With the festive season well and truly in full swing I’m sure a lot of us will be reaching for a glass of mulled wine, a Baileys or your favourite tipple of choice. It’s part of the Christmas fun after all. Obviously if you’re pregnant I’m sorry to rub it in!
And today’s discussion post is all about your approach to alcohol when your children are around. Do you avoid the stuff altogether? Do you stick to just getting tipsy? What are your limits when it comes to drinking in front of your kids?
I’m not much of a drinker anyway but until my children are much older and semi would understand what alcohol is about (16ish) I would never like them to see me drunk.
Plus I can barely function enough to keep us both alive during the day with the lack of sleep at the moment, thinking of doing the whole day with a hangover would be impossible in my eyes!
I should say by drunk I definitely mean just a little merry / tipsy. I hope to never be ‘drunk’ again in my life haha
Ha ha, yes. Hoping full on drunk days are behind us. I’m too old for that! xx
My kids are little and if I have a drink it’s in the evening and not very often at all at home so it’s not really come up for us yet. Think having a couple of glasses of wine is ok but I wouldn’t want to be drunk around them. Partially for health and safety reasons!
A couple of times in the last few years we have had to make midnight dashes to A&E for one reason or another so I don’t think I can get really drunk now as I worry something like that would happen and I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
I feel more cautious about drinking since having the kids purely for that sort or reason but it’s definitely nice occasionally for my husband to take all overnight/early morning responsibilities whilst I go out and have some wine!
I am exactly the same with the ‘what ifs’ and wondering if I would need to drive. It definitely makes you think xx
I’m currently pregnant, so this Christmas will be a sober one for me (on that note, how good is the Belvoir Mulled Winter Punch?! A cinnamon stick and a bit of imagination and it’s almost mulled wine!) – but even before I was pregnant I can’t remember the last time I was beyond a little tipsy.
My parents are French and so I was brought up with there always being wine with dinner. I never remember my parents having more than 2-3 glasses and have no memory of them being drunk at all. I would hope to emulate that – I really think that children seeing a healthy relationship with alcohol throughout their lives does mean they’re less likely to binge as adults.
Both my brother and I were allowed wine or champagne with food from being about 10 (and neither of us really accepted until mid teens) and now both of us (well, when not pregnant!) will have a glass with food, but neither of us have ever been interested in drinking to get drunk.
I’m liking the sound of the mulled wine. I’m not a big drinker so this sounds right up my street. I’m always fascinated by how attitudes change by country/culture so thank you for sharing x
I’m also intrigued by the Belvoir mulled wine. I’ve heard it’s very sweet, but I expect I will still get some in for the festive week. Currently 7 months pregnant so will be a sober Christmas for me.
Pre-pregnancy I don’t think I’ve ever gotten drunk in front of my son. My husband and I would have the odd wine or beer in the evening, but never to excess. My parents were like yours Kate, they would often drink with dinner, especially Sunday lunch. Then from early teens my sis and I were always allowed a tiny glass of wine if we wanted it. We never liked it, but it made us feel grown up. I think being able to have a drink so young, in tiny amounts, meant I never binged when I hit 18 as it was the norm for me by then. Even now I hate feeling out of control drunk and don’t think I ever will again. Plus being hungover while looking after a 4 year old, no thank you! xx
Amy the Belvoir is definitely sweeter than regular mulled wine (the person that invents a dry, crisp, non sweet alcohol free wine will be a millionaire!) but I found if you fancy it up with cinnamon, lemon and orange it’s totally drinkable. Probably only 1-2 glasses though or the sugar rush might be worse than being drunk!
We were also offered alcohol with meals at an early age (I think around 13). Never wanted it. Also my parents would always offer to buy alcohol for us if we were going to a party when we were 16/17. I think this worked well as then they knew exactly what we were drinking (4 alco pops etc) rather than bottles of vodka because that’s what someone had smuggled from their parents alcohol cupboard. It also never made me think alcohol was a ‘bad’ thing, and still to this day me and my two brothers barely drink more than a bottle of wine between us all year.
When I was young my Dad would have a can of beer in the evening after work, there would be wine for special occasions, and sherry would come out at Christmas. As teenagers my brother and I were allowed a small shandy or a small spritzer on the special occasions.
Apart from one or two weddings I do not recall seeing my parents being tipsy, and apart from the odd glass of wine at weekends, I try to keep alcohol in front of them for celebrations.
The title of this drew my attention as it would be a social issue if parents were drunk in charge of children. One drink or two at most and certainly not drunk, can you imagine their fragile minds and thought processes seeing their parents drunk. Very irresponsible if parents get drunk in front of kids whatever their age.
As I write this we are driving back from a wedding last night! So lots of merriment and lots of kids- including our two. I had four drinks over the course of 8 hours, not enough to even be tipsy, but would not have been ok to drive. In an emergency we would have had to get a taxi to hospital- that’s a scenario that stops me having more than one drink of an evening at home in the Styx.
Toddlers with a hangover sounds like hell. Teenagers? Not sure. Would they respect you less or see you as more human? It’s easy to answer this in the moment but our children will grow up! Will it be better or worse then?
I feel like there’s a gender double standard at play here too- I know my husband will be encouraged to get plastered at his works do and other male bonding events- would he ever worry about an emergency and the kids? It’s that mental load thing again, plus outdated judgments about women drinking. Hmmm.
Totally agree, if men go out and get drunk with mates or at a work Christmas party I shouldn’t think they would consider for a minute what would happen if their child was ill suddenly or they were required to drive, but we as women are the ones who are safe, sensible, dependable and would have this notion in the back of our minds. As Lucy said, it’s the women taking on mental load of the entire families responsibilities. I do have a glass of wine in front of my son but it’s only ever the one and I am always conscious of the ‘what ifs’