LIKE A GROWN-UP AND NOT A BABY MACHINE?

Alcohol is constantly pushed on us as a way to cope with stressful situations such as parenting I remember walking into my local supermarket and seeing wine bottles stacked up on the shelf under a banner that read ‘Back to School Supplies’ When drinking and parenting are paired together to this extent, it really does take a rebel to say no thanks From boozy picnics in the park, play dates with paddling polls that involved rose and winter walks that included flasks of hot mulled wine, I did all of these things I was the one bringing the wine!

But I look back on it now and I know without a doubt that drinking did not relax me It certainly didn’t make me a better parent I remember telling the night doctor that I’d had a glass of wine so I couldn't drive my sick child into the late-night surgery to be checked out How cool is that! It’s

Forget cake, mummy wine culture meant I could have my Pinot and drink it too! The whole concept of it being acceptable to drink while having babies and young children was me all over and I signed up immediately Stressful day of nappies and bottles? Wine Feeling lonely and isolated? Wine Tired? Wine Needing to feel like a grown-up and not a baby machine? Wine you

Get The Gist

But the truth is, this attitude that alcohol is in some way a good coping mechanism, or a treat for being a parent, is so flawed it’s dangerous.

And it’s not just accepted, it’s encouraged. In fact, I would take it even further and say you can be ousted from a friendship group if you don’t drink! I know this because I’ve seen it happen.

Alcohol dehydrates you; it affects your sleep; it slows down your brain; it causes anxiety and stress; it gives you hangovers. Who in their right mind could ever know these things and think it was a good idea to drink while trying to juggle parenting? Me. I did.

And the reason I ignored all of the facts is because (a) I liked wine and didn’t need much of an excuse and (b) I got validation that it was ok everywhere I looked.

Drinking to deal with something you are struggling with is a bad idea. If you are drinking because you are tired, guess what, it leads to worse sleep. Because you are stressed? It leads to increased anxiety. To avoid facing up to problems? They are still there and you are dealing with them the next day, only with a hangover.

Alcohol is sold at school fetes and Christmas productions in my local school It’s sold at sporting presentations to celebrate our kids’ little leagues. Parents in the playground chat about their next night out like they are planning an escape from Alcatraz. But just because all of this is happening, doesn’t make it right. And if you don’t drink and the other mums at the school pick-up don’t want to hang around with you based on that alone, what a great indicator that they aren’t ever going to be good friends anyway

I can promise you this. I will never say ‘I wish I drank more as a parent’ and my children will never say ‘I wish mum had drunk more when we were young’. Those words sound totally wrong when you hear them and that’s because deep down, despite the way it is pushed at us from every direction, alcohol isn’t good for us and we know that

The truth is, parents deserve so much more than alcohol They deserve support, sleep and self-care.