Lol...has she seen it on TV? The New Year's toast or anything like that? If fancy drinks, in her mind mean Sprite and peach juice, that's okay (sounds like a good combo actually), I'm not drinking alcohol tonight, maybe I'll try something like that and put it in a wine glass. I wouldn't worry (if you're worried).

For years I didn't know that adults put rum in egg nog. I'm not sure I knew what rum was. I thought we were drinking the same thing.

She loved the Sprite and peach juice.  Apparently at 5, fizzy is fancy.  :)  And no, I'm not worried.  I just wonder where she got the idea.  Neither Jim nor I drink very much and she only really watches Treehouse or her videos.  It must be from a kid at school, I guess.

Aaaw, that's cute! Happy New Year to you and your family. Wishing you happiness, healing and continued health ahead! Cheers! (I  went out and bought egg nog afterall. It will be gone from the shelves soon so might as welll--no rum though)

Well I had Thai Ice Tea - ah nectar from the heavens ;-)

Grown-up...

Was it for this I uttered prayers,
And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs,
That now, domestic as a plate,
I should retire at half-past eight?
       Edna St. Vincent Millay, The Selected Poetry

Alcoholics on both sides of our family - although I grew up in a house where liquor (even beer and wine) was almost non-existant - my brother died indirectly of alcoholism.   

We drink veery little.  I do find that a glass of wine, or a  nice punch gives an added touch to a festive meal.   Whenever I serve either, I make sure that there is an equally attractive non-alcoholic drink available.   It might be cranberry juice and gingerale, sparkling apple cider, or sprite and a fruit juice.   Or it might be a fancy bowl of punch that looks and tastes much the same as the bowl on the other table laced with vodka.   I never identify these as 'kids drinks' as opposed to 'adult drinks'.   If the kids want a taste of the 'moonshine' they are given a small sample.  And adults are free to choose the 'sunshine' with no questions asked.  

When Grandaughter (almost 15) is at the table for a family meal, I ask if she wants wine or juice and she gives me that same look as she does when I offer her a cup of tea.  A 'thanks, but no thanks' look.   But she loves to gather around the coffee table filled with cheeses and crackers, smoked oysters,  shrimp rings, and other niblets, and a special festive (non-alcoholic) drink.   She has since she was a toddler.  Her borther, at seven, still wants his carrot sticks, cubes of cheddar cheese, and plain crackers - and a drink he can identify (coke or juice).

I wouldn't worry if a child wants to celebrate a special occasion with a special drink.  

Seeler - I love that you offer equally fancy non-alcoholic drinks at all occasions! As someone who often serves as the designated driver (I'm one of the only ones who owns a car), I would feel very included at your party.

Designated driver, recovering alcoholic, person on medication, person who knows they have to go to work this evening, person who chooses for religious reasons not to drink alcohol, youth or child - all are welcome, all are included, no questions asked.   Come East Somegal and drop in for a visit.

When I think of New Years symbols, what is there other than the cheers-ing glasses, and coloured streamers and fireworks? Do a google image search for new years eve and you'll get fireworks, alcohol and clocks.

Seeler - someday I will head east - and that's a promise!

Hogmanay would start in our part of Scotland around noon… a bit of casual, leisurely visiting and a "wee drappie" here and there. By 10 p.m. things would be livening up with a "dram or twa" and midnight would really trigger the carouse. A bottle of whisky later, at around 10-11 a.m. there'd be a fry up involving bacon, eggs, black pudding, haggis and anything kicking around in the back of the fridge... and, after another wee "hair o' the dog",things would settle down around noon and the afternoons heaved with the sound of snoring. Ne'er Day was a write-off: deserted streets, darkened houses... and over the next few days people would start emerging, blinking and groaning into winter's driech pall. Without drink, it would not be Hogmanay.

i was at the other end of the conversation this year....

my 16 year old daughter wanted to have a few friends over for new years eve, and they wanted to have alcohol.  my husband and i thought about it, and came up with a plan...

we were comfortable with having 8 people.  we would serve alcohol under the following conditions....

1) all people drinking alcohol had to have their parents clear it with me first.  no parental consent, no alcohol served.

2) nobody at the party was allowed to drive home.  either parents came and picked them up, or my husband would take them home.

3) all alcoholic beverages would be kept by me.  i would pour the drinks or hand out the beer, and it was at my discretion who was cut off.  anyone who gave me trouble would be taken home immediatly.

4) smokers had to go outside. 

5) it was strictly 'cash for splash, moolah for spulah.'  anyone who puked had to pay me $50 to clean it up, no exceptions. 

i showed them how to mix a cosmopolitan, and my husband and i explained how one glass of wine = one beer = one shot of hard liquor.  we also explained to them how friggin' DANGEROUS it is to drink straight hard liquor.  i remember doing that as a teenager, and i'm still thankful that i didn't die under some bus somewhere.

anyways, it went well.  nobody had any complaints, everyone had fun and got home safely afterwards.  i don't know if we taught them anything about responsible consumption of alcohol, but i'll pretend we did and feel like i did my duty.

CHuckle chuckle Sighs. That sounds very well layed out. Sounds like you had each kid sign the contract! lol! Sounds like you did teach then something hardly any parent would dare too. Question: is it legal to give your, or someone else's, 16 year old alcohol? I think it's great your daughter came right out and told you and asked for your participation. Good way to avoid peukathon too! Sounds like responsible drinking to me.

Mike Hogmanay sounds stinky, very stinky. I like your accent!

as far as legality goes, it is legal for me to allow my kids to consume alcohol at a private function in my own home.  i'm not sure if that extends to other peoples kids if they give me permission, but my feeling was that if i had their consent, and that they were aware that their kid would be consuming alchol at my house and still allowed their kid to come to my house, i probably had all my bases covered.

i think that the problem begins when the person leaves the function... if you serve someone alcohol and then allow them to leave the premesis without ensuring that they don't do something stupid, then you start to have problems.

It depends on the province.  In Alberta, you can serve alcohol to your own kids (not in a licences facility though).  You wouldn't be able to serve minors but I doubt that if Sighs did the same thing here it would be an issue.

In England when my husband was a young man and a kid, it was common to order Shandy for the kids, which was a mix of beer and 7 up. They even still sell it in cans in the pop isle in grocery stores. When I arrived over there, being a non drinker, my companion suggested I have a shandy, but I didn't like it. I was surprised by this custom, different culture.

So I looked it up and canned Shandy from the grocery store is .5% alcohol, which comes under the limit for alcoholic beverages, which ammounts to 11% of the drink being beer. But when an adult orders it in a pub, if usually comes 50/50 beer/soda.

There is debate though about whether Shandy is a suitable drink for kids and on duty constables now. One 15 year old kid was suspended from school for a day for bringing it to school, and Leicestershire police have been banned from drinking it while on duty lest a whiff of alcohol be apparant on their breath.

In China, they often make a cocktail of Sprite and Beer (and I picked it up from them), so similar to Shandy. Not really non-alcoholic, though, since we often mix them 50-50 .

I'm no teetotaller but I don't drink much. Wine with dinner or at a party, sampling the wares when travelling (e.g. had a couple Cuba Libres while in Cuba last month), that sort of thing. This past New Year's Eve we bought champagne because we had company but normally we wouldn't bother.

Little M, so far, seems to be picking up our attitudes to alcohol (ok in moderation) and is quite anti-smoking as well. I still likely will make him wait until he's at or close to legal age before letting him drink.

Mendalla

My favourite Shandy recipe ...

Jamaican Ginger Beer and Guinness ... proportions vary.

Oh my!

A Guinness ... Entertainment in a glass!

   LB ;-)