This is only a suggestion.
Don't tease your disease with people places things and situations.

I too must be careful not to romance the drink. I want to look normal and fit in but I cannot drink successfully. Every time I try I end up failing. Good job on the seven days. That's awesome
1-2

Doing the cha-cha with the devil is not weird. It's what we do. What's weird is when we unlearn self-sabotaging behavior and do things differently. Substitution, even seemingly harmless substitution, keeps that co-presence conscious. It won't be long before the disease convinces you that grape juice and wine are pretty much the same as it has already justified drinking from a wine glass, the rationalization being that it feels slightly nostalgic. Sometimes my Boston Terrier takes the leash in his mouth and walks himself, but I understand this is a ruse, because he really wants the freedom to chase squirrels.

Hey, it's not wine, so at least you've got that.

Maybe this is just a babystep to weaning yourself off that life...

I'm trying to remember if I made myself virgin drinks in a martini glass for the first few months...

Now, it's so far past me, I don't even think about it.

But if I'm wanting a "drink" for the sake of drinking, I turned to tea... totally different experience.

Maybe that'll be down the line for you... But for now, whatever keeps you not drinking the wine, I say.

some consider near beer to be ok and that is their thing...well I just know for me....I had one near beer long ago in first year of sobriety and that was while waiting at airport on Guam for Girlfriend to fly back to STL MO....so I did buy an Odouls and drank it...but the thing is I had no desire to drink it again....good one for me...dancing with the devil is not my best idea of a date....LOL

There are absolutely no benifits from consuming alcohol. It is poison. So there is no reason to envy someone that is drinking wine or any other type of alcohol beverage. That means there is no reason to 'recreate the ritual of drinking wine', in your words.
This is extreme, but would it be the same as the cocaine addict who now is snorting sugar because he/she is trying to quit, but is 'recreating the ritual of snorting dope'?
Long story short: i tried the near beer thing, it just lead back to drinking.
7 days without a drink, that is good news...

Hi Rich, I remember having grape juice in a wine glass - seemed pretty innocent at the time and it would be for the non-alcoholic but not for people like me who have skewed thinking in this area. For me it was just inching back into "I can get away with just one" mentality. I found my thinking really was that sneaky for me in early sobriety.

Drinking out of a wine glass is neither good nor bad. It is just a glass.

I have beautiful wine glasses and on occasion I will drink sparking cider or club soda out of them. Why? Because to me it isn't a big deal to use a glass with a stem for a non-alcoholic beverage. I also like when I have a holiday meal to have a festive glass to toast with.

If you in any way pretend that you are drinking wine as you sip your grape juice, you are sidestepping your commitment to sobriety. That is not a good thing.

If drinking out a wine glass becomes a ritual or you go a little bonkers and start swirling the juice and talking about its bouquet, then stop. You no longer drink, so don't ever pretend you do.

Hello Rich,

What you have described is neither good nor bad so if it works for you that may be a positive. My own approach was to make a complete break with alcohol and all of the rituals that go with drinking. A wise man at early AA meetings that I used to attend suggested that it was better to: Leave that old life behind.

I used to follow a particular ritual on Sunday night when I was drinking and still have the same routine now, minus the drinking part. Last night, as happens now and again on Sunday nights, as I followed the same routine I got a strong urge to go to the pub and have a few drinks. If I had allowed that thought to develop I would soon be visualising a scene of fun and joy in the local bar, something that is far from the reality of how it actually was when I was drinking. I have learned that it is natural for such thoughts to occur but that it is important to put them out of my head quickly and not to dwell on them.

Maybe it would be better for you too to make a clean break with the drinking rituals and to develop other ways. Acceptance of the new reality is the foundation stone of recovery.

I guess part of the reason I put the grape juice in the wine glass was because when I was a kid I would put Sprite in a martini glass or Ginger Ale in a beer mug and pretend I was drinking "the real thing"

Ironically, I have never been a beer fan and although I've had an occasional martini they are really not something I would drink. I have always enjoyed sweeter cocktails like red wine, margaritas, etc.

I only did the grape juice / wine glass thing Saturday night but again was curious to get thoughts from people here about it.

Rich

Sorry, but to me your playing with it, and I think you will be drinking again soon. I tried this same thing long time ago. What's really in the back of your mind is that you still want to drink. Pretty soon your going to get frustrated because your not getting the same results, (The buzz that your mind really wants) and your going to say, "One won't hurt." You can keep playing and see what happens. Let me know how it goes. Best of luck. James

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I would never tell someone that they will be drinking again soon. Part of staying sober is a having positive and determined mindset so I don't see how predicting someone's failure is helpful.

Sprite in a martini glass? Sounds like alcoholism runs in the family.

I remember putting tonic water in a glass and acting the fool at like 8. I was a booze hound before there was booze!

Actually, the Sprite in a martini glass was inspired by washing M*A*S*H and Hawkeye and Trapper (and then BJ) drinking from the still they made in their tent.

My father didn't drink and my mother (who is now 85) has a bit of whiskey and water over ice in the evening after dinner. Two of my five siblings don't drink at all and neither of the other two drink to excess with any regularity so there isn't any history of alcoholism in my family.

Rich