Writer's Block: Young and driven

[charisstoma]

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Legal drinking age is 21 here in Texas. But I was raised up north.

I was raised in a State where minors could be given alcohol by their parents. Intent was that the parents supervised so kids learned how to drink responsibly.
This was also during a time when the drinking age was 18. They've raised that to 21 now.

My parents would come home and each have a beer which we kids would line up to get a 'sip' of. *smiles* Amazing how when you put your hand up to help steady the can it can retard tipping the can back down and you can get more then 'just a sip'.

Results:
I don't drink often and never if I'm driving at all because I'm not able to function well enough under even a little of the influence to be responsible for the important people and activities in my life.

I agree with how I was raised. Under a parent's supervision children can be introduced to alcohol and taught how to use it responsibly if at all. There is no great mystique to it.
21 seems like a good age but I think too, if you are capable enough to take on adult responsibility like putting your life on the line for your country then you should be capable enough to drink responsibly. If you can't be responsible then expect to earn the full punishment and don't whine about impaired judgement making you do something you wouldn't normally do. It's the same as driving while exhausted enough you shouldn't be behind the wheel or on allergy/prescribed medications.

Comments

[luzestrellera.livejournal.com]

Here legal age to drink alcohol is 18 but police never did much about it in the past so if you were minor and you could get it in some way, no one was going to do anything about it... just since some years ago they realized that they should control it more so they begin punishing to those who sell it cause they finally saw that controling it was an effective way to avoid having irresposible teens driving and killing themselves or someone else...*facepalm*
so... i was raised almost same as you and totally agree with you about teaching children about alcohol and let them have a sip under their supervision
most children doesn't like alcohol too much, it's too strong for them so in my sister's case, it turned in she not liking alcohol at all, just beer and certain sweet drinks but she almost never drink and if she does it's in very little amounts
and ..in my case.. i loved it LMAO, but not beer, i didn't want to try beer and wine again until i was long over 21
as a child i loved cider and sweet sparkling wine but i only could have a bit of it at Xmas or New Year and they only let me have half a glass when i was over 15... anyway, when i was of legal age, i had more of it XD, and yes, i really like alcohol, now i even like the bitter tasting drinks but i don't feel the need of having it in big amounts, usually i become sleepy or happy, depends on the drink, after a glass.... so normally i stop there :P
i drink when i want which lately is really not often and well... i don't have a car *giggles* (the only problem is when i'm in a bar or disco cause "happiness" makes me look at men as if they were all Brad Pitt or Jared Leto... and then when i sober a bit i realize that i'm dancing with Lyle Lovett... XD)
and yes... responsability in my opinion is not a matter of age, is more a matter of how your are raised and what things and values are taught to you....

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

I get happy and mellow then sleepy if I have more then a few glasses of wine. Too shy to go to bars even with friends and if I do I drink too much to just be comfortable there.
Only times I've had more then a few glasses there was active vomiting into the next day. I have enough problems during bad allergy seasons with motion sickness from just living on the Earth. hmmmmm Maybe that has something to do with it.

It seems to be endemic in our culture to not take responsibility for our actions. We like to blame it on other things. (says the mom who makes excuses for her son with Asperger's Syndrome *sighs*) For those things that we can control.. we should and if we don't we need to realise there are consequences.
Need to go off and talk at myself. *sighs* Son has passive-aggressive down to an art.. don't know where he got it from *refuses to look in the mirror right now*
*SMILES* Don't have to worry about him drinking.. he hates the taste of even the good stuff. Amaretto yummmmm; over ice cream or in coffee or pudding or... *grins*

[luzestrellera.livejournal.com]

well, i'm the shy type too so first i had a drink to encourage me but since i'm done with just a bit.... XD
anyway, i had my moments when i drank just cause i wanted and too much but only once ended in throwing up... and not the next morning, it was right there...LOL, but i had a hard mix for me (a very strong margarita, then 3 full glasses of red wine cause i was thirsty...)
and after that i learned the lesson... do not mix XD
your son really has a problem there...no Amaretto??? well, his problem, give it to me! LOL

Let's see if this works

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

(http://pics.livejournal.com/charisstoma/pic/0000f09s/)

I believe it did. *SMILE* Now don't drink it all at once.

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

My family also let us drink whenever we wanted -- alcohol and coffee both. I literally don't remember my first drink of either one. I remember having wine with dinner if I wanted before I was old enough for school, and just a couple of years later having cocktails before dinner if I wanted. And if I wanted a screwdriver heavy on the OJ and light on the vodka, I had to ask for it that way, otherwise I got a regular drink.

For all of that, I don't drink now. I can't stand the taste of alcohol, even a tiny bit in a mixed drink or punch is revolting. I drank the occasional glass of whatever as a kid because it was a grown-up thing to do and I wanted to do what the adults were doing. After even Irish coffees failed to mask the taste of the alcohol, I finally decided at around seventeen or so that this was stupid, I had nothing to prove, and I quit trying. I don't drink at all now.

A funny: as I said, I could also have coffee whenever I wanted, if it was around, and how much sugar and/or milk I put in was up to me. I remember staying over at my grandparents' as a kid -- I think I was eight or nine this one time -- and one morning I got up and wanted a cola. My grandmother said no, that it was "too early in the morning" for a cola. I could have all the coffee I wanted, though. [headdesk] Ridiculous, but that was my grandmother. [wry smile]

Angie

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

I know there are people out there who would consider that giving alcohol to a child to be abusive. And really if your parents are alcoholics then how much supervision are they going to give to pass along good responsible judgement. I suppose that you could see the type of person you don't want to become.

But my upbringing worked for me and it worked for you and it has worked for my kids who are both old enough to make those choices legally.

*SMILES* I didn't think there was any time when it would be too early for a cola. Then again *coughs* sugar *coughs*

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

I know there are people out there who would consider that giving alcohol to a child to be abusive.

Sure, especially nowadays, when each child is supposed to be treated like a delicate little snowflake who'll melt to nothing if breathed on too hard. :/ When I was a kid (I'm forty-six now, as a reference) my family was unusual but didn't draw horrified stares or anything. And I agree that if there's alcoholism in the family, it's a different matter because of the genetic component. [nod]

Then again *coughs* sugar *coughs*

LOL! Except that I could scoop as much sugar into my coffee as I wanted, turning it into hot syrup if that's what I felt like drinking. [eyeroll] When I was little (up till six or so) my habitual coffee adulteration was three heaping teaspoons of sugar and almost an inch of milk. And this was in a coffee cup, not a mug. By the time of my confrontation with my grandmother, I was down to less than half as much of each, and by the time I was a teenager I was drinking it black. But no, the sugar wasn't the issue either, to my grandmother. It was just one of her notions, with which we all had to deal. :P

Angie

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

We were suppose to drink healthy things like milk for our strong bones and teeth. Soft drinks were rare in our house. Which following our theory that started this thread explains why as an adult I was abusing Pepsi, 6 cans a day until my body said enough. It's hard to argue with a need for all the things Pepto Bismo provides relief from.
Came to liking coffee late through a discovered love of chocolate covered coffee beans and just in time.