Wow! I'm on my 5th day right now. Reading through this thread got me thinking about a lot of things. Mainly, the "hiding". I didn't hide my drinking from my wife, but I did from my kids. They have no clue that I have ever touched a drink of alcohol. In fact, we preach to our kids about the dangers of alcohol and that they should never even experiment with it. Anyway, I got to thinking about how so many nights I would get irritated at my kids if they would stay up late - which would postpone my drinking. I wouldn't say anything mean to them or anything, and I think I would hide the irritation pretty good, but I WAS irritated at my kids for something as innocent as them wanting to stay up and hang out with me and my wife. How freaking pathetic!!! I know there were many times when I was short with them and hurried them off to bed so that I COULD START DRINKING!!! It makes me sad to think about that. I'm grateful that I stumbled onto this site. Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories! I wish you all the best of luck!