LovesToTravel

I believe that you need to have some time under your belt before you think about this question. Just don't drink today.

lucylestrange

Wow, Ima....your story is a lot like mine. I realize if you're not ready to quit (says me, with one day in) that what I say may not make a difference but I want you to hear it anyway. I spent quite a lot of my now-9-yr-old daughter's younger years drinking myself into a haze every night. I told myself I deserved a drink, I was a single Mom going through some extremely difficult things with her Dad. I would buy a 6 and drink 4 while I sat doing things online and she was playing or asleep. Then eventually I was drinking the whole 6. Then started buying a 12...drinking 8 with ease. Then 10. Then 12.

There have been nights I've even had more. But here's the thing....between the haze/black outs of all those nights and the years of drinking in general, I've got very little clear memories of times with her when she was little. Now she's 9, talking about boys, worrying about how she dresses, spending more time in her room. When I think of that little girl that I could have spent every waking minute with and struggle to remember details it completely breaks my heart. She's never going to be that child again, and I won't be having any more. I wasted so much time, and I hate myself for it.

Sounds like (again, like me) one of your weaknesses is grabbing alcohol when you have to run to the store....I too had to pass by the liquor aisle today! I got some Crystal Light w/ caffeine because I'm also going to try to cut back my Diet Pepsi day time drinking. Good for you for passing it up. I hope you can get a handle on this while your kids are young!

ReadyAndAble

The bad news is that alcoholics need to quit forever. The good news is that isn't really bad news, it just seems that way at first.

Seriously—you don't need the booze. It's not helping you to relax or to enjoy life—that's just the big lie addiction plants in our mind to keep us going. In fact, I bet the booze is making everything seem 10 times more stressful. Your kids aren't the problem. You find them annoying because the whole time your addiction is pestering you to hurry them off to bed so you can, well, drink more than you already have.

At least that's how it was for me. I just couldn't wait for everyone and everything to leave me alone with my drink. It was like I spent my the whole day, every day, rushing to the finish line of getting nice and drunk. And that compulsion, that obsession with my next drink, continued regardless of how much time I put between drinks. One hour, one week, one month—didn't matter. The only way I was able to stop it was to stop it, once and for all.

And remember, I said that's good news. Because it turns out everything is better without the booze. I'm more relaxed, more confident, happier, healthier. The whole world looks better to me now. I bet it changes the way you view things too, including those kids of yours. Who knew?

Congrats on the grocery run. That's no small feat—it's a huge step in the right direction.

dorito281211

The thought of quitting forever scared the hell out of me. Then someone said "don't not drink for the next year, not for the next month or even the next week or until tomorrow-can you not drink for today? Just today, can you do that?" I of course smiled and said "yup, that's easy! (for some it's not though and must got in 10 min blocks)
So, sobriety through one day at a time. Yup, sounds cheesy and cliche' but it really works

LDT

Would one glass of wine, once a month, really do it for you? For me, one glass of wine would hardly be worth all the thought and effort it would take to keep it at just one. And then of course, one glass always leads to two, and.......