Parents often wonder how they can tell their children they have an addiction. Truth is, the children probably already know.
When is drinking an addiction?
Imagine this scenario: A single mom arrives home from a 12-hour shift at work after picking up her two children at school. She empties lunch bags, cooks dinner, helps with homework, supervises showers, reads to the kids before bed, tucks them in, closes their door and then she lets out a sigh.
It’s not so much a sigh of relief as a sigh of being exhausted and knowing that she still has chores to do before she can even sit down for the first time that day. She goes downstairs, cleans up the dishes from dinner, makes lunches for the next day, signs permission forms and finally, she is done. She can now relax. She can sit down. Why not have a glass of wine? Wine helps her to calm down and helps her unwind from her day.
There is nothing wrong with having a glass of wine or two when you’ve had a rough day, when you’re having a dinner party, or when you just want to relax. A problem arises when you find yourself thinking about this glass or two or three while you’re at work during the day. So you figure what’s the harm in having a glass while I’m out for lunch at work? Then you come home and instead of a glass or two, you find yourself drinking a whole bottle or two, or more.
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