This is your brain on drugs...

Do you remember the PSA commercial that aired in the 90s where the lady takes an egg and cracks it in the frying pan and says, "This is your brain on drugs...any questions?" Well...they're baaaack. And the new commercial shows kids asking their parents all sorts of questions: Is marijuana not that bad because it's legalized? What is cocaine? And my favorite...Have you tried drugs? The commercial ends with that question.

The person who made this commercial must be a wet behind the ears ad exec with no kids of their own because the rest of us parents would dread the day that our kids ask us that question! I get it that the point was to prompt parents to talk to their kids and be ready for questions about drugs. I'll answer those all day. I think those are healthy questions. But why do my kids have to know if I did drugs or not!. I'm so mad at the stupid tv, telling me how to raise/talk to my kids. I really wish they wouldn't have seen that dang commercial but they did and now we have to have that conversation because my kids asked me point blank.

So Thank you PSA commercial for inspiring my kids to ask me if I ever tried drugs. Yeah...preciate that.

I'm all about transparency but how much is too much? I don't want them to think I'm naive or "not hip to the game" Lol. I want them to know they can't pull the wool over my eyes. But I don't want them to take it as an invitation or a get outta jail free card either. I was a wild child. Crap it's catching up to me :(

We value honesty in this house so I'm honest with my kids, the same way I expect them to be honest in their lives. So when they asked I quickly weighed my options and chose to face this head on with honesty, transparency, and as much integrity as I could muster.

My answer..."yes." When they asked what I did I didn't answer, just kept decorating the tree. When they asked again and asked if I was avoiding the question I said "well it's not something I'm proud of. And it doesn't matter WHAT I did anyway. The fact is I did it when I was young, I paid for it because I stayed in trouble all the time, I  regret it, and I'm embarrassed by it. It's not a good choice."

I don't want to lie and then they find out eventually, either in random conversation or old pics or mom spilling the beans or whatever. I'd rather they heard from me but I just hope I handled it the right way.

Afterwards my son hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, "it's okay mom we forgive you. You're not like that anymore. You're a good mom." Thank God for grace and forgiveness. I just hope it doesn't backfire.