Do you vape around your kids?

[hairball]

I vape around my daughter who is 21. I got cussed at for years about stinking. I didn't "smoke" around her or in the house but I vape in the house. She is always telling me to try something else because she is sick of smelling tiramisu. I hate to tell her but I have about 65ml to go...LOL. Then I'll go on to panatone and pandoro. Both smell awesome.

 

[charmed412]

My older grandkids are 7, 6, and 5 DO know the difference between analogs and vaping because I explained it to them. The younger 3 do not know the difference, but they will when they are old enough if I am still vaping then. I am not going to hide it from them. I am human. I make mistakes, like starting smoking in the first place. I want them to learn from my mistakes and they can't if I hide them from them. Will they know all of the stupid stupid mistakes I have made...NO, but this they will. I may not have smoked in front of them but they know grandma stinks and mommy doesn't so they knew something was up.

 

[Crystallas]

My little one thinks there is a robot that lives inside the PV that bites anyone who trys to use it, other than people over the age of 18.

 

[JonnyVapΣ]

Until cigarettes are gone completely I will absolutely let my kids know about vaping. I'm not going to shove my head in a hole and pretend that if I hide it they won't be influenced. I started smoking cigarettes because of my school friends. Not because of my non-existent father, who I knew smoked, or because my mother smoked....or even my grandparents. Well hell...my entire family smoked at one point. At any rate...none of them, that I knew of first hand, did pot (but stupid to assume they didn't), or ......., or steroids, or angel dust, or ecstasy, or acid....and on and on and on. I did all that crap in the past because of the people I hung out with. NOT because of my parents or immediate family. Let's get real, people. Pretending things don't exist doesn't make them go away. Being up-front and honest with complete education about what's out there and available is probably the better way to go. My mother knew nothing about smoking cigarettes beyond the fact that you smoke them "just because" when I started smoking. My mother knew nothing about pot beyond trying it once or twice when she was young. She certainly knows nothing about the other crap I've done. Neither did my friends, nor did they care...neither did I. We all did it for the fun. A lot of the health issues I'm currently faced with today are probably attributed to the things I've done back in the day. At the time....knew nothing of it. Had someone intelligent and knowledgeable come up to me and said; "Doing "X" will permanently damage your liver by the time you're 30" I probably would have abstained. For those of you reading this thinking "yeah, right" think about this; I've never shoplifted from a store. Why? I was taught it can result in an arrest. I've never egged someone's house on Halloween. Why? I was taught it's not a nice thing to do. Given the opportunity, I will help someone who is elderly or disabled cross the street. Why? Because I was taught it was the right thing to do. Factual education is what counts, not hiding. Not pretending it doesn't exist. Not thinking "my kids would never do that". My daughter will be 17 in just a couple weeks. I just turned 35 on Nov. 5th. What the hell do you think I was doing at 15? 16? 17? Shortly after I turned 18 I was a father. While I have zero regrets about my daughter I absolutely regret the way in which things happened. Why people seem to forget the things they themselves did when they were young, and try to pretend it never happened, is completely beyond my own comprehension. I will never forget. I will never pretend it never happened. I will never assume my children won't do some of the same. I will always educate them to the best of my ability through my own life's experiences and general knowledge.

To hope your kids never pick up vaping is absolutely valid. I, myself, hope my kids never pick up any addicting habits, including vaping. To assume they won't simply because I hide what I do or did is ridiculous. I would, however, not exclude vaping from the list of alternatives. Besides abstinence it is the least harmful (to my knowledge) of the products available when someone decides one day that they "wanna do something". We are human. We strive to do things that bring us pleasure. It is human nature. Simply existing is not enough (though some warped individuals try to think that way). Some buy fast cars. Some do extreme sports (or any sport). Some play video games. Some do gardening. I could literally go on forever. There is risk in just about everything we do. Minimizing risk is one way to go about life and not at all bad. Eliminating it makes life boring and rather useless.

I have a meeting....take this for what it's worth....

 

[CJ in VA]

No, I don't hide it. My kid is 14 and was well aware of my smoking and how much he hated analogs. When he turned 13, the 'when are you going to quit?', 'why do you smoke?', 'You should really stop smoking those mom.', etc. all started. You all know what it's like when you know deep down that you should at least give it an honest effort to quit. I haven't smoked an analog in a month and I don't hide the fact regarding the pv, liquids, etc. but I don't have the stuff laying around and really, I don't vape much around him and it is very easy to walk to another room or wait until he's off doing something. The car is a different story, I vape in the car sometimes when he is with me. He understands the addiction part which I think is a good thing. But to each their own, I totally see both sides of it if you don't do in front of your kids.

 

[Doberz]

Just wanted to throw a quick update on this thread because I dug it up to put on the other kids and vaping thread.

My kids now know all about my vaping. I decided to tell them a few months after this thread was made. The responses I got here definitely helped me believe it was the right decision. They both understand it and think it's great that I vap instead of smoke now and constantly tell me how their Mom's boyfriend(s) all smoke and how disgusting they think it is.

 

[chiwalker]

I have vaped around my grandkids because I used to spend so much time NOT spending time with them to sneak a smoke, and being little ones, they think the fact I vape instead of smoke is great. They even ask me to vape the ones that smell like candy or cookies to them! I have 2 in CA I rarely see at all, and 2 in southern Ohio I don't see much either. Oh,and the two in Ohio are very happy my daughter (their mom) is vaping now instead of smoking. Kids know,don't think they don't. Now they know and like the difference.

 

[player30]

My kids are 22, 20 & 18. I never smoked one cigarette in front of them, but they could smell me!! I do vape in front of them; they told me I was weird, and now they don't say anything.

 

[Safira]

My kids are 16, 10 and 8 (good lord where has the time gone?) I never allowed smoking in the house and always went outside, sometimes they followed me but I tried to stay away from them. Now that I vape, I do it around my own kids, for some reason I won't vape around other peoples children though unless the parents are smokers.

 

[Astatine]

I do vape around my kids, but they are 45 & 48 years old............

Aaaahhhh...can't wait for retirement!

I did smoke when I was pregnant (less, but couldn't quit). I got into the habit of smoking outside the house, but the kids saw me and new exactly why I was outside by -10 weather.

Now I will vape in the house, but not in the same room and not in the car while they are in it.

I have a very simple principle: I choose what, when and how I am exposing myself to stuff. I don't think I can make this choice for my kids.

 

[Crankyfuzz]

I vape around my step children who are ages 8 and 5 however everyone else they know smokes around them including their parents my husband who has a two pack a day habit and is just now trying to quit Mainly because two weeks ago his daughter asked him why he had to smoke why couldn't he vape like I do wasn't using the other thingy better for him then smoking.

When I first started vaping I explained it to them and what it was and why I was doing it I never liked smoking around the children and tried very hard not to even when others were. I have explained to them how bad smoking is for them and how hard it is to quit and honestly I think the 8 year old understands she doesn't like the smell etc so hopefully she will not become a smoker. I have to say I think honesty with kids is the best policy especially when so many people around them have a bad habit.

 

[Sandrita]

I don't have kids but I agree If I had them I would not like them to see vape just in case they decide if I do it it will be ok for them!

 

[bladebarrier]

I personally don't vape or smoke around my son. I really never have unless he caught me off guard. I'm not ashamed, but I don't think that any addiction is a good thing to show off, even if it's relatively harmless. I certainly wouldn't judge someone else for it though.

 

[Paddrino]

I never smoked around my children. I don't want them thinking anything that would be harmful to them is 'OK' because I did it.

I don't vape around my children either for the same exact reasons.

 

[Anima]

In Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point, he cites studies showing that whether a person smokes are not is not determined by their parents' behavior, but by their genes. The children of smokers who are adopted by non-smokers smoke at the same rates as the children of smokers who are raised by their biological parents, and the children of non-smokers who are adopted by smokers smoke at the same rates as the children of non-smokers raised by their biological parents. In other words, it seems that parents can relax about setting a bad example, because it doesn't really matter.