Reply to How do you tell your 7 and 9 year olds their dad is an alcoholic?

Forum Index » Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)

Reply to "How do you tell your 7 and 9 year olds their dad is an alcoholic?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, note that the people here with actual experience with addiction are telling you to be honest. I'm with them.

I have a 7- and 5-year-old with an alcoholic father. The 7-year-old has has asked very pointed questions about where his dad is when he goes away. I tried to be vague at first and it clearly was making him sad and anxious and he kept asking. So finally one night, I sat him down and explained to him what alcohol is. That some people can drink a little and be ok, but other people have a hard time controlling how much they drink and that it can change their behavior and make them angry or sad or forgetful. I explained that Daddy is one of those people, so he needs doctors to help him and to stay away from alcohol. It really seemed to put my son's questions to rest and make him feel better. I've also encouraged him to talk to his dad about it, but so far my son doesn't seem comfortable doing that. He's told me, "Daddy doesn't like to talk about things." Which is true, I have to give him that. It's still hard, so my heart goes out to you, but I noticed a big change when I finally had that talk with him.

The 5-year-old hasn't seemed to notice so much or ask a lot of questions, so I haven't explained yet but know that day will come. [/quote]

OP here.  Yep, I noticed it.  Also my older one is like yours - I know he knows something is wrong.  I definitely think he needs sunlight. Thanks[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics