Changing drinking for busy parents

When you’re a busy parent who’s trying to accelerate your career whilst making sure your kids are having plenty of your time and are still getting to football/piano lessons/birthday parties on time, changing drinking habits can be really low down on your packed to-do list. That limited time to decompress at the end of the day might have involved a few wind-down drinks. Changing drinking when you’re snowed under with being a busy, working parent juggling all of these things can be extra challenging.

In this episode of the Club Soda podcast, co-founder Laura Willoughby talks to Casey McGuire Davidson, a coach for busy Mums who are thinking of changing drinking while parenting. This podcast is particularly valuable if you’re a busy parent who’s reevaluating your relationship with alcohol.

Changing drinking advice from Casey

Casey McGuire Davidson is the founder of Hello Someday Coaching and is based in the US. She helps busy Mums to stop drinking as a way to relax and destress. Casey shows parents how to overcome overwhelm without alcohol and create pockets of calm within busy family life. This comes from a place of personal experience – Casey once was that busy Mum who relied on wine to relax.

I was back to a bottle of wine a night on my couch after my two kids went to bed. And I have to tell you that parenting with hangovers, a fuzzy memory of the night before, and having all those unproductive hours, that is brutal. That is hard.

Casey McGuire Davidson

How to make changes as a busy parent

As Laura points out in this discussion, being a busy Mum has often been glorified. Mummy Wine Time culture makes women feel like the way that they’re ‘supposed’ to relax is with a glass of wine or a G&T. Casey argues that there are many other things that are more valuable to a mother’s self-care and mental health which can easily be swapped out at ‘Wine o’clock’.

We use alcohol as a shorthand for self-care and for a reward and for something to enjoy. Instead, on like Friday night, leave work a little early and get a pedicure. Get sushi takeout and rent a good movie. Go to bed at 8 pm if you want to start a morning workout class. Take that money you would spend on alcohol and get a babysitter so you can go sit in the hot tub at the gym and do nothing and read a novel and not feel guilty. You need to decompress throughout the day. You know not to rush, rush, rush at work totally hungover, eating at your desk, not taking a walk, get to 4 pm and rush home at the witching hour. So I say set your alarm, block your calendar, take a walk during the day. Eat something at 5 pm. Make wine time into time for change.

Casey McGuire Davidson

What about busy Dads?

We understand that being a busy parent comes with its own stresses and pressures whether you’re a Mum or a Dad. Embarking on a journey to change your drinking can take a lot of hard work, but the reward is that you may have many more hours to spend with your kids making memories that will outlast any hangovers.

If you’re looking for a Dad’s perspective on how the stresses of transitioning from adult to parent can affect changing drinking, author and journalist Marcus Barnes wrote a piece for us in 2020 – read it here.

More from the Club Soda podcast.

If you’re new to our podcast and enjoyed this content, then we have 3 series of fascinating discussions for you to delve into. Our podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts from.  Find your platform here.