Pub quiz! When is it acceptable to put beer in your 2-year-old's sippy cup? a.) When you've run out of chocolate milk b.) When it's way past everybody's bedtime and clearly somebody needs himself a little "nightcap" or c.) Never. Okay, obviously the correct answer is a.) When you've run out of chocolate milk ... no! Just kidding, duh. The correct answer is obviously NEVER. It's NEVER acceptable to put beer in your 2-year-old's sippy cup. Which is why Valerie Topete of Phoenix was arrested -- for allegedly putting beer in her 2-year-old son's sippy cup while dining at a restaurant. And charged with child abuse.
But here's the thing. (And here's the part where I'm going to lose a lot of you, but hang in there for a minute.) I don't think she deserved to be charged with child abuse, because I don't think she did anything wrong.
At first, of course, I did. But then I heard Topete's side of the story: Her family went out for pizza. They ordered a pitcher of beer. Her son, like most 2-year-olds, didn't want his sippy cup of apple juice, he wanted what the grown-ups were drinking, so he kept fussing and reaching for the pitcher. Finally Topete put a "splash of beer" in her son's cup as "reverse psychology." Which makes sense! Beer does not taste good to small children. I know exactly how this went down: You're not going to like it, that's for grown-ups. MINE! You won't like it. I WANT IT. You won't like it. NOW! Fine, here you go! How's that?! I no like it.
And that's the last time he'll ask for beer until he's 16. Brilliant move on Mom's part. Or, at the very least, NOT freaking child abuse. The 2-year-old was taken to a hospital for "precautionary reasons" and was later released to the care of his father, according to police. His mom is reportedly still in police custody.
Meanwhile, countless ACTUAL child abusers are doing serious harm to their kids behind closed doors. But we're too busy pointing fingers at a mom who merely made a snap decision in a public place to pay attention to the real criminals. It makes me absolutely sick.
Do you think this mom is guilty of child abuse for putting a "splash of beer" in her son's sippy cup?
Image via ECohen/Flickr
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Comments 122
If you are going to use that logic that they will hate it and spit it out, you give them a sip straight from the glass, not mix it with apple juice. You don't pour it into the sippy and then allow them to drink the whole thing. I think its dumb but i don't think its arrest worthy.
All I can say is, "What a stupid mom!" Two years old is way too young to even give him a "sip", and in a restaurant, a public place was really stupid! No excuse for giving a little one any alcohol! This is how a lot of parenting is going on these days, though. Instead of actually parenting, just 'giving in' and going along to keep the child quiet. If these people don't want to be parents, by teaching, guiding, setting the rules, loving, caring, and being attentive, then they shouldn't be parents. Raising kids is not a game and is not something you can "get tired of!" If you don't want to give a minimum of 20 years of continual attention, care, and work, then don't have children!
Amen missybest!!!!
I'm sure there's parents that do it in their homes, but doing it in public was very stupid. There's a lot worse that parents do, but still, it's against the law and she got caught so yes, she deserves whatever punishment's coming her way. I don't care how much he fussed and cried about it, it's a grown-up drink and she's the adult.
Oh BAH! I agree with the write completely. For frick's sake, it was a splash of beer. Enough for the kid to taste it, make a nasty face, and resume politey enjoying his own, age appropriate drink. My dad did just about the same thing to me, when I was a bit older. He had a giant mason jar of what looked like orange juice, and when I asked for a drink, snickering, he said yes. It was orange juice and tequila. I promptly spit it out in the sink and never asked him for a drink of his drinks ever again. And guess what, I didn't die. o_O
People are too damned nosey. You can bet they most likely wouldn't stop somebody if they were whacking their kid around in a walmart, but catch someone trying to teach their child a lesson, and one covert call to authorities later, they've just disheveled an entire family for no reason.