AUTHOR: Eric DATE: 5/23/2007 07:50:00 AM ----- BODY:
Imagine what it must be like for a kid whose parents are usually stoned or drunk. One person I helped grew up in an environment full of alcoholics. She was the oldest child – about 10 years older than the next oldest – and, even at that age, was the designated babysitter and caregiver. In fact, she raised her siblings. She took them to daycare before she went to school in the morning, picked them up afterwards while other kids her age were staying at school playing team sports and doing other extracurricular activities, she made them dinner while her parents hit the bars after work, and kept her bedroom door closed against the noise of her parents and their friends partying while she tried to do her homework at night. It went on like that for years, until she finally moved out at the ripe old age of fifteen. If someone had taken the time to get her parents into a successful alcohol or drug rehab program, it would have changed her life. As bad as that sounds, it’s nothing compared to some of the situations I’ve seen. But it was, nevertheless, enough to get her started along the same road – not an unusual situation, many children of drug addicts and alcoholics follow in their parents’ footsteps. Even those who vow that they will never be like their parents. However, a good alcohol or drug rehab program can turn the parents around, change their lives, save the family, and save the children. If you know a parent who is abusing drugs or alcohol, get them into a successful drug rehab program fast. It will not only help the addict, it will give the children an opportunity for a good future they might otherwise never have.

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