- Good night
“Good night, dad”
- You all right in here?
“Yeah I’m fine”
- Don’t stay up too late
“I won’t”
- You doing homework or what
“I’m just writing something down and it’s taking a long time”
- Why
“I wanna get it just right”
- Well don’t stay up past like ten
“What’re you doing now”
- I gotta go read
“All the homework”
- Yup
“You’re gonna be up late huh”
- Gonna go have a coffee
“You putting anything in the coffee”
- My coffee’s black as tar, kiddo, black as tar
“Why do you always say that”
- Makes me happy
“You’re weird”
- You’re weird
“But you’re not putting any booze in it”
- Nope
“Good”
- Yep
“You were doing that for a while in the mornings”
- You saw that
“Well, yeah, dad”
- Oh well you know it was only once in a while
“I know”
- Like on Saturdays or Sundays or like a Wednesday here and there
“I know, dad”
- Anyway tonight it’s just black coffee so don’t worry
“You know who else is an alcoholic”
- Who
“Trevor’s dad”
- Oh, yeah, he’s a huge drunk
“You know that?”
- Oh my god
“How do you know that”
- Have you seen Trevor’s dad?
“Yeah I spose”
- He was wobbly at parent teacher conferences
“I spose”
- Did Trevor say so?
“Yeah he’s in the group now”
- What group
“We have a group at recess”
- Who has a group at recess
“We’re the Kids of Alcoholics”
- Oh no
“There’s a few of us”
- When did this start?
“While ago”
- Oh my god
“It’s great we just sit and talk”
- Where
“Under the pavilion”
- Those picnic tables there?
“Yeah”
- Oh my god
“Trevor’s dad fell up a flight of stairs”
- You mean down?
“No, up”
- How do you fall up stairs?
“He was running”
- And he fell all the way up
“He passed out at the top”
- Oh wow
“Trevor’s mom brought out a pillow and blanket”
- Haha no way
“How come you never went to (townie bar that’s a bit scary)?”
- Cos it’s a bit scary
“Trevor’s dad loves it”
- Yeah that’s kinda what I mean
“Trevor told us at the group yesterday”
- How many of you are there?
“We started out with only three, Ethan, Nathan and me, but now we’re almost at ten”
- How many is it
“There’s us three, then there’s Maria and there’s Bennie and there’s Sofia and there’s Tania and there’s Madison and there’s … Emilia and there’s … I think that’s it, is that almost ten?”
- That’s nine I think?
“I think that’s it”
- You just sit around and talk? That’s kinda cool
“Yeah it’s not only about how our parents are alcoholics, sometimes we talk about other stuff”
- You know your mom’s not a drunk you know
“Oh I know”
- I don’t want you thinking she is and I don’t want you telling other people she is
“All I would ever say is mom likes her wine and Blue Moon”
- That’s fine
“And she only got drunk that one time”
- Which time
“The casino night”
- Holy shit yeah I forgot about that
“Only that one time”
- Holy shit she coulda fell up stairs that night huh
“Only that one time, unlike you …”
- Okay, okay
“Okay, okay”
- What else do you guys talk about
“Y’all”
- Huh?
“Guys is gendered”
- Oh my god
“It is”
- I know, I’m sorry
“We talk about how our days are going, what it’s like to be children of alcoholics, who we hate, who we wanna kill, who we wanna be friends with”
- Are y’all friends with each other?
“Sorta”
- You’re all sixth graders, right?
“Yeah”
- You should be friends
“I don’t think that would work. We talk at recess and that’s enough”
- Hey
“What”
- Whose parent is the biggest drunk
“I can’t say”
- Just guess
“No I can’t say. We’re sworn to secrecy”
- You told me bout Trevor’s dad
“He said I could tell you”
- He did?
“He said you’d find it funny”
- Why
“Cos of the ladder”
- What ladder
“The time with the ladder”
- What time with the ladder
“You don’t remember the time with the ladder?”
- Oh my god
“You climbed the ladder to clean the gutter and you almost fell over and said that’s why you don’t drink and climb”
- When the hell was this
“Wow”
- Stop
“Wow”
- C’mon
“You really don’t remember”
- It kinda rings a bell kinda doesn’t
“It was last fall, after all the leaves”
- Yeah okay I remember
“No you don’t”
- Yeah I do
“What day of the week was it”
- Dude
“It was a Thursday”
- You don’t even remember that
“No, you’re right, I don’t”
- Tell Trevor thanks for the laugh
“I will”
- I’m glad you have people to talk to, that’s good
“The funny thing is we all finish each other’s sentences”
- What, really?
“When we’re talking bout our drunk parents, we can do that”
- Oh my god
“Cos I know what Sofia’s thinking cos Sofia’s mom drinks what you drink”
- Which was everything
“Except for wine and Blue Moon”
- Yeah except for those and Belgians and wheats and seltzers and
“She still drinks, though, she’s still a real bad drunk”
- Ah, that’s too bad
“They’re trying to get her mom help”
- I hope they do
“So does Sofia”
- What’s her dad say
“Nothing he’s drunk too”
- Oh no
“Yeah but just not as bad”
- Uh, that’s good
“Yeah so we’re all kinda writing out things for her to say to her mom and we’re gonna give them to her next week if she needs them and so maybe they’ll help”
- That’s great
“That’s what I’m working on, and so is it okay if I stay up late?”
- How late?
“I don’t know but I wanna make sure I get the words just right”
- Don’t stay up too late
“Wanna hear what I have so far?”
- Sure
“‘If my dad can do it, anyone can do it’”
- Oh my god you’re such an asshole
“No offense”
- Why’d you emphasize anyone like that
“I didn’t”
- Yeah you did
“No I just said it normal”
- You absolutely emphasized anyone …
“You’re being paranoid”
- No I am not
“Since you sobered up, you’re very paranoid”
- No I am not ...
Kids see everything and hear almost everything and it's sorta shocking when they reveal this fact. How awesome that you and your kid can have this conversation.
I love this conversation ❤️