It's called PARENTING- you ought to try it

This morning I stopped at the gas station for a Diet Coke- I needed my fix but didn't have any cash or change for the vending machine at work. I was standing in line and I heard the girl behind me make a comment to her mother, "This is almost as good as Starbucks." I turned around and the girl was maybe 12, weighing probably 80lbs. She was buying a 16oz MONSTER drink. That's 160mg of caffeine, or almost 5 cokes. wtf? Granted a Starbuck's Grande Mocha has about the same amount of caffeine, but I'm bouncing off the walls when I drink that; not to mention the first bell (we were next door to the school) is going to ring in 20 minutes. I know her scrawny ass isn't allowed to have those on campus, so she'll probably chug it in the car before mommy drops her off.

You can call me a hypocrite all day bc I drink Diet Cokes and have Starbuck's once a week. I'm bigger than her and have been drinking caffeine and building a tolerance for a lot longer. Not to mention I'm not growing anymore (leave my ass out of this) and know that it isn't okay when I can feel my heart racing in my chest. I would imagine she thinks this is the best part- Aaron does.

How often do they stop? Does she get a Starbucks or Monster every day? Again- wtf?

According to npr.org those amounts of caffeine for a teenager (not that she is one yet) can cause "heart palpatations, jitters and addiction after 3-5 days, which includes withdrawal symptoms of headaches mood swings and trouble concentrating" as well as increased heart rate and blood pressure. Not only that, but think about the mid-day crash she's going to have, at school. Ouch.

I know there will be a lot to learn when I'm a parent, and that Aaron drinks his share of energy drinks (not at our house, thankyouverymuch). It just seems like common sense to me not to let your child consume mass amounts of caffeine, but hey- I was too distracted to see what the mom was buying for herself.

Oh, and don't stare at the cat's eyes in that picture- they look like they get bigger and it's creepy.