

[TheLadyEvenstar]

Cory Shhhhh about the coffee addiction

(drink between 15-20 cups a day)

[disneystar]

i never said alcohol was a poison i said it was wrong and very irresponsible to give it to a child
i never mentioned names but you seem to have taken personal offence at my remark
im sure most families have a glass of wine with there sunday lunch and yes thats ok surely and its there choice to give it the dc
i said there were idiots on here
if you want me to be specific ok
eg, letting a toddler have a sip or many sips
thats what i thought was wrong and some parents thinking it was funny there toddler stole the drink
to me thats irresponsible i am allowed my opinion like everyone else here nd i am not rude about it
i just speak my mind

[combustiblelemon]

Yes the vicar was wrong Corey. Sharing a cup with dozens of other people? Bleurggh!! My church never bothered giving communion wine out, and even if it had, my mother wouldn't have let me anywhere near it!

I grew up with the option of watered down wine with meals on special occasions and holidays and a glass of champagne at new year- I remember as a 4 year old sticking my thumb in the tiny glass and then sucking it! I was allowed wine without water from 13/14. From 16 I could ask for a drink when I felt like one.

I've never been particularly bothered by alcohol and don't drink now- I'll have one drink if I'm out with friends, but would honestly rather have tonic with a twist of lime!

[skramble]

DS will have a bit of Cider now and then and DD claims to love champagne (cava and lemonade) but only has a sip. I must be so stupid, perhaps I should let them try out booze in a bus stop, bottle of diamond white between them maybe, or dodgy mixes in a friends bedroom, or alcopops outside the school disco.

To my kids alcohol is something you have with a meal, with the family drunk in moderation, not some evil forbidden thing.

[BarbieLovesKen]

I agree that laughing and thinking its funny to give a small BABY/TODDLER alcohol is completely ridiculous and very irresponsible imo

[FrannyandZooey]

frigging idiots
it's illegal to give children under 5 alcohol btw

whose benefit is she doing this for?

[TheLadyEvenstar]

A sip is not going to do anyone any harm.....never did me any harm at all. In fact I don't drink often or excessivly. And i did think it was funny when lo nicked my wine...But then I would because I am relaxed about life.....

Its not as if he has a sip everyday I am on about once in a while. I don't give him wine for breakfast lol