Starting him early

My parents are originally from Britain; my father was born there, my mother's family is from there. What effect this has had on their drinking preferences, I don't know, but being at my parents means that almost all of your beverages are either caffeinated or alcoholic. Coffee in the mornings; tea in the afternoon and evening; alcohol in between the two tea times.

I remember as a child that tea time was a particular occasion at my father's parents' house. There were trays of china cups and sugar bowls with actual sugar cubes and sugar tongs, and plates of cake -- mostly fruit cake, but the occasional peek frean for us children. I got the demitasse, and was allowed to tong my own sugar cubes. I can't have been much more than three. 

This morning, like many mornings before this one, I made tea, from loose leaves, in a pot, and poured myself a cup. This is a morning ritual, so much so that my son's first word was "hot!" because I said it so often to him while carrying my first steaming cup of the morning. This morning, as he has done lately, he's asked for milky tea, and instead of the usual milk and hot water, I've added actual tea. 

It's only just occurred to me this morning that feeding a three year old tea might be weird. I mean, don't get me wrong, the tea is only about a quarter of the cup -- the rest is diluted with hot water, and then half of it is milk. So ... weigh in, will you? Is three too young for caffeine? Even a small bit like tea? I am curious. It seems normal to me but I seem to realize that this isn't perhaps normal. 

For the record, he sucks it back like a consummate pro, finishing the cup in less time than it takes me to sit down. Perhaps this is why I feel like I'm feeding him some illicit drug.