Drinking and Driving: Will They Ever Get It?

Thank you very much shanesmom, I really appreciate the complements. You sound a lot like me in parenting. Your right there are so many parents that are naive about kids understanding things at a younger age. They already know so much, there are days when my son just amazes the heck out of me. I found that the only way that you will really be knowledgeable is by life experiences. I have been through so much, but I try to help people learn through my experiences. It took me several yrs until I was 26, when I realized that things really do happen for a reason whether they are good nor bad. You wont know right away why things happen the way they do, but one day you will know. It could be a yr from now, a decade, you never will know, it will just hit you. Its life experiences that makes up a person I learned also. Because of the misfortune I suffered all through life I really thought that there really isn't a GOD! I KNOW NOW THERE IS AND UNFORTUNATELY THE NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES THAT WE HAVE, HAS A BIG PART OF OUR LIVES'. ONE DAY WE WILL ALL FIGURE OUT WHY WE SUFFERED MISFORTUNE DAILY, IF YOU HAVE THE LUCK AND STUFF THAT I HAVE THEN YOU WOULD KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. Also I have been teaching my son about Karma which is very much in all of our lives, whether it's good karma or bad its there. Once again I just want to thank you for the complements they made me feel good, parenting is hard but very rewarding! I enjoy talking to other parents who know where I'm coming from and use similar parent styles or techniques that I do. I really am finding out that I really like and enjoy this site. I needed something like this where you get advice from parents like me and you could find help with homework because my kid is learning things that I didn't learn until middle school and he's in 3rd grade! I stay very active with his class and his education. Parent involvement makes a BIG difference. I don't work so I am always with him and very much involved in his life. I don't want him to be nothing like I was in HS. I was an angel until I really got fed up with everything. I went many yrs being bullied for no reason. I had lots of problems and I was the type that was beyond shy and scared. I got good grades too. I was always on the honor roll trying to impress my parents but it never worked so about junior yr I gave up and said FTW and went to all black and goth and not care about any thing and I got the worse GPA that I ever heard of it was like a .63! I didn't know that, that was possible, the sad part was that I didn't even care any more. Until it was my Senior yr and my dad who never really liked me any way told me that I wouldn't amount to anything and so no of course I had to prove him wrong. Ya, I had to take all the boring classes senior yr because of my stupidity. I sent him a invitation to my high school graduation which I graduated with a 3.8 GPA. I wanted to make sure that I was not going to end up like my brother and sister. They never graduated high school. He always liked them better because they were easily manipulated and bought out. I on the other hand can't be bought because money don't mean nothing to me. It will never change the way I think and feel. I can not be controlled and my dad hates that and pretty much disowns me. Alright I thought I would let you all know a little more about misfortune, in case any of you have the same problems, then I want you all to know that your not alone and even though I experience all these unfortunate events, if I helped at least 1 person from this, then I am doing my job and that's the positive side of traumatic life experiences. Well I hope you all are doing well, bye for now, and good night!

I agree children do understand a lot. More than you think they would. My boy's are only eight and six but I have talks to them about alcohol and drugs. Age appropriate of course. We have read books about it together and have talks about it. My mom was a good mom too and talked to me about these things. Her mom/dad never talked to her about anything so she made sure she talked to me about these things and I am doing the same for my boy's. :) Parenting is hard.

Mother of 1....I applaud you for standing up and telling us so much about yourself....you are an inspiration and obviously a strong woman to have gone thru withdrawls cold turkey like that. Thank God your son's OK as I know it can be dangerous for the baby (depending on the drug).
You have a lot of wisdom that, unfortunately, came to you the hard way. Your keeping the communication line open with your son is what I do as well. Too many people, as you know, don't think young kids are intelligent enough or old enough.....my GOD!!! kids are SO SMART!! I wish more people gave them credit. They DO understand when they are 1 1/2 why they shouldn't touch the stove if you take the time to get on their level and explain why. THAT is when they generally won't try again to touch the stove. If you just tell a child NO!! or DON'T DO THAT!! What are they going to do? Exactly what you just said not to...they want to KNOW what does Mommy or Daddy not want me to know about?
The hard part to this educating my son about all the "horrors of the world" is trying to do it without him getting neurotic about it, ya know? You want to educate them but you have to be so careful what you say so they don't get afraid of their own shadow. We want them cautious, not scared.
Out came this little squirmy baby....in goes milk, out comes a few different products, but no manual came with it? :)

You are very lucky to have parents like that. My parents did not show any interest, care, or support while I was growing up. Which results as me an adult who is 28 and suffers from Bipolar illness. I got really caught up and involved in several different kinds of illegal drugs and alcohol. I was never taught any thing from my parents. Whenever I had a question about anything they always told me that I was too young to understand, but the funny thing was that I was never old enough it seemed. I turned to drugs and alcohol for the attention. I was really bad on it, but I did graduate High school and after that I became pregnant with my son. I believe if I would have never got pregnant would not be here to talk about this. I used to drink and drive all the time with no care in the world and would do any drug that was put down on the table, which I know now that this was not the smartest thing to do. Once I got pregnant I quit cold turkey and suffered horrible withdrawal's the whole 9 months but my son was really healthy and thank god for him because with him I do the exact opposite of what my parents did growing up and I don't even think about drinking and driving ever again. Just the fact to be putting everyone in danger and not only your self. Usually the drunk person lives because of their body is not so tense but on the other hand the innocent children or people are the ones that god forbid usually don't make it. I read to my son about addictions and drugs and driving and I am there for him whenever he needs me or I notice some familiar signs of depression and I get him help, I want him to have everything that I didn't, including early detection of depression. I really think that all cars should have breathalyzers that are built in the car. And have some way that the car can detect if it is a different person blowing in to the device. Some how the drivers seat should be able to sensor who is sitting there maybe by body heat or something. If the person is drunk in the drivers seat then it should be detected and the car shouldn't start. I know this stuff would be a lot of money but there is no amount of money in this world that will replace a life. Our money should go to causes like this instead of really stupid or petty reasons, on useless stuff that this world does not need. I would do anything if we could stop our kids from killing themselves in a drunk driving incident. My son's 8 I'm stressing the fact to make sure this gets in his head by the time that hes driving age. I'm there completely for him for anything and he knows it! So once again you are very fortunate to have loving parents!!!