Parents Who Drink Alcohol While Taking Their Kids Trick or Treating...

[Irish9697]

Drinking while ToTing must be a regional thing. I live in the South...and I've never seen anyone drink anything alcoholic while taking their kids ToTing (not that I see anything wrong with it).

I'm from the south, too, and we all drink around here while the kids TOT. It's a huge neighborhood party. There are cookouts and firepits and hayrides. The kids eat too much candy and drink too much soda. The adults get a chance to visit and have beer, wine or another adult beverage. I've even seen jello shots! What's the harm? We're at home! Not driving. Everyone is outside being communal. The kids are well supervised. It's one of the few nights a year that families are all outside together--like July 4th or Labor Day.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Would everyone think it's OK to bring a beer wagon along to go Christmas caroling?

I can guarantee you that the hot toddies my parents and the entire group carried in their thermoses while Christmas Caroling in the 60's and 70's were alcoholic beverages

 

[ma2jr]

LOL - actually, we usually do the cocoa & Bailey's while Christmas caroling.

 

[cinmell]

please tell me you're kidding. I sure hope you never TOT in my neighborhood... the kids get candy and the adults get beer and wine It's been a tradition since I first moved in 20 years ago

That's how it is here too. The adults aren't falling down drunk or even drunk. They are having a couple of drinks while walking around the neighborhood trick or treating with their kids and talking with friends and neighbors. I really don't see the big deal.

 

[PghLybrt]

Our friends borrow our mugs from Disney that glow ( They have Jack on them) and fill them while walking around I have to stay back and hand out the candy ( and yes sometimes beer to the parents! ).

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Children will follow the leads of their parents......... that is the exact reason that we have chosen not to drink-at all-since we have children. Oldest dd has just gone to college, never drank, and thanked us for the example.

Just curious, those that carry the "cups" or opened drinks around, do they think it makes them look big or something?? Just don't get it.

And conversely, we chose to demonstrate how to drink responsibly in front of our children.

Same result though. Our oldest went off to college and literally was the only one not drinking on the dorm floor. Even now, at legal drinking age, he very rarely has a drink.

I disagree with the "Children follow the leads of their parents." Heck, if they did, we would never have to deal with that little phenomenon called teen age (or college age) rebellion.

We do the best we can as parents. Nobody's way is the right way, just right for them.

 

[Boxley]

Hubby thinks all the defensiveness on this Thread is derived from guilt from people maybe second guessing what they were doing last night??? He said he enjoyed taking the kids ToT'ing (safely) and then enjoyed his beer in the spa after they went to bed.

Why so harsh on parents who drink on Halloween? As long as they aren't a danger to themselves or to anyone else, it isn't a big deal.

Oh,it looks like your hubby also was involved with risky business.

" Never use a spa or hot tub while or after using alcohol. Alcohol acts to expand your blood vessels and increase your body temperature- much like soaking in hot water does. Alcohol in your bloodstream and soaking at the same time creates a combined effect that can be damaging. The body temperature may accelerate to dangerous levels quickly. The alcohol may cause nausea, dizziness or lightheadedness. The ultimate danger of combined alcohol consumption and hot water soaking is drowning due to loss of consciousness, heart attack or injury due to passing out and falling."

http://www.ezhottubs.com/news/spa_guidelines.htm

 

[lillygator]

oh and heaven help you if you actually go to a football game!!! The horrors of tailgaiting around kids! YIKES!

 

[DrCavin]

My neighbor & I put out a cooler filled with adult beverages & we call it the "Adult Treat" bowl. It must have caught on, because each year people tell us that others are now doing it. We sit in our driveways & hand out treats, we have been doing this for 7 years now..

 

[Colleen27]

It's NOT wrong to drink in front of children. I think it's wrong to turn a family/kids activity into an occasion to drink. Drinking is an adult activity; open containers have no place on the street while trick or treating with one's children. It sends a message that the adult can not or is not willing to make it without alcohol.

I don't view events as either for children or for adults; many things, including Halloween and birthday parties and Disney vacations, are for both and therefore include activities for both. In this case, that means running around the neighborhood begging candy for the kids, and enjoying a drink and chatting with neighbors for the adults.

I wonder how well it would go over if someone posted the same basic thing about Disney vacations - that it is a place for family, and that parents who turn it into an occasion to drink are sending the message that they just can't/won't live without alcohol for a few days to enjoy vacationing with their children...

 

[Scurvy]

I wonder how well it would go over if someone posted the same basic thing about Disney vacations - that it is a place for family, and that parents who turn it into an occasion to drink are sending the message that they just can't/won't live without alcohol for a few days to enjoy vacationing with their children...

You don't have to wonder - just go back and look at some of the threads that popped up when it was announced that Pleasure Island would be closing. The vast majority of posters seemed to be in favor of the decision because "Disney is for kids and you shouldn't be drinking at a place for kids." And of course plenty of posters had to trot out the old standby "Walt wouldn't have approved; there should be no alcohol on Disney property!" argument. Because after all, Disney is for families. . . which obviously means those with small children. If you don't have small children, you're not a family! (Bitter? No, really, I'm not still bitter. Why do you ask?!)

 

[FireDancer]

I see a big difference between getting drunk and having a drink of two while you are walking around. I could care less if anyone wants to wander my neighborhood with a drink on any day of the week. As long as they aren't vandalizing my property or getting into a car and running into people I mind my own business and don't feel the need to nanny my neighbors.

Most police officers I know would not stop their car and go inspect what someone was drinking without some other provocation. If they were smashing bottles or urinating on fire hydrants maybe, walking around like civilized adults enjoying an adult beverage isn't going to kill anyone.

On the questioning of authority of course it should not be blindly followed. How many abuse cases happened because certain members of society were authority figures that were not to be disobeyed? There is nothing wrong with questioning authority such as teachers, religious leaders, or our government if you feel they are overstepping their bounds or misusing the authority we give them. That, however, is a completely different thread and would probably descend into something against the rules on the first page.

 

[kristilew]

My neighbor & I put out a cooler filled with adult beverages & we call it the "Adult Treat" bowl. It must have caught on, because each year people tell us that others are now doing it. We sit in our driveways & hand out treats, we have been doing this for 7 years now..

Yup, we do this as well. We live in a private neighborhood, so no reason we can't drink in the streets. (We all even have cup holders on our beach cruiser bikes )

 

[NHdisneylover]

You know, you're right. I hadn't considered that when I said I teach my son to follow laws. Of course I've also taught him that sometimes laws are wrong and need to be changed, like your Rosa Parks example. It hadn't really occurred to me that open container laws were on par with social injustices like racism, but if you think they are then you have a moral obligation to fight those laws! I had kind of assumed that most people who break open container laws were just doing it because "I want to" but maybe they were really objecting to those unjust and inhumane laws. They are heroes!

Wow--I appreciate good sarcasm but really that was just a bit much to me. I thought I made it pretty clear that drinking was a "minor issue" (as I stated in the post you quoted) and not some big moral hill to die on. I was simply responding to the many, many posts saying that teaching your children to break the law is wrong. Those seemed to me to be pretty much cut and dry and no wiggle room and I was pointing out the reason why I disagree with that argument. Certainly, I can see some people seeing things like drinking age (when at home with ones parents) or open container (when walking around not drunk in one's own neighborhood) to be invasions of privacy and perhaps feeling it IS a hill to die on. Me not so much. As I stated--it is a minor thing. I guess it was just the "it's illegal so therefor it must be bad" reasoning I was seeing and wanted to point out the flaw in that reasoning. I tried to post my views respectfully

 

[Scurvy]

Wow--I appreciate good sarcasm but really that was just a bit much to me. I thought I made it pretty clear that drinking was a "minor issue" (as I stated in the post you quoted) and not some big moral hill to die on. I was simply responding to the many, many posts saying that teaching your children to break the law is wrong. Those seemed to me to be pretty much cut and dry and no wiggle room and I was pointing out the reason why I disagree with that argument. Certainly, I can see some people seeing things like drinking age (when at home with ones parents) or open container (when walking around not drunk in one's own neighborhood) to be invasions of privacy and perhaps feeling it IS a hill to die on. Me not so much. As I stated--it is a minor thing. I guess it was just the "it's illegal so therefor it must be bad" reasoning I was seeing and wanted to point out the flaw in that reasoning. I tried to post my views respectfully

Sorry. I didn't really intend it to be sarcastic - more teasing. It just surprised me to hear someone bring out that argument since it seemed so out of place and over the top when talking about open container laws. I think most people who teach their children to follow the law would make expections for "bad" laws like those Rosa Parks fought - I just assumed that went without saying. I forgot this is the Dis where everything is black or white. I'll be sure to mention exceptions like social injustice next time I post about teaching my child to respect the law, though. And for those for whom Open Container laws are a hill to die on - fight on!

 

[MissFitt]

I see a big difference between getting drunk and having a drink of two while you are walking around. I could care less if anyone wants to wander my neighborhood with a drink on any day of the week. As long as they aren't vandalizing my property or getting into a car and running into people I mind my own business and don't feel the need to nanny my neighbors.

Most police officers I know would not stop their car and go inspect what someone was drinking without some other provocation. If they were smashing bottles or urinating on fire hydrants maybe, walking around like civilized adults enjoying an adult beverage isn't going to kill anyone.

On the questioning of authority of course it should not be blindly followed. How many abuse cases happened because certain members of society were authority figures that were not to be disobeyed? There is nothing wrong with questioning authority such as teachers, religious leaders, or our government if you feel they are overstepping their bounds or misusing the authority we give them. That, however, is a completely different thread and would probably descend into something against the rules on the first page.

 

[waltskids]

Children will follow the leads of their parents......... that is the exact reason that we have chosen not to drink-at all-since we have children. Oldest dd has just gone to college, never drank, and thanked us for the example.

Just curious, those that carry the "cups" or opened drinks around, do they think it makes them look big or something?? Just don't get it.

I will tell you that this theory isn't always true. My dad and mom both drank at parties and special occasions when I was a child. I even tasted wine a few times But not once did I ever drink underage or drink while in college. Once I was legal age, I would have a drink at a party. It is the job of parents to prepare a child for life outside of the home, and this includes how to handle situations where alcohol is involved. Now that I am a parent, DH and I also drink alcohol at parties and family functions and I will not hide that from my child. So...
I went to college, never drank while there, and thanked my parents for THEIR example.

Oh and the cups or drinks don't make them look 'big' as I assume all of the parents are at least 21 and are indeed, actually 'big' enough to enjoy alcohol.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Sorry. I didn't really intend it to be sarcastic - more teasing. It just surprised me to hear someone bring out that argument since it seemed so absurdly out of place and over the top when talking about open container laws. I think most people who teach their children to follow the law would make expections for "bad" laws like those Rosa Parks fought - I just assumed that went without saying. I forgot this is the Dis where everything is black or white. I'll be sure to mention exceptions like social injustice next time I post about teaching my child to respect the law, though. And for those for whom Open Container laws are a hill to die on - fight on!

Sorry I misunderstood. I would think parents wwould not be so black and white either--BUT given that a couple of posters on this thread have said unequivically that a parent cannot possibly provide proper supervision while having A drink then I figured it was likely that the repeated statement about the law may be carried to such extremes also. If things were not already being taken to absurd levels I would not have felt the need to post what I did. And again, I did post in my very first post on the thread that the drinking laws are a minor thing.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I am not second guessing myself at all. I am perfectly ok with having a drink or two while the kids were trick or treating.

I am perfectly ok with having a drink at last week's birthday party.

I am perfectly ok with having a drink at the Friday Night sportngs practices with all the other parents. Yes, it is an every Friday night organized event.

Me thinks you are the one protesting too much

oh, and my "group" that was imbibing included several physicians including a well known surgeon, several lawyers including a us attorney general, and a few others with incomes in the 7 figure range - certainly not "rednecks".

Same here. The neighborhood (gated community) I was talking about had every other parent with a drink cup or cooler. The houses here are from between $500k and $3 million. Not a lot of rednecks around here, but a lot of folks enjoying a drink while walking around socializing and watching the kids TorT.

 

[Scurvy]

I would think parents wwould not be so black and white either--BUT given that a couple of posters on this thread have said unequivically that a parent cannot possibly provide proper supervision while having A drink then I figured it was likely that the repeated statement about the law may be carried to such extremes also. If things were not already being taken to absurd levels I would not have felt the need to post what I did.

You do have a point! And I should have specified that I was referring to the generic "you" in most of my post, since you did make it clear you thought open container laws were minor.

(As a side note, though, while I competely support the right of people to protest laws they feel are wrong, if the extent of their protest is violating that law I don't have much sympathy for them. So if there really are people out there protesting open Container Laws by drinking while Trick or Treating, I hope they are trying to fight it other ways as well - and not just by drinking when caroling at Christmas, either, but by actively trying to get the laws changed. Otherwise I really view it more as them rationalizing the fact that they are breaking the law.)