Drinking at 13
O to the long weekend. It was a very interesting weekend to say the least. I went to Nevada for a night and had a lot of fun. I always have fun in Nevada, though I would not want to live there. It is an excellent place to visit. I spent the first of the evening with the dice. I love to play craps, but unfortunately I did not bring the proper shoes for the dice table and had to move to the blackjack table. I played there for about 4 hours and made money there too.
Gambling is always great fun for me. I never go to Nevada thinking I am going to win big, I go thinking I am going to have fun and be entertained. I usually only allow myself $20 of gambling money and when it is gone I do something else. I am a “by the books” gambler, and therefore $20 usually lasts me for hours. Well Saturday night it lasted the entire night and I ended up with $120 more than I started with. I also ended up with a pretty nice buzz and entertainment for hours too. Not a bad trip if I do say so myself.
However at breakfast the next morning I received a phone call from an irate Brittany. Apparently my 13-year-old brother decided to drink Saturday night too. My brother drank so much that he was sick all over the house. His nanny went to bed and missed the whole thing. I was schedule to watch my brother Sunday night so his nanny could have Sunday and Monday off. I did not know what to do! Drinking at 13 is a serious thing and needed to be punished but I did not think I was the one to do the punishment. I am not his mother, even if technically I am old enough to be his mother.
I did want to stress to him how important it is not to start drinking at 13, but I did not know what to say to him. I usually have an easy time talking with him because I remember what it was like to be 13, but I did not drink at 13 so I had nothing to go on. I know many of you are parents, what would you do in my situation? What can I say or do to help my younger brother?
Gambling is always great fun for me. I never go to Nevada thinking I am going to win big, I go thinking I am going to have fun and be entertained. I usually only allow myself $20 of gambling money and when it is gone I do something else. I am a “by the books” gambler, and therefore $20 usually lasts me for hours. Well Saturday night it lasted the entire night and I ended up with $120 more than I started with. I also ended up with a pretty nice buzz and entertainment for hours too. Not a bad trip if I do say so myself.
However at breakfast the next morning I received a phone call from an irate Brittany. Apparently my 13-year-old brother decided to drink Saturday night too. My brother drank so much that he was sick all over the house. His nanny went to bed and missed the whole thing. I was schedule to watch my brother Sunday night so his nanny could have Sunday and Monday off. I did not know what to do! Drinking at 13 is a serious thing and needed to be punished but I did not think I was the one to do the punishment. I am not his mother, even if technically I am old enough to be his mother.
I did want to stress to him how important it is not to start drinking at 13, but I did not know what to say to him. I usually have an easy time talking with him because I remember what it was like to be 13, but I did not drink at 13 so I had nothing to go on. I know many of you are parents, what would you do in my situation? What can I say or do to help my younger brother?
posted by Spin_Doc1 at
11:17 AM
6 Comments:
Well for starters, you're exactly right that it's not your place to punish him. But, you can lend your support by telling him that you know all about the pressures of teenagers and while there will be a time and place for him to have that kind of fun, it's not for someone his age.
There will be nothing left for him to experience if he does it all now.
That said, try not to worry about him. All kids experiment. Doesn't mean it will be an every day occurance.
By
Michelle, at 11:25 AM
Naive,
Thank you. It is hard not to worry about him.
By
Spin_Doc1, at 11:58 AM
if you ask my daughter she'll tell you she was grounded the whole of her high school years.
to quote INXS in Pretty Vegas, "it ain't pretty when the pretty leaves you after the show"
i don't know why I quoted INXS except for the fact that you were in Nevada and I am a dork.
By
i used to be me, at 2:37 PM
Genius,
Nevada isn't pretty, but it is fun. I told my mother to put him on "lock-down" but she didn't like that idea because she would be grounded too.
By
Spin_Doc1, at 6:14 PM
Spin - How did he get the alcohol? Was he drinking with friends or on his own? Who was supposed to be supervising him? Was it his first time? What were his thoughts about being sick and having a hangover?
You would need to know the answers to these questions before encouraging your mother to actually start parenting properly.
By
Imelda, at 7:35 AM
Imelda,
He found the beer in my mother's closet and he was drinking with friends. His nanny was supposed to be watching him but she was asleep. I don't think it was his first time and I let him sleep the next day.
By
Spin_Doc1, at 9:26 AM
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