I don’t know if he said it to get a rise out of me or not. He definitely wasn’t joking though. The thing is though, I believe him. I know his history with alcohol and drug abuse. He began his daily drinking at age 15, and doesn’t see a problem with that. All his friends did the same. It’s his world, and it’s all he knows. It’s this kind of thinking that can be extremely detrimental to my child’s health and wellbeing.

My theory in all of this is that prevention is the key. It’s so much harder to undo things than to prevent them from happening (I’m not saying it’s easy though… Clearly) I don’t want my child to EVER think it’s ok, or normal to behave the way he does. It’s not ok or normal to threaten, intimidate or harass. And it’s not ok or normal to allow yourself to be threatened, intimidated or harassed.

I already see a lot of his attitude and mannerisms in my child. It hurts to see it. A lot.