<p>[Moms</a> Enjoy Cocktail Parties on Kids’ Play Dates - ABC News](<a href=“http://abcnews.go.com/US/moms-enjoy-cocktail-parties-kids-play-dates/story?id=14208921]Moms”>Can Motherhood and Alcohol Mix? Moms Enjoy Cocktail Parties on Kids' Play Dates - ABC News)
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<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a great idea, and I could easily see someone with a drinking problem using this as a cover. Do they drive the kids afterwards?</p>
<p>My thoughts are that there is no way this is “the new norm,” as the author says the moms describe it. It sounds, to me, like something that makes the news because it’s so far removed from the norm.</p>
<p>I’d agree with the mom who says “it’s mind-numbingly hard how many demands you have to raise these little human beings,” but would point out to her that a couple of drinks is probably not the best way to be on top of those demands. </p>
<p>All my kids’ playdates were before/during lunch. If someone’s knocking back a few at 10 AM, I suggest there’s a problem - with getting through the rest of the day, if nothing else.</p>
<p>They all agreed - no drinking and driving.</p>
<p>So, they are modeling behavior that says “When it’s been a tough day, have a drink?”</p>
<p>Agreed that I thought playdates were a morning, early afternoon type of thing. I’m past the playdate age. Have to ask my sister, mom of young kids, if she’s ever heard of this.</p>
<p>Yesterday a friend came over with her dogs for a doggie playdate. We indulged in a glass of wine each. 
Never had a cocktail hour playdate when my kids were little. It seems a little much to me. I remember that time of the day as the witching hour when kids were melting down and needed to be home settling down, being bathed and fed.</p>
<p>I’m not a drinker, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a glass of wine. Hopefully it wouldn’t be more than that.</p>
<p>My MIL was in a playgroup (before it was called that – they were just the ladies on the block back then) when her kids were young and they would meet weekly and then have dinner once a month, with wine. After the kids grew, the ladies continued to meet and did so for over 50 years. Since she wasn’t particularly maternal or grandmotherly, I made this group of women the centerpiece of her obituary (there’s something a little satisfying about being the one to write the obituary of a woman who spent 25 years being mean to me, but I digress).</p>
<p>We actually used to do this in my Dallas neighborhood. It was usually impromptu and usually on a Friday late afternoon. The husbands were there, too. We would gather in someone’s backyard and have some wine or 'ritas while the kids played. I thought it was really fun. I’m sure we did it occasionally on non-Fridays and sans husbands, but it was always around happy hour time.</p>
<p>I saw this story. The women didn’t like the idea of their nannies/baby-sitters drinking while on the job. lol</p>
<p>I was invited to one of these a couple of months ago by a good friend. I only knew one other person there of a group of about 12 women. OMG, most of them got sloshed and loud and profane. Almost every kid was school age, but the level of drinking while in theory taking care of their kids – and, yes, many had driven there – made me really uncomfortable.</p>
<p>I have been to many kid’s birthday parties with alcohol served, especially in NYC, and my sense was it was more for the parents than for kids. I have to say I never had any playdates where we had wine. But maybe we should have, certainly would have taken edge off screaming toddlers.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who saw this and flashed back to reading “The Women’s Room” by Marilyn French? This sure looks like suburban behavior from the '50s and '60s to me.</p>
<p>I do remember those scenes in the French book! I also flashed back to this article, one of several I remember that were related to the Diane Schuler story: [Drinking</a> in the Land Of Mommy Blogdom - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Drinking in the Land Of Mommy Blogdom - The New York Times”>Drinking in the Land Of Mommy Blogdom - The New York Times) Apparently mommy happy hours aren’t all that new. My own mom’s coffee klatches featured lots of cigarettes. Only (unspiked) coffee, though.</p>
<p>My brother, raising his D in Australia, said he was surprised by the regular wine at school functions for families. No Puritanical history there. </p>
<p>I never wanted to drink in my kid’s presence when they were young, as there were too many balls to keep in the air at once. Or drive with them in the car after any alcohol.</p>
<p>I never did this while kids were young. What if something goes wrong and you end up in the ER with your child and it’s clear you’re a little impaired? Even one glass and your judgment is off. </p>
<p>It’s different if you’re all at a friend’s house for dinner and kids are running around and you’re have a drink along with dinner. But the playdate/drink thing in my mind doesn’t mix.</p>
<p>I liked the comment by Robin Roberts on GMA about this. She wondered why no one even questions a dad taking his kids to a sporting event who drinks a few beers but raises their eyebrows at moms having wine around their kids.</p>
<p>Like MOWC we have always lived in neighborhoods where we had “curbside” or backyard gatherings when the kids were out playing. There was always cocktails available if you wanted one and Friday HH was a great way to socialize.</p>
<p>I don’t think Robin’s comment is valid. I think we would raise an eyebrow if the Dads were drinking at Little League practices. To me that’s closer to the same type of event.</p>
<p>Classof2015 has an excellent point in post#14.</p>
<p>I knew a mom who drank at her kids’ baseball games. She was three sheets to the wind by the end of tournament days.</p>
<p>I agree that I don’t think drinking at a professional ball game is the same. To me, that’s like having a glass of wine when you go out to eat.</p>
<p>There was a group of parents on one of my son’s baseball teams who would have a barbeque every weekend where they got totally sloshed. Adult professionals in their 40s would sit at the games and plan their drinking parties. Things like jello shot assortments and the like. Very extreme.</p>
<p>My MIL raised 7 kids…most families in the neighborhood had about the same amount. The mom’s would meet in the afternoon for a cocktail. Nothing new about this…wine is the new ‘mothers’ little helper’</p>
<p>I have a conflicted reaction to this. </p>
<p>Call it a “play date” and I think it should be “dry.” </p>
<p>Call it a “happy hour” or “cocktail party” and I have no objections to kids attending a backyard neighborhood get-together. It’s really little different from a BBQ that they all might attend with beer and dads tagging along.</p>
<p>But, “Play Date Cocktail Party” rubs me the wrong way.</p>