I agree with you, and teenagers are very impressionable at that age, I have a 17 year old and she has seen me drunk and it's not a good thing. I haven't told any family memebers either, the only one I have talked to about this is my friend and co-worker who is an alcoholic six months sober now and she understands me. Good luck to you, 7 days is a great accomplishment.

Sounds like your 16 year old is going to be very supportive and keeping an eye one you. haha

It will be worth it. Make it your priority each day and don't cave no matter how badly you think you might want one. It's poison for alcoholics.

Welcome.

I'm coming up on 3 years of 24 hours at a time. . . today I was out doing some errands with my boys. When we drove past one of the liquor stores that I used to frequent, my 9 year old son asked me - what did you used to go to that wine store all the time for? . . . and I thought at his age he'd have no memory of my drinking. A fairly harmless memory in this case, but hearing him say that still really shook me up.

I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to explain my alcoholism to them as they grow into teenagers. . . I just said, 'ya, I don't drink wine any more - it just made me tired'. Not much goes unnoticed.

Great job on 7 days - so worth it!

Seems that one thing in common is how well we think we keep our sobriety (and our drinking ) a secret. Sure didn't take me long to find out how well I was keeping mine. No matter, happenings like that clear the way for making amends - always a good thing.
Congrats on the 7 days, tisn't easy...

Dennis

I have found that I never needed to explain the disease to my children. Anyone who has grown up in an alcoholic home knows precisely what alcoholism is and the chaos it causes in the home.

My kids were 8 & 12 when I stopped. My sobriety meant more to them than an explanation. I made living amends until they were of an age that I could own my poor mothering skills and make formal amends to them. I thought once I was sober for so long they would forget. I talked to my son last year when he was down for a visit. This was when he was 31. He brought up some of the perceptions he had about what happened all those years ago. I validated him. I know it happened. I was there. My kids were in the midst of my insanity. Nope, I sure didn't have to explain about the disease to my children. I did make formal amends to them and will make living amends until the day I die.

Bootoo I can SOOOO relate to where you are at. I have 8 year old twins. My 8 year old boy said "my mom never lets wine touch her mouth" the other day when someone was talking about wine/ beer.
The kids have been to a few family AA gatherings, and they've gone to a few meetings with me. I'm not hiding my alcoholism from them. I really don't think they do have any real memories of me drunk. At least not that I see them/ hear them/ or notice them recall. I really did do my drinking when they were asleep, for the most part. But they HAVE seen me drunk. And I did drive them after a few drinks on many occasions. For that I will be forever grateful to god for allowing us to all get out of it with minimal damage. So grateful.
I'm so grateful to be sober today too. And by the grace of god I won't drink tomorrow either.
Whew.

Kind of hard to hide when you are falling down drunk, on the way in the house, like I used to get! Lol

My kids know and they are 9 and 10. I started going to meetings at night and they were always wondering where I was going, so I was honest and told them together. I was 1 month. I showed them my coin, and they both held it instinctively, and closed their eyes.

They both gave me hugs and said they were proud. Now, when I need to do step work, they give me time, they ask to see my coins, and support me. I remember shortly after, my 9 year old said " you used to drin the wine with the horse on it" I almost cried.

If a commercial comes on, that is drinking related, or a show, they always look to me to see if I'm OK. Best.decision.ever.

I learned very early on when I was making amends that pretty much everyone knew about it. Or if they didn't know about it being alcohol, they certainly clued into the fact that there was *something* amiss. Ego deflater there! I thought I was the only one who thought that putting vodka in a water bottle and flaunting it and drinking it openly without anyone knowing was a stroke of genius that only I thought of...ha ha.

But I found that being open to those who are close to me, and in going back talking to former bosses and friends, that there was nothing but support. People may not want to know the nuts and bolts of it, but they are always happy to know that you are doing what it takes to stay healthy.

It's a wonderful thing.