Another parent WWYD

[wowhead]

Would you let a 12 year old have coffee (lattes to be exact)?  My cousin's daughter is coming to stay with me and she loves coffee.  Letting her have it is not against her parents' rules and I limit her caffeine. What does ML think?

[lime]

Since it is ok with the parents, I'd be fine with it.

We certainly drank a lot of soda as a kid and that has caffeine.

[lilybug]

Yes, unless she's ridiculously hyperactive or having trouble sleeping at night.

My grandma used to make me "coffee" (mostly milk, lol) in the morning when I stayed with her, and I felt so grown up and badass.

[ElizabethBennet]

Yes I would.

But if she is wanting lattes from a coffee shop she can buy it herself.

[brooklyn]

I'd be ok with it. I started drinking coffee/lattes when I was about 11 yrs old. My mother was the one who would make them or give me money for them.

[CherHorowitz]

Sure, in moderation.

[wambam]

Not a big deal, to me.

[snickers]

I would let her have it in moderation, as long as it didn't mean she stayed up later lol

[bluelily]

She's 12, her parents let her drink coffee, and you're the one dealing with any fall-out. I don't see any problem with it, except for you having to deal with her not being able to sleep, possibly.

[hopecounts]

If its OK with her parents (I.e you aren't undermining their rules) then whatever enjoy sharing a latte with her and have a fun visit,
I was allowed a glass of coke a day around that age and that's not very different so I may be biased.

[iamgrace]

My kid, maybe not. Her kid, assuming it's fine with her parent, yes.

[hisno1girl]

Yes.

[hymen]

Coffee has about 5x more caffeine than coke, just an FYI. So latte =/= soda in that regard.

However, as long as her parents are ok I would be ok with it. I started drinking coffee (not lattes) at that age. It was more like 1/3 creamer, 1/3 coffee, and 1/3 sugar anyway.

[agnes]

No biggie.

[penelope]

I grew up drinking coffee, and dunking things in it was the norm. Both of my kids use coffee to dunk things in. I wouldn't have a problem with it, but not after dinner. No pop after dinner in our house either, for bedtime reasons.

[wowhead]

Jul 22, 2013 15:27:46 GMT -5 kevin arnold said:

Note that I am not a parent and can't even keep houseplants alive, so...

This is me!  I'm always afraid I'm doing other peoples' kids a disservice by letting them have/do certain things even if their parents' do it.  

The coffee things roots from said cousin sneaking drinks of my grandma's coffee when we were kids.  My grandma would always tell her it would stunt her growth.  Logically I know that's bs but that training tells me that I should be giving coffee to a kid. 

[wannabe]

Yeah, not a big deal to me.

[speckledfrog]

I guess if we were in a place that served coffee I might. I wouldn't go out of my way to get her one.

I wouldn't let my own kid drink coffee at 12, though.

[eb777888]

Every now and then, sure. I don't know about every day.

[WOT?*]

Another vote for as a treat or with moderation. Watered (or milked) down rather than full strength.

[RoxMonster]

If her parents are fine with it and you are fine with it, then yes.

My HS had a cappuccino machine, and I got one pretty much every morning before school starting freshman year, age 14. They were probably not nearly as strong as a coffee shop or making it at home, but still had some caffeine.