[...] Cocktail Play Dates; Keeping Mommies Sane since Prohibition 2011/08/03 No Comments by Truthful Mommy TweetCocktail Play Dates They say necessity is the mother of all invention and mother did we need something invented to make tolerable the ordeal of being held hostage with strange women as our children licked, bit and chewed on one another ( all in the name of socialization). I’m not saying it’s always going to end in disaster sometimes you may actually salvage a friendship amongst the rubble of the biting, licking and whining( and that’s just the moms). For years,we’ve been drinking coffee whether it was as we ignored our children who were playing in the background like white noise as we gossiped, keeping one very suspicious eye on that 3 year old baby Huey about to hit our 1 year old princess with a toilet brush or just chitchatting amongst our favorite Mommies in the world. Then we’d go home, behind the closed doors of suburbia and drink ourselves into a mind numbing stupor at #wineparty after the kids finally passed out from exhaustion. While coffee has it’s place, let’s face it…it leaves something to be desired in the breath department and on an empty stomach can cause quite the scandal at someone else’s loo. But then the two were merged, play dates and drinking. [...]

I’d do this in the evening. It’d be kind of odd at 10am. :/

We’re a one income family, so entertaining at home is a big part of our social life. Our kids see us drink wine with dinner and enjoy beer while watching the game all the time. And our friends generally bring their children, too. Totally not a big deal for us. I confess that I have never scheduled a playdate that involved drinking alcohol, but playdates seem like a daytime thing to me, and I don’t drink in the daytime. Not because I think it’s bad, I just don’t want to. A glass of wine signals “time to chill out”, and that’s not generally how I feel at noon.

That would depend on the Mom, the kids and the location. I wouldn’t be a good candidate to drink on a playdate because one drink puts me to sleep. Others tolerate alcohol better.

A mom with a challenging child who requires some intervention with peers… probably not a good candidate to drink.

A playdate where any depth of water or anything else might be a safety issue… not a good time for drinking.

A mom watching other kids children without them there… not a good candidate for drinking.

Really, how hard is it to use a bit of judgement?

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Of course not, Michelle. Everything that every woman does is up for public debate and derision, all the time. It’s as American as apple pie.

Ok, for starters, let’s separate drinking in front of your own children and drinking while at a playdate. The main difference being, do you have to drink and then drive, or not? But that said, I don’t have any issue at all with drinking around children, mine or someone else’s. We’re not talking body shots of tequila and keg stands here, we’re talking a glass of wine or two. Or maybe a beer. BIG EFFING DEAL. If you don’t *want* to drink in front of your kids, then by all means, don’t. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. The one mom mentioned above that doesn’t sounds like a helicopter parent to me anyway. Your kid has no more chance of getting hurt if you have a glass of wine than if you have none. So have the wine, and loosen up.

I really don’t see what the issue is. I’ve had a glass of wine or beer with my friends taking care of kids letting them run around our big yard. It’s not a huge deal, but of course the media has to make some issue of it like the moms are lushes if they are drinking while the kids have a playdate. I love how once you become a mom you’re a target for disapproval all.the.time.

Seriously? Women having a drink without covering the kids eyes first is even an issue for people? Are you kidding me?

Playdates don’t tend to be an occasion where it’s appropriate to drink for me – they’re usually on the days in the week that I don’t work and I meet up with friends I’ve made with children the same age as my son. I usually drive unless they come to me. On these occasions we’d drink tea, coffee or juice – alcohol’s never really an option especially as I’m pregnant at the moment and a lot of my son’s friend’s have had new siblings in the past year. That said, I do drink in front of my son but never to excess (not at the moment obviously!) – for example, if we’re at a wedding with my son I’ll drink wine with the meal. If I had an occasion where I was meeting friends for wine and a catch up I’d not take my son – but then, those friends that I’d see in a group don’t have children.