What age did you first consume alcohol?

[© tweed]

snuck a few beers as a 12 year old.  didn't really start hitting it til 15.

the "snuck a few beers" incident happened sometime during summer 2003... I had already been an Atlas member for a few months.  mind-boggling.

[© tweed]

8. 

It was Daddy's brandy.  I probably only had a few ounces, but I weighted all of fifty pounds so it was enough to make me sloppy drunk.  Daddy was amused.  Mama was very much upset about it. 

sloppy drunk as a happy child is the best.  I remember a few (legal, prescribed) codeine trips as a child.  didn't quite understand what was happening, but I knew that the world was my Wonderland.

[© tweed]

allowing your kid that yearly sip is probably a good thing.  when he hits 13/14 turn it into a small glass.  it removes the forbidden fruit allure of alcohol and gives him an idea of how to use it safely.  drinking alcohol safely (or 'responsibly') is a learned skill.

[© tweed]

allowing your kid that yearly sip is probably a good thing.  when he hits 13/14 turn it into a small glass.  it removes the forbidden fruit allure of alcohol and gives him an idea of how to use it safely.  drinking alcohol safely (or 'responsibly') is a learned skill.

This is pretty much the way we've raised our kids.

good, I hope it worked out.  Stanton Peele more or less endorses this approach in his book Addiction Proof Your Child: A Realistic Approach to Preventing Drug, Alcohol, and Other Dependencies.