Friday, November 02, 2007

Party Rules

Earlier this week we got an invitation to a block party. Our street is small, and we've had 2 new neighbors move in recently. I thought it was really nice that some of our neighbors opened their home so we could all come over.

The invitation encouraged us to bring our children, but also said in bold underlined letters "NO ALCOHOL UNTIL ALL THE CHILDREN ARE GONE (7:30)"

Hrmm. I can have fun without alcohol (although it's definitely easier for me to be sociable after a glass of wine), and I can respect anyone who doesn't want alcohol to be served for religious or personal reasons. But, I don't have a problem with people drinking responsibly in front of their children. If we brought our kids, were we supposed to leave at 7:30 so they could get this party started?

We went tonight, and it was very nice - we really hit it off with one couple. The hostess welcomed us, said we could all stay until midnight if we liked, but reiterated the no drinking in front of the kids (she has adult children herself). We drank iced tea, snacked, and everyone was outta there by 7:45 pm. Hrmm.

7 comments:

Dana said...

Okay...well--I can understand not wanting the kids around to watch the adults drink. Maybe they think they're sending a message that alcohol has to be involved in order to have a good time, and then, the kids think the same thing one day...one day all too soon. Of course, there are adults that don't drink responsibly--kids or no kids--so they may just be taking the extra precaution that one of your neighbors might just get a little too carried away. It's a very fine line between what we do and what they see.

ColeBugsmommy said...

I think you should have brought the kids to work and locked them in a kennel and then went back to the party :-)

Joey said...

Well, I guess your neighbors wouldn't approve of our neighborhood parties. We have a group of 4-5 couples, each with 1-3 kids (Faith is the oldest of the group) who gets together every couple of months. We have buffet-style food for adults and kids. Then the kids run willy-nilly around the house & backyard, while the adults visit and partake of wine & margaritas. The kids, of course, enjoy their Capri Suns. They are so busy playing they don't pay much attention to us. The 2 oldest kids know that the drinks are "adult drinks", which they liken to coffee (just tastes yucky). They don't get the concept of alcohol. Are we sending a bad subliminal message? Maybe. But these happy kids also see responsible drinking by happy parents. I drink wine at home, too. The exposure is there. But, I'm a good parent who will not hesitate to discuss things openly and responsibly w/ my kids when the time is right.

Sinda said...

freaky, is all I can say.

Emily said...

I agree with Sinda. Weird.

Unknown said...

That bold type almost begs you to ask the hostess what caused her to have this stance. Maybe a bad alcohol-related accident in the past (like a pool drowning)?

Anonymous said...

I think they really just wanted everyone to go home early. Ha!