Where do you keep your liquor?

[Big Cuddly Bear]

I'm mostly thinking about you folks with kids.

Is it in plain site, in a closet, in a locked cabinet?

Right now mine is all on shelves in the garage, but I imagine that in about 4 -5 years, I'll be locking it up.

How about you?

 

[AKL_Megs]

No kiddos just yet, but we are in the process of adding a bar to our basement, and that is where we will keep it. Out in the open.

My parents kept liquor in a cabinet in our basement, and I never touched it.

 

[C.Ann]

I've never kept liquor in the house, but many, many years ago, my late DH used to enjoy some beer now and then.. We just kept it in the fridge.. My kids (all adults now) were never interested in drinking.. I've lost many members of my family due to the actions of people who drink and drive and those memories made quite an impact on my kids.. Still to this day, they are always the "designated drivers"..

If I had kids now, chose to have alcoholic beverages in my home, and I thought there would be any temptation whatsoever, it would probably be locked up somewhere.. Obviously if a teen wants it bad enough they can get it somewhere else, but I wouldn't be the one making it easy for them..

 

[Rora]

My parents kept theirs in a low cabinet near the stove. I never touched it.

DH and I don't drink so it won't be an issue for us!

 

[kimblebee]

I have one bottle of Tequila that I use to make margaritas. My daughter is only 10 but I will never lock up or hide any bottles that are around. She knows that it is for adults and not for experimenting teens. I drank when I was 16 ( 18 is legal up here) so I know that she may be tempted as she gets older. I don't think I would freak out on her if she drinks underage. I'm not talking 14, I'm talking 16 or 17.

She knows how dead set I am against drinking and driving so she will know that she can call me if she is out and needs a ride home. Even if she is 16.

 

[goofy!]

We keep it out in the open - in the wine cooler in the kitchen and in an unlocked cabinet.

Adult kids never touched it.

 

[hereyago]

I have 1 wine cooler in the fridge. THe last time I drank one was Memorial Day weekend when a man t boned my car with DD and her friend in it.


Now before I had DD, wheewww, that was a whole different time. but I also didnt drink and drive because one of my friends was killed while we were in high school leaving a football game by a drunk driver.

 

[LisaR]

Kids will take OTC medication, sniff glue, drink rubbing alcohol or household cleaners, sniff paint, etc if they are so inclined. I have two teenagers and have never considered locking up our booze or any of the other items mentioned. Of course, if I suspected one of my kids had a problem, I would certainly take action but I would never lock up things just because they might someday be tempted.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I don't drink but DH drinks beer. He has a refrigerator in his half of the basement and he keeps it in there. I've never worried about it. Even though my girls are teens. I guess it's because I'm home all the time and I think I would know if they tried anything (at home). Maybe I'm too trusting. The parents of their friends don't have any alcohol in their houses at all.

 

[Hannathy]

In a kitchen cabinet and the refrigerator. Always have had it out in the open and always will and I do have kids including a teenager. I couldn't even imagine locking it up

Growing up it was out in the open then to. Actually even more so than in my house because my Dad got a lot of bottles for Christmas presents from businesses and my parents weren't big drinkers so getting a bunch of bottles every Christmas adds up over a decade or 2 so they were all down in the basement and my folks had no idea how many were there or what kind and any of use could have taken 1-6 and it wouldn't even have left a dent yet none of us did and when my Mom died that supply was still down there!

 

[johnsontrio]

We have a high schooler and our liquor is in a cabinet in the mudroom. We also usually have beer in the garage. I tell the kids that come here it is not intended for those under age and If I suspect that they have been in it we will all take a ride to the local police station where they are happy to do breathalyzers. Their parents would agree and one family has done so. The kids know I mean business. Never had a problem. DD doesn't want kids here that she doesn't know extremely well and trusts that they won't do anything to get themselves and her into trouble. However, I would do whatever I needed to do to keep them out of it if there were a problem.

Forgot all about the 100+ bottles of wine in the basement, I don't drink it.

 

[pennymom]

My kids are still in elementary school, and we usually have a few beers in the fridge, the current box or bottle of wine on the kitchen counter, and a couple of bottles of harder stuff in the pantry. I hope to never have to lock it up, just teach them a healthy respect for what it can do.

 

[simba20]

You know that teeny tiny cabinet above the fridge....that's where we keep ours.

We rarely drink, so we don't have much on hand.

 

[Kitty 34]

I have some rum and wine in a cabinet in the kitchen and DH has beer out in a mini fridge in his Mancave-barn. I didn't drink at all when our sons were growing up so just recently have I made room in the cupboard for a couple of bottles.

 

[DVCLiz]

I don't really drink much at home - usually I have wine when I'm out for a meal or at a social event, but I've never been in the habit of having a drink by myself at night.

My general rule of thumb having been through one group of teens and now the second (two daughters and their friends) is "No alcohol in the house during junior and senior year (of high school)." Good kids can make dumb choices and the penalties for being the "provider" are severe enough now that I'm not willing to take the chance.

 

[pixiewings71]

We don't lock up our alcohol. We keep it in a cabinet above our bar, some wine in the fridge (I probably have about 6 bottles in the fridge right now) and that's it really. We don't drink beer so we don't have that. I don't think it's necessary to lock up alcohol, I think children should respect their parents enough to stay away if they are told too. Also in our house we offer DD14 a drink of wine with dinner regularly, she has yet to do it but with DD22 we didn't make a big deal of it so we will follow the same path with the other 2. None of the kids are allowed to have friends here when we aren't here so that won't be an issue that we can see.

 

[NikitaZee]

Wine in the wine rack and fridge, beer in the fridge, liquor in the small cabinet above the fridge.

 

[golfgal]

The hard liquor is in the cabinet above the fridge. I usually have to ask DS15 to get it down for me if I make a drink because I can't reach it. We keep beer and wine in the fridge. Our kids don't drink-including our college aged son (yet). We are legal adults and can drink, there is no need to hide that.

 

[jfoofj]

Wow, I must have been a really horrible teen, because I snuck alcohol from my parents and my friends did too. I had one friend whose mother would talk to my mom (my mom always called to make sure the parents would be home when I would sleepover) and tell her what a great kid I was and what a pleasure it was to have me over, and that mom would go out on a date or out w/ her girlfriends and leave us home, unsupervised, with alcohol in the hosue. We drank, invited boys over, snuck into the neighbors pool.... never got caught. I cringe now when I think of the stuff we did and our parents had no idea. I had another friend whose older brother would buy for us, for a fee. We snuck alcohol into dances, in our hot cocoa at football games, would hang out in the woods and drink. We were good about having a designated driver or just staying at one friends house (usually the one whose parents were away or just really didn't supervise them).

As for my kids... I honestly don't know what we will do. Currently we have wine and beer in the fridge, wine in a wine rack, and some rum and tequila in a cabinet. They know that alcohol is for adults, but I'm ok with my kids having a sip of wine or beer as they get older... I think I would rather be open and frank with them instead of just saying "don't do it" like my parents did. My biggest issue would be that they know all the dangers of alcohol, how it impairs judgement, and that they should never drive or get in a car with someone who has been drinking.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Mine is in a cabinet which will soon be fitted with locks because of the liabilities we live with now. I trust my kids but they always have friends over and I have no reason to trust them, not to the extent that I am willing to bet my house anyway.

I know there is a chance my kids will break the rules but I hope and pray DH & my warnings are enough. Still, if not it's not worth dying over so I've had conversations with my kids about alcohol content in different types of drinks because SIL had 3 friends overdose on the stuff drinking vodka like it was beer out of giant SOLO cups when they were about 16 As I said I am totally against it but knowing the realities of the world I'm not willing to risk my kids lives over ignorance. Knowledge is better than any lock so we'll be doing both.