This is particularly American sensibility about not drinking alcohol casually around children. It’s very strange. In the UK and Europe, if a kid is having a birthday party at their house it’s completely normal for the adults to be having a casual beer or wine and socialising whilst the children play, obviously not drinking to get drunk and within the legal limits for the driver.
So many people trying to say it is normal in the US, but it is the US the one with the rule of having a paper bag to cover alcohol anywhere public. Sure at home it might also be more normal but that is already indicative of a certain point of view which I’m guessing is what OP was talking about.
but it is the US the one with the rule of having a paper bag to cover alcohol anywhere public.
No it isn’t. This is a state-by-state thing. Many states don’t allow you to consume alcohol in public, period. Some don’t care (I think Louisiana is pretty lax regarding this if I recall?)
That is the way we had birthday parties too, and they are the best. Invite the whole family not just the kid. Nobody HAS to drink, and I didn’t because hosting, but it’s more hospitable to have adult beverages available. Often a “fancy drinks” area for the kids too, with colorful non alcoholic drinks and garnishes for them to create their own drinks.
So, so much better than a house full of kids all the same age. Kids running around in packs, adults chilling.
Bro it’s perfectly normal for Americans to do this too…
I swear, the Twitter snowflakes want to use the lamest of dunks to own the Libs. Then they fail to realize that they might do this themselves.
Aww, who am I kidding. Twitter shills don’t engage in family functions, or have kids for that matter.
I’m American, but Jewish. Wine is part of sabbath dinners. Especially during religious holidays. I was drinking wine at Passover seders when I was 8 or 9.
Amazingly, am not an alcoholic at 47. I do enjoy a small glass of port in the evening though.
I come from Germany and drinking around children is normal here, and it’s legal for children to start drinking at 14 years old.
However, just because it’s considered normal doesn’t mean it’s a good thing, alcohol gets played down way too much in our society, it’s one of the most dangerous and addictive drugs on the planet
UK and Europe
You do realize the UK is part of Europe, right?
The britisch Isles are part of Europe.
This is particularly American sensibility about not drinking alcohol casually around children
Shockingly this will vary by family. Some families take their kids bar hopping while they drink to excess, some drink casually and not in excess, and some are sober around their kids, and some remain sober all the time. My wife grew up hanging out in bars with her parents biker friends and their kids. She learned to watch some of them and save the good homemade wine when someone was about to topple. I grew up with parents who would have a single drink with dinner one to two times a week and would avoid getting drunk (at least that I know of).
Personally, as a parent and living in an area with a strong alcohol culture and with alcoholic family members, I drink very rarely (the alcoholic family members really kill my desire to drink), and when I do I make sure we have more than enough adults available to parent and drive if needed. I also am very much a lightweight so there is no drinking without getting noticeably giggly and sloppy. My wife feels and acts similarly but is not a lightweight and can realistically drink one drink and be visibly unaffected.
I honestly think the OP is less about the presence of alcohol around children but more just calling out a wine mom as such
My brother and others in the family will 100% get drunk around the kids. Nobody is giving kids alcohol nor drunk driving (we have family parties at the family vineyard usually so nobody is driving away)
Nobody is giving kids alcohol
When I was a kid I always asked for a taste when my parents had a drink with the meal. It was just a sip and I never liked it and it burned (it was usually a hard spirit), but I still asked every time.
When my wife was 5 she was being sent to the still to do a taste check and see if the brandy is strong enough yet.
I was born and raised in the states and I’ve never experienced this. There’s usually beer or wine for the adults who want it at every gathering. The one exception is maybe baptisms but only because the reception is usually in the church hall. Maybe it’s a southern thing? I’ve never been to the south and they do have some weirdly puritan social beliefs.
Hiding it from kids obviously will prevent them from ever using it or being curious!
God forbid we have open and honest conversations with kids so they learn how to use things responsibly.
Given that alcohol is a hard drug with severe social and personal consequences when abused i find that sentiment a bit shortsighted. We rightfully don’t accept casual consumption of cocaine or heroin around children. We shouldn’t set the model that alcohol is just a casual thing to consume on any given afternoon.
Me and many friends as teenagers wen we got shitfaced in unhealthy and dangerous ways just laughed at our parents critizising us, because of how normalized their consumption was.
So between responsible consumption and casual consumption is a huge difference. Especially when there is small kids around, who might end up just drinking from the jar right in their reach.
We rightfully don’t accept casual consumption of cocaine or heroin around children.
Disingenuous bullshit - there is no such thing as “casual consumption of heroin.” You can’t use heroin without getting high, but you can absolutely drink alcohol without getting drunk.
I am all about being honest about calling alcohol a drug, but a “hard drug”? Buddy…
So hiding it and not telling kids about it is a solution, which makes them curious, and then go eat overboard. Which is what I did.
What is much better is what Europeans do, where they have a much healthier view of alcohol, grow up around it, know what it is and does, and don’t have nearly the unhealthy binging Americans do. On top of that they also aren’t having an opioid crisis.
Unwinding after a shit week with a bottle of beer or glass of wine in the evening, with the extended family over for a meal, while kids play games. Tens of millions of Americans are doing this right now.
I don’t want to live in the America where that isn’t normal. That shit is wholesome.
It’s strange here in the US too. I don’t know anyone that has a problem with that. That kind of puritanical attitude about drinking is not the prevailing sentiment here. Sure, my friends and I aren’t getting plastered at BBQ’s like we did in college, but it’s not like we aren’t having some beers at a cookout just because half of us have kids now. It’s just a vocal religious minority making a lot of noise. Don’t get me wrong, this country does have a different, more uptight, relationship with alcohol than Europe, but it’s not nearly as extreme as it may appear online and in media.
It does happen though. My wife’s grandmother was an alcohol abolitionist. We’re not talking the 1800s here, I’m not that old. She died in the 2000s. But she was super religious and was part of a temperance movement.
Anyway, once she died, the beer and wine started coming out at family gatherings and they have not turned into raucous affairs. The kids at the gatherings seem to be doing fine.
Honestly it’s just pearl clutching. The same people are probably sneaking wine at their 8 year olds little league game in the bubba 64 oz trucker travel tankard.
From people close the me, the ones that are MAGA/religious all were actually the most depraved ones when they were younger.
I don’t know if they think of they have to make it up for those years to still be able to get to heaven or something.
As an American, I don’t know that I really see this too much. For Halloween, it’s not uncommon for some houses to give those little shooters to parents. Obviously it’s not good to get sloshed at a kid’s birthday party, but I don’t think too many people put too much weight on a drink or too. Either that, or I don’t put much weight on it, because I’ll have a social beer at noon on a weekday if it feels right.
