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Alcohol and parenting simply can't mix
Filed under: Just For Moms, Just For Dads
I've been parenting for 7.5 years and in the last few weeks I've realized something really important. Something I
hope you'll realize too. Parenthood and alcohol simply can't mix.I know I've been a proponent of adult libations in moderation, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it may look like a glass of wine with dinner or a beer with a burger at the brew pub, but really it's a great big glass of irresponsible parenting. I don't see how I can tell my kids not to drink, especially once they're teens, if I don't abstain myself.
It's true you could have a drink when your children are not around but you have to ask yourself, is that appropriate really?
From now on it's (caffeine free) sodas and (sugar free) lemonade for me.
(P.S. -- Happy April Fool's Day!)
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
4-01-2006 @ 3:07PM
webhill said...I'm hoping this is an April Fool's joke. It has to be an April Fool's joke. You don't seem the sort of person to take yourself so darn seriously. Besides - are you trying to raise teetotalers? No? Then why be one? And if yes, then, ok - drinking would be hypocritical. But surely that would be the vast minority of parents.
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4-01-2006 @ 3:21PM
Kim said...Please tell me this is an April Fool....
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4-01-2006 @ 3:30PM
P's Mama said...Ha ha ha. Happy April Fool's Day, right?
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4-01-2006 @ 3:34PM
Kismet said...Wow....just wow.
Kidding, right?
~K!
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4-01-2006 @ 3:38PM
Ms Sisyphus said...Ok, I've been giggling at the April Fool's posts today, but MelissaS, you owe me a new keyboard. I just spit my adult libation all over mine!
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4-01-2006 @ 3:42PM
Ginny said...OK, ya got me. I was going to post a serious reply. When I saw the previous replies, I was glad I didn't have to go gettin my panties in a wad. ROFL
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4-01-2006 @ 3:51PM
joe bingham said...I hope this person is joking. I grew up in America, went to college in the US (lots of drinking, of course), got hired by a German company; moved to Germany for more than 4 years in my late 20's, then moved back.
The differences of attitude towards alcohol could not be more obtuse between the US and Germany (& EURO in general). Short story: American attitude is WRONG.
America still has a lot to learn (remember we are just a couple hundred years old)....The first tavern I went to while in London opened in 1504....
April Fool's, i hope.
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4-01-2006 @ 4:04PM
Nancy Toby said...This is so wrong on so many levels.
You must have gotten some awfully good prescription drugs in order to write this.
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4-01-2006 @ 4:27PM
margaret said...you are so right...........
i have developed a very close and sincere relationship with my cildren (now 2 - 12) since stopping.
unfortunately my husband is still chronic and that is a ground for filing.
the children don't want him around, they do not feel safe...
the best thing i have done as a parent was to stop, ironically mother's day eve '05
you go and just watch your relationship with kids strengthen.
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4-01-2006 @ 5:22PM
LS said...I know this is probably meant as an April Fool's joke, but seriously, how different is drinking from smoking? Parenting is all about the examples we set. We eat good food in the hopes that they'll see and imitate. We're nice to friends and strangers alike, in the hopes that they'll imitate. We pray, work hard, play nice, don't smoke, TRY not to swear, keep our tempers in check, all because they're watching.
Why should drinking be different???
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4-01-2006 @ 5:41PM
meredith said...I say parents might need to stop having sex too. Talk about setting a bad example.
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4-01-2006 @ 5:44PM
sozzled said...Hahaha. Happy Aprils Fools to you too. Personally I advocate drinking in excess, when it is remotely possible. Cheers!
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4-01-2006 @ 5:46PM
Chell said...I agree.
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4-01-2006 @ 6:11PM
StephanieS said...LS, drinking is different from smoking because there is no such thing as smoking responsibly or smoking in moderation. By showing kids that drinking (IN MODERATION) is no big deal, a lot of the rebellious appeal of underage or excessive drinking is taken away.
Besides, where did the notion that you can't have fun because you have kids come from?
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4-01-2006 @ 8:51PM
Erica Hume said...I really hope ths is an April Fools joke. Simply because, simply put...adults are old enough to drink in moderation. Obviously., it's not wrong to tell your kids " when you are a grow up, you can also drink in moderation." It's all about being of age baby.
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4-01-2006 @ 9:30PM
Jerri Ann Reason said...We all know you too well Melissa...I was thinking something was a miss just from your personal page, but I was expecting the ol' passed out kiddo's with the beer bottles beside them....
on this note as a serious issue, I think you handle it just right...my mother is a tee-total..about a lot of things for that matter, not just alcohol but she is more along the lines of prudish. anyway, my father was gay and was quite a drinker. the night he passed away he had already told his buddies to go have a beer that night and not to sit around being pitiful..and that is just what they did...I learned from him and as you mentioned the ol' teenager bit, he point blank said, "if you want to drink, have at it..right here at home, not on the road somewhere" and I didn't have anything to drink b/c he took all the thrill out of him, I had seen him drink and drink socially and do well with it (and not so well on an occasion or two) and I learned what drinking responsibly means. I've been through stages in my life where I wasn't so responsible, (something about divorces just brings out the alcohol drinker in me and I've done that 3 times)....but now, I drink if I want but mostly I don't want...I like the mixed drink stuff and I don't like to do it at home...I don't like wine or champagne and amaretta sours do me in the first time, lol
you are riot...keep up the good work! is April your birthday month? or October maybe?
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4-01-2006 @ 9:44PM
Erica said...Okay, i done thought you'd lost your mind. LMAO!
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4-02-2006 @ 3:03AM
Gillain said...I think you can't really call yourself a responsible parent unless you quit burping and are actually without flaw. If you are going to be an example to your children then you should be ready to prove that it is possible to achieve absolute perfection in all areas of your life. I am pretty sure I heard a hiccup over there, or was that a snort...
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4-02-2006 @ 2:44PM
Onbeelay said...http://www.marriedtothesea.com/boozetime-large.gif
I think you should definantly NOT ever wear this tshirt then. Nor would dooce like this one. nope.
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4-02-2006 @ 5:51PM
mimimom said...How do I get that shirt??
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