sooo, another alcohol question!!

[babar]

I like to drink. I am not a drunk, but I do enjoy an evening of drinking with friends. (not every evening )

So things like my wedding, parties, etc, will have alcohol.

Do you agree or disagree with serving alcohol at parties where children are present?

for my niece's b-days (starting at age 1) there always a selection of wine and beer for the adults to choose from.

on the 4th of July, my parents have a HUGE party in the backyard---lot's of kids---and everyone brings some kind of booze, and yes, by the end of the night some people are a bit tipsy. (one person of each family is always the driver)

in fact, any family gathering i've gone to has alcohol.

Are you guys like this? or not when children are around?

 

[Tiggeroo]

We had beer and hard lemonade, wine coolers at my sons' grad party last week. I don't drink much and some people might drink too much. But as long as nobody is obnoxious and nobody drives afterwards I see no problem. I can't keep my kids in a bubble locked away from alcohol.

 

[mickeyboat]

Yes, we are like this. I don't think it harms my children to see adults drinking responsibly.

Denae

 

[Christine]

I think it's fine to serve it. I do not drink (purely physical reasons, not moral) and I see no reason not to serve it at any occasion.

 

[tiggersmom2]

Yes, we are like this. I don't think it harms my children to see adults drinking responsibly.

Denae

Ditto

 

[babar]

This is coming from someone who commented on the fact that my sister and her husband felt the need to serve alcohol at a 1 year olds birthday party.
I didn't know people would find it strange!! (i was talking about a wine i tried)

 

[NMAmy]

We usually serve beer to those adults who would like one or two at family gatherings. DH doesn't drink and I drink very infrequently so it's not a big deal to either of us or to others in the family.

DH and I are reaffirming our vows this weekend and no alcohol will be served. I didn't think it was a big deal since it's in the early afternoon but after reading all these other threads, I'm now wondering if people will think it's weird. Not that I care or plan to change the menu at this late date but I never thought twice about it till I saw all these posts! And yes, we're having a picnic buffet and we've made a request for no gifts so I guess people don't have to feel they're being cheated out of their drinks as I've seen on those other posts, too.

 

[tar heel]

How are these people who are a bit tipsy at the end of the evening acting? If they're acting drunk, then I don't particularly want them around my children. We've served alcohol sparingly around our children and there really aren't any parties at which everyone brings some booze on either side of our family. Sometimes my father-in-law makes all the adults a drink, we might have wine with dinner, and there's usually beer in our refrigerator, but none of my children have ever seen a relative drunk. I had two uncles with drinking problems when I was a child, and I remember how much my cousin dreaded big gatherings b/c she assumed (correctly) that her dad would do something embarrassing.

 

[ducklite]

We had beer and hard lemonade, wine coolers at my sons' grad party last week. I don't drink much and some people might drink too much. But as long as nobody is obnoxious and nobody drives afterwards I see no problem. I can't keep my kids in a bubble locked away from alcohol.

Sounds like most of our family gatherings.

Anne

 

[tinaluis]

Most family gatherings have, at minimum, beer and wine available and children are always present. I don't think it harms them in any way.

 

[babar]

How are these people who are a bit tipsy at the end of the evening acting? If they're acting drunk, then I don't particularly want them around my children. We've served alcohol sparingly around our children and there really aren't any parties at which everyone brings some booze on either side of our family. Sometimes my father-in-law makes all the adults a drink, we might have wine with dinner, and there's usually beer in our refrigerator, but none of my children have ever seen a relative drunk. I had two uncles with drinking problems when I was a child, and I remember how much my cousin dreaded big gatherings b/c she assumed (correctly) that her dad would do something embarrassing.

well, they aren't naked, falling over, or starting fights!!

but the voices are louder, smiles bigger, and things seem a lot funnier!!

 

[stinkerbelle]

Our friends like to have kegs at their kids birthday parties.

luckily they are in the summer so it turns into one big picnic. heheh

 

[TrueGravity]

I like to drink. I am not a drunk, but I do enjoy an evening of drinking with friends. (not every evening )

So things like my wedding, parties, etc, will have alcohol.

Do you agree or disagree with serving alcohol at parties where children are present?

for my niece's b-days (starting at age 1) there always a selection of wine and beer for the adults to choose from.

on the 4th of July, my parents have a HUGE party in the backyard---lot's of kids---and everyone brings some kind of booze, and yes, by the end of the night some people are a bit tipsy. (one person of each family is always the driver)

in fact, any family gathering i've gone to has alcohol.

Are you guys like this? or not when children are around?

I'm like you. Cheers!!!!!

 

[bajanswife]

Yikes, not this debate again!

Anyway, although I know some people are against alcohol in principle, where I live it is a minority (at least in my cultural circle), and the norm is that people are OK with it in general (even if they themselves don't drink much or at all). So, given that, I would not ban alcohol from my kids' parties just in case a parent or two had issues with it, since I would likely end up doing that unnecessarily.

Also, we are not used to parents getting drunk at kids' parties. We can have a couple of drinks while adequately supervising the kids - it is not that difficult, especially at parties where the adult:child ratio is quite high (lots of eyes).

DH likes a cold beer on a hot day - all kids' parties are hot here! A glass of wine or a rum punch makes me feel festive - so if I'm throwing a party you bet there will be at least wine! Kids' parties are half adults parties anyway, because so many adults that we know are there - so we party like responsible adults (meaning no drunkenness, and the kids' safety is top priority). A kids birthday party is a chance to socialize with our friends, since our busy lives don't leave us much time to do this without the kids.

My kids see us drink responsibly at home, so I'm not worried about them. Given the number of adults at our parties who will have a drink or two, they aren't worried about their kids either.

And yes, we can go without a drink for a few hours if we want to (we do it every day!) - but if we don't see any harm in having kids see us drink something alcoholic, then why would we necessarily want to if we're at a party?

Have I covered all the rebuttals?

 

[babar]

Guess I missed this debate.

 

[ashjohnson80]

I think that making alcohol such a taboo thing around children could actually harm them in the long run. When I was growing up all forms of alcohol was called "devils brew" and was seen as a MAJOR sin. Not only did no one in my family drink, but I was not allowed to even look at alcohol in the grocery store. Fast Forward until I was 21 and I started drinking heavily just because it was just something that had been built up so negatively that I thought something must really be great about it. All was fine and dandy until I got alcohol poisoning and ended up laying on a strangers porch laying face down in my own vomit until 5 am while my dh watched a movie with his friends.

That taught me to drink in moderation. I still have a glass of wine a few times a week. But I think if I had seen people drinking RESPONSIBLY growing up I think it wouldn't have been such an issue for me.

 

[Bob Slydell]

We're Italian and Catholic -- you think there might be a little alcohol at our family functions?

Growing up, I can't recall a single incident where a relative got drunk to the point of being a distraction, so I guess either they were responsible drinkers, could hold their alcohol or I was too busy playing to notice.

There are situations where alcohol is not served at our family functions (kids parties at locations that don't allow it like the zoo come to mind), but typically most functions have some sort of alcohol.

 

[KirstenB]

We enjoy adult beverages, so we always offer wine/beer/mixed drink, along with several non-alcohol choices. Complete non-issue here, since the grown-ups all handle themselves well around the kids, drinking or not.

 

[ncgolfer]

Alcohol at at kids party come on, if you having an adult dinner party or something and wanna drink youself into oblivion be my guest. I don't think its appropriate at a kids party.

 

[lillygator]

We always have some sort of adult beverage on hand...my DD's 1st and 2nd birthdays were all adults, so yes we served them as well....

that is just our lifestyle and choice...I live wine DH loves beer....now my Outlawz won't touch a drop.....