So the piece in Wednesday's Times food section (Michael Ruhlman already blogged about it), about introducing your kids to wine - when I read that the first thing that came to mind was the offhand comment a couple of posts ago about Molly having a sip of beer.
I instantly thought that it probably sounded incredibly cavalier and irresponsible, and want to explain a bit. If you read the piece from the Times, a lot of the same thinking applies. As far back as I can remember in my childhood, beer or wine was usually part of dinner. I was never explicitly told, "this is part of the meal and not to be abused," but that was understood. Sometimes I got a little sip and that was it. It was for Mom and Dad, and I don't recall liking it a whole lot anyway. Do you remember when you learned that snow was cold? Probably not - you grew up with that understanding because it was all around you. At least if you grew up in the Northeast.
By the time I was in high school, I could have a small glass of wine with dinner if I wanted. It was part of the meal and it was also a culinary learning experience. It was also starting to taste good, and I appreciated that as well. Along with the food on the plates, it was part of our dinner together as a family.
Just to be clear - Molly is 4 and a half. She's not having alcohol with dinner. Every now and then she gets a sip (for beer she'd rather dip her finger in the foam anyway). She understands that it's something for adults. My hope is by the time she's older, and when we're comfortable letting her have a small glass of wine at dinner (way older), she'll already have some appreciation of what alcohol should be - something to compliment and enjoy with your meal, something to share with family - and what it shouldn't.
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