Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My dd loved having a kiddie cocktail w/ us when we went out to dinner. She just saw it as she was getting a special drink just like her mommy was. Fast forward to 15 1/2 and dd has no desire for alcohol and knows she can talk to us about it and we won't flip out. I will have an occassional drink on the weekend and have taught dd that anything we eat or drink s/b in moderation. I was raised where alcohol was a deadly sin (yet stuffing one's face at church gatherings wasn't), and that just made me all the more curious about it in my late rebellious teens. Like others said, your friend needs to mind her own business.
My daughter (18mo) has a plastic coffee cup that she pretends to drink out when she has her breakfast so she can have "ca" like Daddy. Guess she's going to be some kind of caffiene fiend!
We didnt go out to eat much when I was a child but my mom/aunts/grandparents always bought a bottle or two of sparkling grape juice for the kids table at Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners. I loved drinking it out of the little cordial glasses but it never made me want some of the grown-ups drink (they drank Cold Duck)
I saw Candy cigs all over the place when we lived in Japan. (Also cig vending machines)
No one should have to justify drinking alcohol. It's an adult beverage and has been for a couple of thousand years. If you drink, you don't have to apologize to anyone.
As for kiddie cocktails, tell your friend to MYOB. They are harmless drinks. I love Virgin Marys and Shirley Temples, and I remember having them when I was a little kid and it was great fun to have a "special" drink for "special occasions".
Your friend is a busy body and she watches too much tv.
Yep- not a problem (so long as you weren't driving or were in the restaurant long enough after the drink for all effects to have worn off before driving your child anywhere afterwards. I do have a big problem with that.) Kids need to know, however, that there are some drinks that are NOT for children and are just for adults. I think that you shouldn't let her think that she is having the same "grown up" drink that you are having, as she may think it is okay for her to drink from your glass whenever you are having a grown up drink. And, as she gets older she may think that grown up drinks are harmless since she never felt any different drinking them when she got one in a restaurant. That could be a problem. So, maybe you should make it clear that she is having a "fancy" drink especially for kids and you are having one especially for grown ups.
Candy cigarettes and Shirley Temples ROCK! I still have the occasional Shirley Temple and candy cigarette!
Heck if you go to Red Robin they make all sorts of mocktails and no one questions the kids that order them. Also Costa Coffee in the UK makes mini babycinos for kids. It is frothy hot chocolate in a mini cappucino cup and being that they are very PC the mommy's there are not in an uproar believing their child will be driven to drink coffee at an early age. I do not believe a Shirley Temple will drive a kid to drink nor candy cigarettes will drive a kid to smoke.
I think just the opposite. The more a thing is taboo or mysterious, the more likely kids will be to want to try it. Kids will try many things because of peer pressure, smoking, drinking and even sex. If they are educated and exposed to such things as being normal adult activities and the cool factor is taken out of the equation the less likely they will be to feel any pressure to adult things.
I think there is a lot of truth in this. Here in Switzerland the drinking age is 16 for wine and beer. I have been here over a year and I have NEVER seen visibly drunk teens or young adults out in public.
I think I had my first Shirley Temple when I was four. I thought it was just fabulous to sit in a nice restaurant and be treated to something special. I've also consumed many packs of candy cigarettes. (Which, yes, I would pretend to smoke including flicking off the "ashes" into the ashtray in the car.)
Even with all that corruption I didn't drink alcohol until I was well into my twenties and I've never smoked. BTW my dad, who didn't smoke or drink for religious reasons, had zero problem with us having the fake drinks and smokes. He knew we were in it for the sugar and the adventure of feeling like a grown-up.
Better to worry about what a small child has in their everyday diet, IMHO.
LOL, I did that too! And nope, I never smoked as an adult.
Please!!! That is akin to saying becuase you got your daughter a Barbie, she is going to want a boob job!
I LOVED candy cigarettes, and those bubble gum cigars. I pretneded to smoke. I was a fiend for those. I have never smoked regular cigarettes.
Kiddie cocktail! Loved them, with the cherry. Yum. What a special treat. I have not had an addiction to alcohol.
Your friend needs to chill. Does she have kids?
This woman was actually a friend of my friend's, and I didn't hear her mention any kids. I actually made the mistake of asking her what the problem was, because I saw the look on her face when my dd got her drink. Maybe I shouldn't have asked. As a kid, I also enjoyed candy cigarettes and kiddie cocktails, and never once thought of it as something harmful or negative. I never smoked, and never had a problem with alcohol. Which is why I was kind of taken aback that people actually had a problem with it.
I shouldn't have been surprised though...I should know by now that some people will have a problem with everything you do.
Yep- not a problem (so long as you weren't driving or were in the restaurant long enough after the drink for all effects to have worn off before driving your child anywhere afterwards. I do have a big problem with that.) Kids need to know, however, that there are some drinks that are NOT for children and are just for adults. I think that you shouldn't let her think that she is having the same "grown up" drink that you are having, as she may think it is okay for her to drink from your glass whenever you are having a grown up drink. And, as she gets older she may think that grown up drinks are harmless since she never felt any different drinking them when she got one in a restaurant. That could be a problem. So, maybe you should make it clear that she is having a "fancy" drink especially for kids and you are having one especially for grown ups.
Yes, I was driving but was no where near drunk or even tipsy after one drink, so that wasn't an issue at all. If I planned on having more than one or two, I would have found a babysitter. And you're right, kids should know the difference between kid and grown up drinks, which is why I liked her having her own special drink. Usually, she wants to taste what I have and drink out my glass, particularly soda, which she never gets at home. But if I tell her, "this is a grown up drink" then she knows she gets none.
I personally thought it was cute, she was sitting there stirring her drink with the stirrer and sipping it like a grown up. Didn't know that others may view her as an alcoholic in the making. But yes, it was clear to her that her drink was for kids and mine was not.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
