I know there are lots of parents out there who think they can handle an addiction while still being a great parent. They probably don’t even call it an addiction. Coping mechanism sounds mildly better, doesn’t it? So, how can a coping mechanism affect your family? Well, for starters there’s their health. There is no doubt that an addiction is going to impact on the health of your child and I'll give you an example. Let’s say that you’re a nicotine addict and you can’t handle waiting for the puff of your next cigarette. Are you going to light up with your child in the room? You might say, of course not! Okay...how about in the garden? You may think that smoking in the garden is perfectly safe, but experts disagree. The deadly fumes hang around in the air and will still be there when your little one heads out into the garden later. Of course, the issue of an impact on a child’s health is really just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more factors of your addiction that will destroy your child’s life.
In Danger
We’re not talking about direct consequences of an addiction anymore. How about indirectly putting your child in danger? Let’s say you’ve gone out for a lovely dinner as a family. You have always had a glass of wine with your meals. That’s it, one glass of wine. But depending on the wine in question that could still put you over the edge and make you less attentive on the drive home. This may mean that you are actually putting your kids in danger because of an addiction that you couldn’t say no to. At best you’ll find yourself sitting talking to Scheiner Law's DWI lawyers with your child in the waiting room a day later. At worse, you could be involved in an accident. It doesn’t even bare thinking what the consequences of that could be. Of course, the former possibility still isn’t a great scenario.
Ashamed
Imagine how your children will feel when you are pulled over by the police. Not just pulled over but breathalyzed and found to be over the limit. Older children will know exactly what’s happening and younger ones will know enough to realize that you have done something wrong. They will be ashamed, and that’s not even considering the possibility that you could be charged with a crime for putting them in danger. It’s just one of the reasons why you need to kick your addiction as a parent because it’s not just your life that you’re putting at risk.
Broken And Broke
Finally, it’s fair to say that most addictions are expensive. If you’re buying a bottle of wine each week, you could still be spending close to a thousand a year, and very few addicts will settle for just one. Anything like cigarettes is also expensive so you can bet your addiction is going to affect the quality of life of your children. If you want them to have everything they have ever dreamed of, you must get the monkey off your back right now. Otherwise, you’ll constantly be tightening your belt for a reason that you’re too ashamed to talk about.
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