The daughter of a well-known Wellington yoga teacher who gave up drinking because of the effect it was having on her family, says she's noticed a big difference in her mother.
TVNZ1's Seven Sharp reports a new study out of the UK found that children whose parents drink are twice as likely to binge on alcohol themselves.
Seven Sharp met up with yoga teacher Justine Hamill and her daughter Ruby, now 13, who spent next five years worrying about her mum's drinking.
"I was only about seven. She started drinking. She was all dizzy and weird and her eyes just wouldn't open. I kept saying to my friend 'what's wrong with her, what's wrong with my mum?' And she was like, 'oh she's just merry'," Ruby said.
"I threw her wine in the bin every now and again 'cause I wanted her change and to stop."
“She's much more emotionally available. And I can trust her now.
And 14 months ago Justine stopped drinking completely.
"I could see the effect it was having, particularly on my daughter," she said.
"They were noticing, 'oh mummy's bought home a bottle of wine, oh mummy's having another glass of wine. And when mummy gets past two or three glasses of wine, she's not there anymore. She's not emotionally available'."
Justine became emotional, saying: "It makes me really emotional thinking about it causes, it was choices I made that were putting my need to escape pain or to chase desire before her needs or the needs of my family".
Now she unwinds with a cup of tea instead of a glass of wine, and Ruby has seen a big difference in her mum.
"She's much more emotionally available. And I can trust her now and I don't have to worry about her poisoning her body."
The UK study suggested that even seeing a parent slightly tipsy means kids can feel anxious, embarrassed or unsafe.
It also said 29 per cent of parents think it's okay to get drunk in front of their kids and children whose parents drink are twice as likely to binge drink themselves.
Meanwhile, a smiling Justine Hamill said she's "definitely" a better mum since giving up alcohol.
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