What Was Your Family's Policy on Alcohol Consumption When You Were a Child?

[rvwnsd]

While my parents didn't let my brother and me throw back six-packs, we did get champagne at birthdays, sips of cocktails, and the occasional quarter-can of beer.

[bostonman]

My dad developed a wine hobby for a while, but it was still usually a special occasion thing - when guests were over, or a holiday dinner, etc - and those kind of dinners were pretty much the only time us kids were allowed any. Otherwise my immediate family weren't major drinkers anyway, though we did have a liquor cabinet. I don't think any of us really ever had a taste for beer - I definitely don't. My brother might be more of a beer drinker, but we were never really the type to go drinking together lol.

 

The interesting thing was when I turned 17 (and at the time, the legal drinking age in CT was 18, but things seemed pretty liberal lol), and started getting involved with an adult community theatre group who did like to go out for a drink after rehearsals and performances. My parents seemed to trust me enough that they allowed me to go drinking with them if I wanted - at least I didn't have to feel like I was sneaking around. There were also definitely some parties with these folks, and again, my parents seemed to trust that I would be responsible. Ironically (or maybe not), it was the high school parties where things got less than responsible, lol.

[Trick]

I remember by dad telling me in my teens that a little drinking is okay, but not smoking

[bostonman]

I remember by dad telling me in my teens that a little drinking is okay, but not smoking

 

My dad smoked - his whole side of the family did. I never liked it, and never wanted to try it. My dad then had a heart attack, and tried to give up smoking - he struggled with that for a while, but finally did quit. He's had a history of heart trouble since, but he's very much alive and kicking at the age of 79. I tend to think that had he not quit smoking, he might not be with us now. (His mother had emphysema connected to her major smoking habit.)

 

Now - I *do* know that my parents (even at their age) do enjoy a joint now and then - something I did a little of in college and beyond - but really never did it that much either, and haven't for years. But I think it's funny that my parents do...

[bostonman]

My dad developed a wine hobby for a while, but it was still usually a special occasion thing - when guests were over, or a holiday dinner, etc - and those kind of dinners were pretty much the only time us kids were allowed any.

 

I do have a funny memory of a dinner occasion once where my dad brought out a bottle of Chateau Figeac. I looked at it, however young I was (maybe 11 or 12?) and I made some sort of quip about not wanting to drink anything called "fig-eek." Ah, youth...

[+ WilliamM]

My maternal grandfather and my mom's oldest brother ruined their lives because of alcohol.

 

I was more influenced my mom's two other brothers who never drank anything but beer in moderation

[+ FreshFluff]

I come from a family of non-drinkers. There were little bottles of airline liqueur at home but no one drank them. Bottles wine etc. sat around for years, untouched. We were allowed to drink red wine on holidays if we wished, but I found the taste repulsive.

[+ bashful]

My maternal grandfather and my mom's oldest brother ruined their lives because of alcohol.

 

I was more influenced my mom's two other brothers who never drank anything but beer in moderation

 

Unfortunately, some have no control over their alcohol consumption, and families bear the brunt.

[Guest]

I could have a glass of wine or an occasional beer when I was a teenager. If I had friends from high school over, I could serve them alcohol if I had their parents' permission. I realize such attitudes would be frowned upon these days. Once at a party at my mom's house, a friend from high school got drunk, fell down, and knocked out a tooth. I know things would be different these days, but we never were sued or otherwise got into trouble. I rarely drank, and only got drunk once, after my last final in high school. I mainly remember drinking on birthdays, when everyone had a flute of champagne. Nothing more.

[alrajee]

I've been drinking with my father since I was around 13. He said it was better that I learn how to enjoy it in a safe environment than me sneaking off and getting wasted elsewhere.

 

Not to say that I drank more than a glass though. I'd usually tap out at one not because I was getting tipsy but because I preferred soda. I only started appreciating the taste of wine and beer when I turned 18 or 19.

[Becket]

When Dad came home from work I was to make him a scotch and water. Mother would often join in with gin and tonic. I was the bartender at age nine or ten. Hated the smell of the booze. Have never had trouble with alcohol myself, though the addictive personality trait runs through me. Had other family members that were full blown alcoholics. Some got treatment and got better. Some did not. Pretty much a teetotaler now in the golden years.

 

Many people have stories similar to mine. Always helps to know your not alone.

[+ WilliamM]

My maternal grandfather and my mom's oldest brother ruined their lives because of alcohol.

 

I was more influenced my mom's two other brothers who never drank anything but beer in moderation

I did have a drinking problem after I was in the Army. Never missed work, but would get drunk o weekends and had blackouts. I remember one bad blackout and had no ideal what I said or did. That was in 1976, and I drank in moderation after that. Embarrassed to write this

[+ MysticMenace]

As children, alcohol was a big fat no from mother, although I remember my dad drinking a few bottles of beer when in gatherings with extended family. Because I was a rebel ? I tried beer (San Miguel, to be exact) when I was 9 and spat that thing back out - never to try beer again until college. Alcohol was just banned within my direct family, father included, since 2000. Obviously, my brothers and I would drink since we're of age, but never in front of our parents, until 3 years ago when my little brother outed me to my parents as someone who drank. My brothers and I still feel awkward drinking in front of our parents, so much so that we just avoid the situation from happening altogether ?‍♂️

[+ MysticMenace]

I did have a drinking problem after I was in the Army. Never missed work, but would get drunk o weekends and had blackouts. I remember one bad blackout and had no ideal what I said or did. That was in 1976, and I drank in moderation after that. Embarrassed to write this

 

Thanks for sharing, never an easy thing to admit, but glad you conquered the problem.

[Guest]

The policy - Keep it under a fifth/day.

 

it wasn’t a fun environment to grow up it...as a result, I didn’t drink at all.

 

I also didn’t smoke since there was plenty of second hand smoke to short circuit my respiratory system

[+ Italiano]

Once again, growing up in Italy the approach was quite different, as with nudity.

I don't recall when a bottle of wine wasn't on my family's kitchen table at lunch and dinner. Yes, Italian families especially back then sat twice at the table for food! I remember the first time I was allowed a little wine at the table, I must have been 13 or 14. Now I only sit at the table for dinner, and a glass of wine is most times very much appreciated. Wine in some Mediterranean Countries is not at all a vehicle to get drunk, but to enjoy a meal better. Beer was/is paired mostly with pizza in Italy, or for a get together with friends. I never saw my parents drunk. Even with my friends, I don't recall getting together "to get drunk" as I have seen as an habit in the US or other Countries. Ok, perhaps 2/3 times when we were teenagers with gin or vodka!

My mom, at 96, drinks half a glass of wine for lunch and half for dinner every freaking day!

 

Unfortunately, smoking was also a (BAD!) habit in my family, and everybody but one sister did smoke. My father offered me my first cigarette after dinner when I was 15, after my mom found a package hidden in my room because I was secretly smoking with my friends. My father, always a smoker, died of a heart attack when he was 75, and since then everybody in my family (me included) quit.

[+ Pensant]

Although my father drank with friends, there was seldom any alcohol in our house and I never tried any until freshman year of college, at fraternities. I didn’t have a social life in high school, and drinking wasn’t a big thing in any event. Now I need to dry out after three weeks in Baja and plenty of tequila and mezcal.

[maninsoma]

My parents did not drink. For a few years, we lived in a house with a nice bar downstairs that was stocked with various sorts of alcohol but they never touched it.

 

I have some photographs of my parents from earlier in their relationship where they seem to be imbibing with other young people, so I assume that they drank alcohol when they were younger and then made a conscious decision to stop at some point. As a result, I never touched alcohol until some older teen supplied some to be once. It was nasty, cheap "cherry vodka" which I barely drank. I didn't try it again until it was legal for me to do so and, initially, could only tolerate very sweet mixed drinks like black Russians.

[+ poolboy48220]

We'd have one glass of wine with dinner occasionally. I remember with some embarrassment some time in my late teens proclaiming that Lambrusco was the perfect wine, parroting another friend who (I thought at the time) was a wine expert. This same friend, on a zoom call with old friends recently, turned up his nose at the ALDI Winking Owl wine I was drinking on the call.

[+ poolboy48220]

When my sisters & I were cleaning out my Dad's house after he moved to a retirement apartment, we found a box of Burgundy in the basement. No idea how old it was, they'd been in that house 20 years and it's entirely possible they brought it with them when they moved in 1999. We drank some on a dare; OMG. I felt my hair tingle.

[+ Coolwave35]

I always think knowing a posters’ age helps put these questions in perspective. I’m 37. Grew up in a dry house where alcohol just wasn’t present. I didn’t try my first drink until after college when I was touring Europe in 2004. I didn’t pick up another one until very recently when my social circles tried to make me into a wine connoisseur. It was too late and it all tastes like NyQuil to me.

 

I’m vacationing with friends now who are trying to introduce me to assorted vodka brands mixed with juice and Hennessy with soda but it all tastes gross to me.

[+ azdr0710]

Family lore says that my great-grandmother, a Methodist in dry Kansas, would offer a cold Root to visitors because she wouldn't use the word 'beer'

[+ Charlie]

My mother never drank anything but an occasional glass of wine with a holiday meal, as did my father, but he might have a couple of beers on a weekend. There was never any hard liquor unless they were throwing a party, but they hardly ever drank it themselves, so a bottle of whiskey might last a few years in the cupboard. The wine also frequently had to be thrown out if the bottle had been open for a long time. When I was in my teens, I would often be offered a glass of wine with the holiday meal, but since it was usually something like cheap port, I didn't find it attractive.

 

I went away to college when I was 17, so of course I was introduced to the occasional beer party, but I didn't care much for beer, and I didn't want to drink too much for fear I would lose control and become too open about my sexual interests. I started going to gay bars at 18--they were legal at that age in NY in those days--but I ordered only beer and could nurse one for a long time. One New Year's Eve I went with a friend and two girls to Times Square, but before going out to watch the ball fall, we stopped in the Astor Bar, and wanting to appear sophisticated, I ordered a martini and drank it too fast; before I knew it, I was lying on the floor looking up at bemused faces. That taught me a lesson about my alcohol tolerance.

[Rudynate]

They didn't drink much. My father would have a beer from time to time. When they went out to dinner, my mother would nurse a single cocktail through the entire meal. There wasn't an explicit policy about alcohol. When we were little kids, my father would let us have sips of beer, but we just thought it tasted foul.

[TruthBTold]

The one thing I remember as a child is that my Dad's sister (my aunt) would have my younger sister and I make her gin martinis when the family got together. When we were young we lived with my grandmother and her. So we were sent over to the bar in the living room to make the a martini (with an olive) in an oversize martini glass and then on the way back over to give to her we would inevitably take a sip each. My taste for gin martinis sticks with me to this day.