I learned the truth at seventeen

So we are banished to our bedroom because the stepson has a bunch of friend over for his seventeenth birthday. It is a strange gathering for a murrican such as myself because they have all brought alcohol. Yep it isn’t against the law for these children to drink. They can’t buy booze at this age but it is perfectly OK for them to drink. For you own children you can by beer and wine once they are older than four.

It is just one of the many differences I have discovered since moving here, and one of the more jarring ones. Is it a better system? In someways yes. It removes the mystery and forbidden allure and if they are supervised there isn’t that splurge of over indulgence that happens when they get to the legal age. On the other hand I see much more public drunkenness when we are out and about in London than I ever saw in the US. Again it isn’t against the law to be seen drinking in public like it is in most of the US.  Once I explained why winos are always portrayed drinking from a bottle in a paper bag almost all of the Brits exclaimed “I always wondered about that.”

Over all I think that it is better the way they handle it here so long as there are responsible parents to make sure that no one gets carried away, the problem of course is that just like in the US some parents are not responsible and no one is paying attention. I will say that for his teen faults Molly has raised a responsible young man. He is often the one making sure that when his friend have had too much that they get home OK or even calling us if he needs advice on how to handle a situation.

That is the mark of a fine young man and even more important of fine parenting. I know that he has the core values to (mostly) make the right call in tough circumstances. And while I may have had some impact it really is down to Molly who has hammered home the way to behave enough times that he can finish the sentences when she starts them.

Well done my love on doing a great job under trying conditions. Now we just have to get the teen girl through to seventeen.

Michael