I had my kids in two batches. Two boys two years apart then a gap of almost 7 years and then twins. I remember before the bog boys became teens I used to think that when they started drinking, I would gop ballistic and possibly combust with worry.
Well, we did have some hair-raising moments with drink and drugs.. and they are over now… actually not quite true as my son of 22 is goes out and drinks a LOT with his friends at weekends. It is a worry, but what can I say… I was far worse.
Anyway, we have two young teens now. I have a written contract with my daughter stating that if she drinks no alcohol until she is 18 then I will give her $3000. (Little does she know I’d give her much more… which would be worth the worry it saved me, I can tell you.) Let’s see hpw that works.
I can say that I don’t really expect these teens to listen to a word I say… but I will lob in the odd word of wisdom… they do not need to drink if their peers do… they definitely need to avoid spirits… oh that brings up some bad memories of their big brothers…
But maybe the best thing I can do is to instroduce them to alcohol-free drinks… maybe even let them take those to parties when they are teens. This AF drinks explosion is totally new… I wonder if other parents would be happy to host AF parties for teens but with beer and yummy mocktails… Hmmmm… I try not to look ahead with dread not to catastrophise about the years 14 – 17 with this next set of teens.
At least I will have a clearer head to deal with it.
