Told him Im going to AlAnon and when/if he's ready he can go to AlAteen (but I wasnt going to force him).

We spoke about Dad being grumpy especially after he's had a night drinking.

Very cool Barbara - good for you.... the toughest thing, for me to do, was to ensure that I didn't badmouth the A to the kids (no matter how easy it would have been to do so).... If we want them to see the true value of our programs, we will allow them to witness the changes in us, NOT the anger and blame that rears it's ugly head once in awhile....

Tom

Barbara,

Good for you, that is so great. Communication with your son. Wow. I think you are doing a great job.

Would he be open to alateen literature? Maybe a few books could help.

Much Love,

Thats great Barbara,

Honesty is important. We can't force them to go, but if they know the option is open and that it's available they might want to.

It will help him to know other kids go through the same things as he does.

                           love Jeannie

Your f2f meeting may have some alateen literature that you could borrow, just leave it lying around, let him read it if he wants, not if he doesn't. My daughter (14) is quite open to talking about this, and will read some alateen stuff, and might go to meetings if we had them here. My son (16) doesn't want to talk about it, at least not so openly - he is more likely to appraoch the subject from the side, so to speak. I find that if I am somewhat open about sharing my struggles, my children are more able to talk about things.- "I'm feelig a little lonely since your dad is gone so much, so here's what I'm going to do to make myself feel better" - that type of thing. Keep the focus off of the A, that's always best.