Lea Michele has a new book, Brunette Ambition, to promote. The publisher describes the book as “the book Lea wishes she’d had in her teens and early twenties: A practical and inspirational guide to harnessing tenacity and passion and living the fullest life, no matter what obstacles life puts in your way.” Lea talks about her time on Broadway, her life in Hollywood, and practical stuff like diet and exercise. She appeared on Chelsea Lately, so of course the discussion wasn’t wholesome. Lea admits that she grew up drinking wine on a regular basis — since she was a toddler. She explains that growing up Italian meant that wine was always on the dinner table. Her parents allowed her to freely indulge, and Lea sees no problem with that:

Alcohol as a toddler “I’m Italian, so at the dinner table it would be like Pellegrino, a jug of soda and a huge thing of wine. Everyone was just drinking wine, like it was part of what you would have along with your dinner.”

The situation grew awkward:“Growing up, I’d be having dinner with my boyfriend and his parents and I’d be like, ‘Where’s the wine? Pass the wine.’ At like 17! And they’re like, ‘This girl’s crazy.'”

She hardly drinks as an adult: “When they make it so you can have it, then you don’t want it. It’s when they’re like, ‘You can’t have this,’ kids are like, ‘We gotta get that booze.'”

[From Chelsea Lately on E!]

I get what Lea’s saying. Her family is Italian, and it’s part of their culture to enjoy some wine with dinner. My grandma was Japanese, and she sometimes popped a little sake into my sister’s baby bottle to help her go to sleep. Now my sister doesn’t drink at all, which is doubly amusing because she’s a bartender. I’m not saying it’s harmless for children to drink. It’s obviously something that should be done with supervision. My daughter’s never had a drop of alcohol, and I intend to keep it that way — until she’s 47 years old.

Screencap courtesy of E!; photos courtesy of WENN