Anonymous wrote:I would believe him. Why would he leave it on the counter if he drank it?

I agree. I think he's telling the truth. If he'd been drinking, he'd have likely not left the evidence in plain sight.

OP, was the bottle clean and rinsed out?

If he and his friends were drinking it they wouldn't have taken the time to rinse it and set it on the counter.

Believe him! He wouldn't be so stupid to leave it out on the table.

I'd believe that story. But I would also believe that he's likely to be the age when kids drink some (most kids, not all) I'm not surprised by either.

Unless there's a problem I wouldn't go looking for it.

Have you had trust issues with him in the past?
If he's a good kid who has never been caught drinking before, I would trust him.

If his lips are moving he is lying. He is 16.

Even at twelve and thirteen when my friends snd I were sneaking wine coolers and peach schnapps from the liberal cool parents and the old, inattentive parents, we had enough sense to hide the evidence or water down the bottles so the parents didn't notice.

My vote is that the kid might actually be telling the truth. Why would he leave the bottle on the counter? If he drank enough to consume a bottle of that nasty cheap stuff he would likely be sicl or hung over.

Just to be safe if you really suspect he did it, wake himnupnat the crack of dawn tomorrow to do outside manual labor.

I would believe him. He can't be dumb enough to leave it on the counter if he drank it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would believe him. Why would he leave it on the counter if he drank it?

Because alcohol interferes with judgement?

OP here, he does things that make no sense all the time. He's 16, and very very scatterbrained. I imagine that if he actually drank it that would amplified.

Right, but if he was so impaired that he was leaving alcohol bottles lying around, OP would have smelled it on him or seen behavioral changes. She didn't.

I wouldn't believe him mostly because I would have come up with an excuse like that!

I probably would, but I'd make a big deal about how I am trusting him and he doesn't want to lose that trust.

We're big on the trust thing in our house and it has worked well so far, but my kids are in their earlier teens so I'm not sure how it plays at 16.

Anonymous wrote:I would believe him. Why would he leave it on the counter if he drank it?

Because alcohol interferes with judgement?

OP here, he does things that make no sense all the time. He's 16, and very very scatterbrained. I imagine that if he actually drank it that would amplified.

I would believe him. Why would he leave it on the counter if he drank it?

I just Googled the bottle and its not clearly liquor. If he didn't seem drunk and he showed up quickly and answered your questions, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

Worst case scenario is that he was drinking but only a little, and you let it go. But best case (and most likely) scenario is that he's telling the truth and you are demonstrating your faith in him.

I'm a single mom with 2 kids, one currently away at sleep away camp. I don't drink alcohol, so it's not in the house.

I came home from work today, and there's an empty bottle of Applejack on my counter, and my DS16 year old is out with friends. A huge bottle, completely empty.

So, I call DS16 and say "come home now". 5 minutes later he walks in the door and I demand to know where it came from. He tells me that he found it on the sidewalk and wanted to give it to his friend who makes art out of recyclables. He swears he didn't know it was alcohol, just thought it as a nice shaped bottle.

He didn't smell of alcohol at all (I asked him to breathe in my face), or gum or mouthwash or anything else you might expect a teen to use to cover an alcohol smell. He seemed bright eyed, and normal.

Do I believe him? Is it possible that he was drinking and I didn't smell or sense a thing? Would you believe him if it was your kid? If you didn't, what would you do?