Not long ago, I was at a barbecue with a bunch of young moms of preschoolers. It was early afternoon, and the wine was already pouring freely. While my glass was refilled, I mentioned that my husband and I had taken to holding a pre-dinner cocktail hour Thursday evenings, a way to unwind along with the work and school week. A group of the other moms threw knowing glances at each other as one asked incredulously: “You wait until Thursday?”
Now I have no problem with social drinking and am always up for a convivial mom’s night out. I’ve never felt compelled to turn to alcohol or pop a cork on my own because of parenting-related stress, though, and based on the offhand comments and social media posts of friends (some of whom have driven my kids around), I’ve lately wondered if I’m in the minority on that score.
There seems to be something about modern motherhood that’s driving us to drink openly, then joke about it. It’s a worrisome trend — especially with holiday party season nearly here — one we look at here. Read it, then let us know if you’ve also noticed an upswing in kid-induced overdrinking. What can we do as a parenting community to let off steam in safer ways? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
In This Issue
We gather Thanksgiving spirit with stories on new holiday traditions, fun kid Turkey Day recipes, Black Friday shopping strategies and the board games–centric kickoff of our 2014 Toy Test (check back in Dec. for more reader reviews).
We also shine a spotlight on families whose kids have special needs, with a comprehensive All Access Family Fun Guide augmenting our annual Special Needs School Survey, searchable online.
MK Staff Picks: What We’re . . .
Watching: We’re heading back to the movie theater with the release of kid-to-tween flicks like Big Hero 6 (Nov. 7), Mockingjay (Nov. 21) and Penguins of Madagascar (Nov. 26).
Tracking: Did you know that NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) has a special program to help budding authors younger than 17 write an entire novel over the month of November? 90,000 kids participated in 2013; flex those typing fingers, then click here to find out more.
Reading: We were fans of Carl Hiaasen’s twisted mysteries long before he toned things down (somewhat) for the YA crowd. Skink — No Surrender, his latest for teens, follows ex-governor-turned-wild man Skink on another kid-linked eco-adventure.
