Thread: Clarity? *poof*
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Old 08-14-2010, 04:55 AM
  # 4 (permalink)  
NoDaybutoday
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 13
Well, I lived with a functional alcoholic, our baby girl and his teenage son. When I started going to Al-Anon, my XH's son, my DSS (dear stepson) asked me some questions about it. At first, he really didn't seem to think that there was a problem with the drinking. When he asked me more questions though, we talked about XH's abusive and unfair tendencies when he drank, and that's when it really hit home. DSS had a LOT to say about that. He never did come to an Al-Anon meeting. He did however join the chatrooms and talked a lot to some of the members there, under my supervision. His understanding of alcoholism was rather limited and there was a part of him that defended his dad, but I knew he felt better about having people to talk to about the things that did bother him.

Later on, after I left, DSS was left alone with his father, without me to act as a buffer. I guess things go bad enough to that DSS decided to move out and go back to live with his mother, so there must have been LOTS that bothered him.

So, regarding your daughter's impression of your husband's drinking, it may be that *right now* she thinks it's all ok. That may well change in the future. Had I not intervened with DSS and asked him some rather direct questions about his father's drinking, he would have grown up thinking that it was all normal.

IMO keep the lines of communication open with your daughter. If she ever needs to talk to you about your AH's drinking, she'll know your door is always open...
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