I barely have one glass of wine a week...yet when my third grade daughter was asked to draw a picture of what she wanted to be when she grew up she drew a picture of her as a bartender! Complete with her standing behind the bar with frothy mugs of beer. Good grief!

My kids are still young and since I've been pregnant for a significant portion of the last four years I'm in the habit of not drinking alcohol. In general, we don't have alcohol in the house because it's not something my husband and I want to consume on a regular basis. It's also not something we want our kids growing up thinking it's something that should be consumed all the time.

I think when a kid inquires about alcohol its a perfect time to talk about moderation, not to hide it or act like it is something to be hidden. Tell them all the side effects of alcohol. Explain to them why there is a drinking age (drinking too young can hurt brain development). Discuss with them the importance of not drinking and driving and illustrate that through your behaviors. Tell them how you have learned when you have had enough and what you do to make sure that you don't drink too much. That's how they'll learn to be responsible drinkers when their time comes. Really not that big of deal.

Our 3 middle schoolers have hounded us. The had a health class and then that night they started. We had to sit down and have a long conversation about responsibility, tolerance, maturity, etc. Having a glass of wine with dinner once a week doesn't make you an alcoholic but in their class, it did.

Sadly, our society has no problem over-exposing our children to sex and violence through television, movies, and video games, but alcohol has become a hidden evil. As the daughter of a recovering alcoholic (who I lost at the age of 22), the last thing I want is for alcohol to be AT ALL mysterious to my children, ages 5 and 10. My father was adamant about making sure that we understood the differnce between enjoyment and addiction. It doesn't mean that in my early twenties while in college I didn't overindulge, but it does mean that I am smart enough as an adult to "enjoy responsibly", and plan on teaching my children the same, regardless of the propaganda they are inundated with at school. It's the same USELESS scare tactics that so many "anti-drug" organizations have wasted millions of dollars on over the past twenty-five years.

We certainly don't hide it from our son. Seems to me, that making it a mystery and forbidden would be an excellent way to pique a child's curiosity. Of course, a lot of it depends on the culture you are in. Our neighborhood drinks. I don't know anyone in our immediate social circle with a drinking problem, but in our neighborhood social circle of the parents of kids who go to school together everyone drinks. When we get the kids together at someone's house to play, there is usually wine or beer for the parents. When we have neighborhood supper club for all the parents and kids.... wine and beer is served for the parents. When we all get together for a Halloween party, or Christmas, or Birthdays. No one is ever drunk or impaired. When my parents visited they said it was, frankly, much more like when they were growing up, or when we lived in the UK as kids. The adults drank, the kids knew it, but no one drank to excess and no one cared. Far healthier than the standard modern day trend of not drinking at home, and then going out and getting hammered on the weekend. What our children see modeled is drinking responsibly, and I don't see how that is bad.

It's sad, I hate how the media makes alcohol seem "ok" like this... like nothing parents can do will stop their kids from getting dead-drunk dozens of times throughout collage.

Meanwhile, LSD and marijuana is placed next to heroin, crack cocaine, and methamphetamine's.

Thank heavens I passed on having kids. My Eastern Europen mom, who had traditional old-country values, tried to stress that alcoholic drinks were for men, only. As far as kids trying to tell adults what to do, remember: they're the children, and you're the adults.

Or maybe the blogger has a problem that her kids see but she is in denial about. It sounds like her kids know what she is like when she drinks too much. I think ADS80 has the right approach to the situation, don't put off talking with your kids about alcohol, discuss it with them when they bring it up when they are young. And discuss it when you're sober. Many of my 'social drinker' friends think they are terribly witty when they are a wee bit tipsy, but they aren't, they tell stupid jokes they'd never say if they weren't drinking.

We should educate kids about the proper uses, like "because it's Tuesday." Yeah, that is hi-larious.

Oddly enough, I agree with the general thrust of the article, but so much of it is cringe-worthy. Teach our kids that a bad day often requires a drink? Really?? There's a good life lesson in the use of drugs as a coping mechanism?

Teach kids that alcohol is to be used responsibly and in moderation, without making a huge deal out of it-- that I agree with.

But as a teacher of teens, I have to tell you-- if junior is telling you to go easy on the sauce, you really need to consider the possibility that his policing of you is not the real problem.

Just like with sex, you must teach your kids about safe and moderate consumption. Alcohol in large amounts CAN kill -- I lost a former high school classmate due to alcohol poisoning from hazing while in college, so it DOES happen. I don't drink alcohol, because I have seen firsthand what it does to people and because my father almost drove us into a light pole once when I was a child, as well as almost driving us into the ocean due to his drinking. That makes a HUGE impression on a kid. It was terrifying and I was begging to be let out of the car so I could walk. He now has severe liver issues and it's a miracle he is alive.

I agree with the other posters that alcohol, because it is legal, is shown to be not nearly as harmful as say, marijuana, when in reality, it's worse, and that is something that kids need to be made aware of, because schools don't talk about the dangers of alcohol nearly as much as the dangers of drugs.

I'm sorry but maybe I come from a different generation (I'm 35) but as a child I minded my own business! My mom would not have tolerated any comments about what she did, from me. I was well-behaved and a good student but there were rules of conduct in my house and that included don't get into to "grown folks" business. My daughter was taught the same. I would have never dared to open my mouth about what my mom put in hers. I think its a respect level that some children don't have in this day and parents who accept that kind of behavior.

I honestly don't feel all that comfortable having more than a glass of wine or two with my child around; I just don't feel in control. I know I grew up and saw my parents drink beer/wine coolers but they always had 1 or 2 and I knew it was just a little treat for them and that I couldn't have any. Even when I was older and around the age where my friends had started socially drinking, I still knew that while my parents might guess I drank at parties, it was not acceptable around them. Of course I drank in college too but even to this day, I just don't drink a lot around my parents or my child...it's more of a respect thing to me. I want to be in control around those people, unless its a very special occasion and I happen to have more than usual. If your kids are noticing your drinking in a negative way, I think you have something to think about, and drinking isn't necessary. If my kid had a friend over for dinner, depending on the age, I would just refrain that night...I don't necessarily want my 10 year old at her friends house and watching her parents down a bottle of wine. Save it for another night.

I'll drink to that!

Our son also came home from school with the mindset that drinking any alcohol was wrong. We rarely imbibe. We bought a case of Corona one summer and ended chucking @ 1/2 of it out 2 years later. LOL. It was very annoying being harassed by our son and we talked to him about it. But kids that age take their lessons from school as gospel. It was the better part of a year until he stopped bugging us about it.

My Dad was an import from Germany. We were never denied a sip of a beer or cocktail growing up. As a teenager, I never had the urge to try and drink before I was of legal drinking age (even though many of our friends did). Even after I was legal to drink (18 back then), I was always aware of the perils of drinking and driving. I'd have one beer or drink at the beginning of the evening and then cut myself off.

We have offered our son (now 16) a sip of wine or beer over the years, but he's never been the least bit interested. I don't know if that's a result of his health class education, the fact that his parents don't drink much and, when we do, we have 1 beer or glass of wine, our talks with him about alcohol and responsibility, the lack of a 'forbidden fruit' craving, etc. But we're pleased as punch that he's got a level head on his shoulders concerning alcohol. Hopefully, our talks over the coming years will cement that mindset so that when he reaches 21, he drinks responsibly.

Its better for your kids to be the cocktail police rather than drinking them. Maybe after even one itty bitty drink you act like an idiot and your kids would rather you not especially in front of their friends. You are entitled to your own opinion but too many kids grew up with their parents drinking and said parents acting like complete morons. Drink your drinks then have your kids record your speech & behavior. Maybe you'll see what they're talking about. I respected my parents' right to drink but sure hated cleaning up the puke around the toilet the next day.

Absolutely apalled that this is on the MSNBC front page... This does not constitute news in any capacity. This is more akin to a middle aged white mother who keeps a blog and decides every now and then to submit a story which SHOULD have ended up there, but was published to the sites MAIN PAGE because another middle age white woman ( likely a mother too,... ) decided it was entertaining... When the world is in the shape it is today, global politics should never take a back seat to some halfwit loser who barely ( if at all ) qualifies as a journalist...

Don't have kids, I win!

The schools teach the same lesson for alcohol as they do for sex, and that is abstinence! My wife drinks maybe 4 glasses of wine a month, but I remember my daughter busting her chops, that she would become an alcoholic and die, leaving her motherless. When I would come to my wife's defence, my argument would be debated against the teachers and drug enforcement arguments, which my daughter believed to be the only truth. I finally came to the point of telling her, that when she pays the mortgage, then she would have a vote into mom and dads decisions.

this article is a little bizarre to me...if it bothers your child so much, then don't do it in front of them. What's the big deal? Is it sooooooooo neccessary to have wine or beer with dinner? Have an iced tea and have a glass of wine after the kids are put to bed. My father died of alcoholism when I was 23. I have taught my 8 year old son that alcohol killed him. Sorry, there's no other way around that one. Why would I then want to drink in front of him? Not to mention that alcoholism can run in families. I guess this article is written by someone that has never been affected by someone with an addiction. I guess most of the comments are made by the same. I just have a different view on the whole situation.