A thread on NFR got me wondering about this...

Do you drink alcohol around your kids? When you have a party do you have adult beverages - or mainly sodas, etc?

Have your children ever seen you - or your spouse or friends/family in a state of intoxication? How do you feel about that?

I have thrown parties and I do include adult beverages. My kids are generally asleep relatively early (before the effects of alcohol really start to show). I am far more cautious about drinking when my kids are around than my husband has been (traditionally speaking) - but they have rarely noticed any changes in either of us relative to drinking. They HAVE however seen other people in a state of inebriation. And they have said "Why is Uncle Mike talking like that?" or "How come Aunt Laura is acting funny?"

Anyway.. this weekend we are going to another party and I have decided to spend the night at our friends. While we will NOT be drinking, I am committed to making sure that the rest of the revelers get home safely and will be shuttling people to their homes and calling cabs, taking keys, etc.. What this means is that my kids (before they get to sleep) may see a whole lot of very, VERY drunk people. Many of those folks will be familiar to them.

Do you think we should explain things before hand? Or just do our best to get them sleeping before the night gets too far on? I am thinking that since they don't sleep there often, they may not get to bed as quickly as usual..

It's not the biggest deal in the world.. but I just am not sure how to balance the explanation so that they understand that getting that drunk is NOT smart - but that the people who DO get that drunk aren't necessarily stupid. Does this make sense at ALL??