Beta Mum's Blog Beta Mum on 27 Apr 2007 09:57 am
Cheers!
So now I find we may soon be breaking the law by allowing our daughter to have a thimble full of wine with dinner once in a while.
The argument on the Today programme this morning was about 11-15 years olds, and our daughter is six, so does this make us especially irresponsible parents?
I’ve often thought it’s ironic that I’m more concerned about her drinking Coca Cola (which she loves) than I am about her having a few sips of wine (which she quite likes - rose being her favourite).
When I was a child my family didn’t drink wine with meals, so it wasn’t an issue, but I do remember being allowed to have a Creme de Menthe frappe after eating in restaurants. This felt like the height of sophistication to me then, and the very thought of it now makes me gag.
My grandparents both used to smoke. They ran a B&B and my gran had a Gladstone perpetually perched in the corner of her mouth as she served the guests their plates of Full English. When I went to bingo with them occasionally on a Friday night, I came home with my eyes stinging from the accumulated smoke of hundreds of Housey Housey fans.
Now I don’t smoke, and I drink no more than average.
So perhaps we should be force-feeding our kids Creme de Menthe and Capstan full strength with their Shreddies. It might put them off more than an outright veto, which in my experience leads to subterfuge for the sake of forbidden pleasures.
on 27 Apr 2007 at 3:05 pm 1.Pig in the kitchen said …
Hmmm, it’s a tricky issu. All our kids seem to like beer and they are allowed to dip their fingers in wine. I do have a panic sometimes that they always see me with a glass of wine in my hand, and I wonder how that maternal breath smells as I sing them their bedtime lullaby. I imagine them in some regression therapy in years to come retching at the smell of red wine…
on 27 Apr 2007 at 4:03 pm 2.Beta Mum said …
Ben has already complained about the smell of wine on our breath.
He doesn’t even drink a thimble-full, as he doesn’t like the taste. He probably would if he could have ketchup with it.
on 28 Apr 2007 at 3:56 pm 3.creative-type dad said …
I don’t know if I personally would let my daughter try wine at 6. And the wife and I are avid wine drinkers.
Maybe when she’s much older and having a dinner party perhaps.
on 28 Apr 2007 at 4:44 pm 4.spymum said …
I used to press wine (and beer) on my eldest on the tried and tested theory that if he was invited to do something it would be the very last thing he’d ever do. Result: he refused every drop! let’s hope I can keep this going until he’s eighteen!
on 03 May 2007 at 11:01 pm 5.Linda said …
I can remember drinking Babycham during Sunday dinner quite often when I was your daughter’s age and then I had a good sleep. We grew up in a pub and I used to say I couldn’t see the attraction of sitting there boozing all night. How times change. My girls won’t touch any sort of alcohol but we have a friend who’s let her daughter have the odd nip of red wine since she was about three. I was caught smoking when I was 11 and had my pocket money stopped. I had a time of quite heavy drinking but don’t drink at all now…makes me snore too much…:)