Strollerderby : alcohol

Dad Drives Drunk With Kids In Car

Brett Singer — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:30:00 GMT

Jason Ryan Damos of Portland, Oregon went for a drive. Drunk. With his kids in the back seat. A police chase ensued, and eventually Damos was caught. And arrested. Charges were "reckless endangerment, hit and run, felony elude and drunken driving." ("Felony elude" is a new term to me. It has a nice ring to it.)

After being involved in a hit and run accident, Damos kept on driving, possibly hitting other cars; full details were not in the KATU report. The main thing is that he had his two children, ages 3 and 4, in the back seat while he did his version of "The Dukes of Hazzard."

How drunk was he? According to one of the arresting officers, he was "beyond intoxicated." That phrase isn't as new to me as "felony elude," but it is very descriptive.

The mother of the two children was there to take the kids after police got Damos by "getting him to spin out, in what is called a 'pit maneuver.'" Dramatic stuff. Luckily the kids are OK.

Source: KATU

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Chuck E. Cheese Sells Booze to Minors!

SunnyChanel — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:30:00 GMT

Yup, there is now even more drama at Chuck E. Cheese. The restaurant chain claims to be a place where “a kid can be a kid.” Does being a kid include guzzling down booze? If so, they’re living up to their tagline.

According to the NBC Chicago news site, a suburban Chuck E. Cheese in Batavia, ILL was busted selling for alcohol to a minor. This was a result of an undercover sting where the police had high school and college students attempt to buy booze from local establishments.

What baffles me is that Chuck E. Cheese sells alcohol in the first place. I, for one, had no idea. I guess when you get a slew of screaming kids in one place, some parents really need to get their drink on. But, you’d think an establishment where 80 percent of clientele is underage, that Chuck E. Cheese would be way more diligent about who they serve.

Did you know Chuck E. Cheese had alcohol and do you think it’s okay to sell booze in a “kid’s” place?

Source

Drinking While Pregnant: Is Any Amount Okay?

Kate Tuttle — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:01:00 GMT

As Miriam posted about earlier this week, a few new studies have come out that some are using to argue, again, that ANY amount of alcohol during pregnancy is dangerous for the unborn -- even though the studies themselves say no such thing. Now Amy Graff at SFGate's Mommy Files reports on the ongoing controversy, quoting doctors and mothers who differ with the most stringent "no drinking" line, and exploring what the studies really say.

My favorite quote quote is from the doctor who says:

"If you're at a dinner party and someone pours a 1978 Bordeaux, I say go ahead and try it. Most healthy pregnant women lose their taste for alcohol, especially in early pregnancy when alcohol is known to exert its greatest effects, so they're only going to be having a sip here and there anyway."

The problem, as so many have pointed out, is that the vast majority of the research data focus on women who drink heavily during pregnancy, or binge drink. It's no surprise that their babies are at high risk for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, nor is it really any surprise that the public health message -- aided by an often hysterical media -- compresses all alcohol use into this baby-damaging paradigm. But is there any science out there that tells us what really happens when a pregnant woman drinks very occasionally? And how do we square the dangers of FAS with the example of all those gorgeous French children whose mothers drank a moderate amount of (excellent) wine while gestating?

The SFGate piece links to three studies, all of which seem to provide some evidence of some effect -- whether on size or behavior -- of the children of women who drank lightly in pregnancy. Public health folks continue to deliver the message that there is no known safe amount, although most doctors will contradict that (mine advised me to have a glass or two of wine following the amnio, and then said, when I visited France in my six month, that he certainly hoped I would have some wine). With one woman in twelve reporting that she drank at least a little alcohol during pregnancy, the confusion will likely continue, leaving individual mothers to asses their own risk level.

So how about it? Did you lift a glass while pregnant? Did you feel guilty or worried, or do you think the health message is overstated?

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They [Didn't] Say: Not Even a Drop of Alcohol

Miriam Axel-Lute — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:30:00 GMT

Oh the pull of the easy, dramatic headline.

Lauredhel, over at Hoyden About Town, has two interesting, detailed posts up recently about the, shall we say, divergance between what a scientific study and a set set of agency guidelines, respectively, actually say, and what's been been reported about them. It's all Aussie, but I know the same things happen here (and presumably booze and pregnancy aren't that different down under, physically).

In the first, she takes apart a study that finds an increased risk of pre-term birth for binge drinkers (shocking, I know) and, with very slim margins of confidence, women who drink heavily in the first trimester and then stop (but not, interesting, those who keep going. It would be interesting to come up with a mechanism for why that would be). It does not find an increased risk for light drinking. Also, much of its data appears to be pretty tentative.

But the coverage of it says the report states that "abstinence is still the safest option" (It might be. I did. But the report says no such thing) and also gets the data about the trimesters wrong. Laurdehel takes both the original study and the coverage apart in minute detail.

In the second, quite similarly, she notes some health guidelines that, based on no new evidence, reverse their previous stance that a light amount of drinking is OK while breastfeeding and start suggesting abstinence, though retaining a level-headed description of what would constitute a cautious approach to alcohol and lactation. The coverage (1) implied that there was some new evidence that it's more dangerous than previously believed and (2) never even mentioned the existence of the more nuanced guidelines.

It's easy to pick on journalists, sometimes too easy, but it's also necessary sometimes, because they have all the same cultural biases and habits (like infantilizing women and being alarmist about pregnancy) as everyone else.

Photo by timomcd.

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Grieving a Lost Pregnancy? Sorry, We'd Like a Drug Test

Miriam Axel-Lute — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:00:00 GMT

The fight over when women lose all rights when they become pregnant continues. A bill under consideration in Tennessee would mandate drug and alcohol testing for pregnant women under several conditions:

(1) No prenatal care;
(2) Late prenatal care after twenty-four (24) weeks gestation;
(3) Incomplete prenatal care;
(4) Abruptio placentae;
(5) Intrauterine fetal death;
(6) Preterm labor of no obvious cause;
(7) Intrauterine growth retardation of no obvious cause;
(8) Previously known alcohol or drug abuse; or
(9) Unexplained congenital anomalies.

Refusal of "treatment" results in referral to child protective services. Now, there are all the usual (good) arguments to made in response against mandating drug testing and rehab for pregnant women, such as: it deters them from seeking health care in the first place; it interferes with a doctor's judgment; treatment is impossible in a state where there are aren't enough beds available and nearly all the facilities don't take pregnant women or allow women to bring their children along (see Salon for details).

But as Rachel from Women's Health News points out eloquently, the list of triggers for the testing here adds a whole extra layer of ick: Preterm labor? Intrauterine death? We don't know what causes these things most of the time—are we now going to by default blame them all on the mother's behavior? Should a woman grieving a lost pregnancy not be able to drink for while for comfort without fear of being sent to rehab or losing her other kids?

And how about "incomplete prenatal care"? So now it is not up to us to choose whether we want ultrasounds or invasive tests that tell us nothing or carry a risk of miscarriage themselves?

If you care about the effects of drug and alcohol abuse on kids, for god's sake spend your energy making the treatment system actually work.

Photo by michab37.

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Mamas Don't Let Your Kids Grow Up to Drink and Party

JeanneSager — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:36:00 GMT

The secret to teetotalling kids may have been discovered by a teen with a taste for the straight life.

Chelsea Lynn Jurman, a seventeen-year-old from New York, is one of forty finalists in the new incarnation of the Westinghouse Science competition, with her social science study of what influence talk of parents' wild party days has on their teen's drinking habits.

The news, Jurman found, is not good. If you talk about teenage indiscretions in front of your kids, her survey of one hundred twenty-three teens shows they're more likely to believe that it's acceptable to do so themselves. If the kids didn't hear much about their parents drinking as kids, they were more likely to just say no.

I'm divided on how I feel about this study. I've always felt there's a delicate balance between lying to our kids and revealing too much. It's my problem with kids and parents meeting on Facebook - not everyone in the family needs to know EVERYTHING about each other. Telling kids about your youthful indiscretions, then instructing them not to copy you, is literally the "do as I say, not as I do" model of parenting - which works, um, never.

On the other hand, if my now three-year-old daughter one days asks if I had any alcohol as a child, I don't think I can lie to her. "No, Mommy waited until she was twenty-one and in perfect accordance with all laws" is A. a lie B. not realistic and C. likely to make a teenager roll her eyes and walk away. I'll lose that "teachable moment" we're always searching for. I'd like to think I'll divulge the bits that are most important for a growing teen - "Yes, I drank, but I never drove with any alcohol in my system," or "Yes, but I never drank at a party where I didn't know everyone, and trust everyone."

My colleague Shannon discussed the interesting theory that some parents think they need to drink FOR the kids, but this isn't a matter of how you model drinking behaviors today (which I do think is an important part of developing appropriate attitudes toward alcohol). Parents have to decide how much of their past they can edit. Is there anything you'll be holding back?

Image: Scientific American

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They Say: Alcohol Tastes Better If You Get It First in the Womb

Miriam Axel-Lute — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:30:00 GMT

Perhaps I can blame the fact that I can't take the bitterness of beer on my mother. It seems that on top of all the known hazards of drinking while pregnant, it also just might give your kid a taste for booze.

Emphasis on the might. This is one of those studies that should be taken with a grain of salt, as it was done on rats and the pregnant rat moms were basically kept drunk much of the time, not just allowed to sneak a glass of wine now and then. (While I'm all about not being alarmist, I hope there's no one out there who thinks a constant BAC of .15 during pregnancy is acceptable.)

With those caveats in mind, the results: baby rats born to alcohol-soaked mothers were distinctly more interested in licking alcohol-covered feeding tubes than the controls. Shocking, no? They were also more willing to lick a non-alcohol bitter substance, making the researchers figure the efect of fetal alcohol exposure on taste in particular is to reduce the resistance to bitter flavors.

I have to say, I think it's a stretch to go from here to surmising that this is why fetal alcohol exposure is linked to higher rates of alcohol abuse at 21. Is "it's an acquired taste" really that much of a barrier if the other conditions for abuse are in place? Wouldn't it just drive you to sugary, non-bitter drink and worse hangovers? (Or conversely, if other risk factors for abuse aren't present, is liking the taste enough to make you abuse it?)

Photo by Chris Owens.

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The 12 Do’s and Don’ts of Throwing Your Kid’s Birthday Party - Part 2

Cole Gamble — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:00:00 GMT

DO plan birthdays at fun indoor kid’s places when your child has a winter birthday.

DON’T get banned from the bouncy castle at JJ Jump because you sent too many children flying with your “Atomic Bounce”

DO make sure the birthday girl or boy sees a “Happy Birthday” sign up first thing on their birthday morning.

DON’T go crazy buying decorations. Kids don’t care that you shopped Pottery Barn for a parfect cupcake organizer.

DO provide juice boxes. It is much easier than having to fill cups all the time.

Back to Part 1: #1-6

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The 12 Do’s and Don’ts of Throwing Your Kid’s Birthday Party

Cole Gamble — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Ah, the children’s birthday party. A perfect venue to implant a sparkling, treasured memory in your child’s mind forever or scar them irreparably. If my wife is any indication, planning a child’s birthday party is one of the most hair-pulling, stress-inducing exercises outside of the birth itself. In the weeks leading up to my daughter’s recent 5^th birthday, Nicole grumbled daily about how “the parents at Jillian’s school clearly don’t know how to return a god damn RSVP.” I assured her that RSVP is a French term, and so most parents probably took it as a joke. Nicole was not swayed.

Having seven birthday parties under my belt, I think I’m finally getting the hang of how to make one go smoothly (i.e. avoid emotional disaster). Here are a few of the pointers I’ve picked up:

DO serve food and drink, making sure to account for all your guests and their parents.

DON’T serve booze. At my son’s second birthday, my friend got wasted which made him a great clown for the kids. What was not so good was when it was time to blow the candles and my friend joking added, “get ‘em all in one blow, ya little f****t!” My mom and Nicole’s parent got a real kick out of that. Then came time for the piniata. After every kid took a few turns whacking the thing, it was time for an adult to step up and finish the job. My sossed friend grabbed the plastic bat and began swinging wildly. When a bit of the candy began trickling out the kids made a dash for it, but my friend, completely oblivious kept swining, guaranting to pound a little one in the face with his erratic bat. “Stop kids! Run away from Casey!” I shouted. Sadly, that was when my stepfather stopped videotaping, which is too bad. I’d like to have a record of that glorious moment.

DO always serve cupcakes...they hand out it much easier and take less time. Cupcake cake give you the best of both worlds.

DON’T let your drunk friends rearrange the cupcakes in a suggestive manner.

DO hand out goody bags as they leave. If you disperse them earlier the kids will fight about who has what color gifts and such things. The birthday girl might be envious of the cheap trinkets as well, despite the pile of presents you just dumped on her.

DON’T put the following items into the goody bags: slime, beads or a big bag of sugar—unless you want to guarantee those kids’ parents will never bring them for another party.

Go to Part 2

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Mother Sets Fire to Her Daughter's Gloating Rapist

Cole Gamble — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:30:00 GMT

Antonio Cosme Velasco Soriano, 69, was sentenced to thirteen years in Spanish jail for the rape-at-knifepoint of a thirteen year old girl. Nine years into his time, Soriano was given a three day pass to return to his home town of Benejúzar and who should he run into but his victim’s mother. Reportedly Soriano taunted the mother saying, "How's your daughter?" right before entering a crowded bar.

The victim’s mother followed him.

Shortly after, the woman walked into the bar, poured a bottle of petrol over Soriano and lit a match. She watched as the flames engulfed him, before walking out.

According to a witness:

"She didn't acknowledge anyone but walked up to Soriano, who was drinking a coffee, put her hand on his shoulder and turned him round to face her.

"Then she pulled the bottle she was carrying from under her arm and began to tip it over him. At first I didn't realize what was happening, but then I smelt the petrol. I jumped up and tried to grab her, but when she struck a match I got clear.

"The petrol was in a pool around Soriano, and she threw the match into it. It ignited with a whoosh, and he screamed and staggered about covered in flames. As people rushed outside to escape the flames, she just looked at him, then turned and walked away."

Soriano suffered 60 percent burns on his body. 11 days later he was dead.

After her daughter’s attack all those years ago, it’s said the mother suffered from mental illness. When questioned by police about the encounter with the rapist, the woman claimed to recollect nothing of it.

She is currently incarcerated.

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Should You Drink for the Kids?

Shannon LC Cate — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:02:00 GMT

Last week, New York Times blogger Paul Clarke suggested that drinking in moderation is a good parenting tactic, as it gives children an example of how to--and how not to--drink themselves, when the day arrives. The theory goes that extremes in either direction--bingeing on alcohol or shunning it completely--will give kids an unrealistic and unhealthy attitude towards alcohol. The author explains that in his own early drinking days, it was the teens with T-totalling parents who had the worst drinking habits.

I suppose it's a relatively plausible notion. My own parents, raised themselves by T-totallers, drank in moderation around their children. I guess I turned out okay. And now my partner and I are moderate drinkers, if the definition of "moderate" can include sharing a glass of wine about 3 times a year. By Clarke's definition, we probably aren't drinking enough to give our kids the right attitude towards alcohol.

Then again, I don't know if I think it matters--outside the extremes of telling children all alcohol is evil, and being an alcoholic--how much a parent drinks. Every child is going to have their own relationship to this "forbidden" activity as they get old enough to make decisions about it on their own. It will depend on their peer relationships, their chosen social activities, any number of unpredictable factors, including, perhaps genetic makeup, how any individual approaches alcohol.

Back in my teen days, while I was not having sex, I was also not drinking. And my no-sex-having best friends weren't really drinking either. There was no grand design to any of this. We weren't part of any program or club or religious group. We just had other things to do and placed a lot of value on our brains. We also found ridiculous some of our peers' notions that drinking something you don't even like until you don't know what you're doing and then can't remember it the next day was "fun" or defined "party."

I guess I was a geek and I still am. But I am no more convinced that binge drinking is a natural part of adolescence than I am that sex is. (Witness cultures that have different attitudes towards alcohol--mostly looser ones--and their lack of a youth drinking problem.) I wish I did know how to program my children to share this attitude, but I simply don't. Meanwhile, my partner and I will continue to control our drinking based on our own preferences and good sense and let our daughters know they should do the same when they are of age. Hopefully they will choose wisely.

What are you doing on the alcohol front? Do you think there's any way parents can sway kids' future choices about drinking?

For other weird things I think, see:

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Name Your Baby Whatever You Want, For Heaven's Sake!

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image: blog.larrybodine.com

Comcast Super Bowl Surprise

Brett Singer — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Some Arizona cable subscribers got mighty ticked off during the Super Bowl on February 1. But not only because the Cardinals lost the game.

Certain Comcast cable customers were watching Larry Fitzgerald's terrific catch and run with just over two minutes left in the game, when suddenly something… else… appeared on their screens. A movie. The kind of movie you really don't want your kids to see.

The title of said movie was "Wild Cherries 5." Let's just say that you don't really need to have seen any of the first four films in order to follow the plot.

This comment from The Arizona Daily Star website sums it up nicely and even uses clean language:
It was really weird. I thought at first, awww, whet are they doing , thinking it was just an edgy commercial that the Superbowl is known for.
Then it was clear that something was really wrong as the guy stood up and everything was there, yes, everything.

If you want to see the video, click here. It is not safe for work, school, children, or pets. Well, maybe pets. Maybe.

All kidding aside, parents who were watching the game with their kids were quite peeved at this year's wardrobe malfunction. (Also from the AZ Star.)
I had a 2 and a 7 year-old in the room and it was totally disgusting. Comcast better get ready to give all subscribers at least one free month of service for having to be subject to this filth!

Full month of service from Comcast and Cox cable (make up your own joke there, Beavis)? Nope. Ten bucks. Maybe they can use it to order some pay-per-view.

One parent who understands how those parents feel is Tristan Kingsley, the star of the film in question. Kingsley, who has appeared in 600 adult films (I get tired just typing that phrase), has two children of her own, a three year old girl and a four year old boy. She told the Star, "I've read some comments that parents have left on different blogging sites, and I can understand that they'd get a little upset that their children might be watching it. I would never go and put one of my videos on for my kids to watch."

Wow. Just…wow.

What would you do if you were watching TV with your kids and suddenly saw… that?

Source: AZStarnet.com (1, 2), Gizmodo

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14-Year-Old Pregnant Girl Arrested for Drunk Driving

Cole Gamble — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Personally, I find the most disturbing part of this story is the fact we must use the term “girl”, not “woman”. But that's me, maybe something else bothers you more. If you get off on disturbing yourself, this is the gift that keeps on giving. Let’s break down the main elements:

A) A) A pregnant 14-year-old;

B) B) Getting visibly drunk;

C) C) Then driving drunk (without a license of course. A license to drive, that is, not a license for drunk driving.);

D) D) Drunk driving dangerously and erratically;

E) E) Making Jesus cry.

As famed crack enthusiast Whitney Houston once said, “I believe the children are the future.”

According to the arresting officer’s report:

Acting Sergeant Kevin Crawford told the Northern Advocate the girl, who was four months pregnant, was stopped after her driving caught police attention.

She allegedly gave a false name and had difficulty spelling it.

She was forbidden to drive and taken to Whangarei police station, where she recorded a breath-alcohol level of 828mcg. The legal limit for drivers under 20 is 150mcg and driving licenses are not issued to people under 15.

The girl would be referred to Youth Aid, Mr. Crawford said.

Ya, this happened in New Zealand, but does it really matter where it took place? Thanks to our sister site, Nerve for this breaking news.

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Pittsburgh Schools Open Late Day After Super Bowl

Brett Singer — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:50:00 GMT

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Children belong in school.

Pittsburgh Public Schools opened two hours late today. Why? Well, the Steelers were in the Super Bowl. Duh.

And now that the Steelers won (great game, for what it's worth), the statement that school district spokesperson Ebony Pugh made on Friday seems prescient: "People will be staying up late; there will be some partying."

I have no doubt that Pittsburgh partied like it was 2006, when Pittsburgh also won, and schools were similarly delayed. But the game ended at 10pm. While it's very nice of the district to delay the start of school so that parents can have an extra hour or two to get over their hangovers (frankly, I could've used an extra couple of hours and I'm in New York), it seems like a ridiculous move. One parent, Latoya Taylor, is going to miss time at work because of the delay. Is Ben Roethlisberger going to reimburse her?

I hate to be a sourpuss. But I really think this is stupid. "The district hopes the delay will cut down on absenteeism." How about expecting people to be responsible enough to get up and get their kids ready for school? Or not keeping them up so late that they're overly tired in the morning? If a parent decides, as my mother did with opening day at Yankee Stadium, that a sporting event is worth missing school for, that's one thing. But when the district makes that decision for everyone, I don't like it.
Anyone from Pittsburgh want to weigh in? I mean, congrats on the win. Great game. But are you happy that schools were delayed two hours? Non-Pitt residents, how would you feel if this happened in your hometown?

Source: PittsburghLive

Image: pps.k12.pa.us

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Do Your Kids Watch The Super Bowl?

Brett Singer — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:30:00 GMT

This year, for the first time in many years, my friends and I are forgoing the family Super Bowl watching experience in favor of a visit to a local tavern. Basically, almost everybody has kids now, which means that by halftime, we all have to go home. Last year, when the New York Football Giants beat the New England Patriots (heh heh) in what was one of the biggest upsets in sports history, we were all back in our living rooms, watching it alone.

Is that a big deal? No. Would it have been more fun to watch the game with the guys, especially this catch by David Tyree (included here to torture Patriots fans)? Sure.

As it turns out, none of our children care about the game. They like to hang out together, but we can do that anytime. This way the fans can watch the game and only leave at halftime if its a blowout.

So that's my deal this year. I'm wondering about our readers. Do your children watch the Big Game? For that matter, do you? And if your kids do watch, how old are they?

My pick: Sunny is pulling for the Steelers, and I would join her. But the fact that the Cardinals haven't won in, like, 100 years or something, is making me root for them. That, Kurt Warner being really old (as The Onion points out), Edgerrin James getting a chance to win a Super Bowl after watching his old team The Colts win the year after he left, Arizona being the underdog... they get my rooting interest. That means nothing, of course. And I have nothing against the Steelers. They just won a couple of years ago, though.

So – big game or no big game, and kids or no kids?

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They Say: Kids Need To Be Taught to Handle School Stress

JeanneSager — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:04:00 GMT

Could teens who turn to drugs and alcohol just be plain old stressed?

A new study out of Britain states thirty-six percent of kids who were stressed about exams, peer relationships and the volume of homework turned to drinking to drown their sorrows. Another sixteen percent smoked cigarettes, while six percent used drugs to make the stress go up in a puff of smoke.

The study, presented at the British Psychological Society's Division of Educational and Child Psychology annual conference, focuses on stress; but I wonder how much time they spent examining these kids' home lives. Because school is stressful; and not just because of the pressure of impending college applications but because it's the time when hormones are starting to drive every child a little bit loony!

But handling school stress and turning to drugs are two different things. Where are these kids' parents? I know that's often the response when anyone talks about kids on drugs or using alcohol . . . but that makes it no less of an obvious. I run the risk of sounding like an old fogey here, but in my day, when we started drinking, we did it as much because we could get away with it as we did for any sound psychological reasons. Who answered, "Hey, want a Zima and some Skittles?" with "yeah, my teachers are really riding me?"

In college, maybe. But in high school, we didn't sit around moaning about the SATs when we were drinking. So are kids actually more stressed? Or are they suffering a lack of parental intervention in their lives . . . which could translate into stress and give them the free time to indulge in vices that more-involved parents are able to weed out?

Image: NPR

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Woman Arrested For Breast Feeding At A Bar

Brett Singer — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Allanah Earley went to a Durham, Connecticut bar to have a couple of drinks. Nothing wrong with that, right? But the 36-year-old brought her baby. Hey, lots of us think that's fine as well. Then she started breast-feeding the baby, who is seven weeks old.

Two new acronyms have popped up as a result – DWB (Drinking With Baby, from NBC Connecticut) and BWI (Breastfeeding While Intoxicated, from ParentDish). BWI works better, I think. The official charge is "risk of injury to a minor", which sounds pretty, um, minor. At the moment, Earley is free on $10,000 bail.

Imperfect Parent asks, "Wonder where the breastfeeding advocates stand on this issue." Well, it's generally thought that drinking alcohol while breast-feeding is a bad idea. Especially if you literally drink alcohol WHILE YOU ARE BREAST-FEEDING. Like, have a couple of drinks, feed the kid, have another shot, and so on. That's what Allanah Earley is accused of: The Middletown Press says that when police interviewed Earley, she was visibly drunk, and admitted to officers that she'd had seven drinks. I'm guessing even the strictest La Leche Leaguer would suggest formula in that situation.

Poor kid. Even without the breast-feeding, mom's got some problems.

One report says that bar patrons called the police when Earley left the bar and "wandered out into the cold" with the baby, eventually finding her way to a friend's house, where she kept on drinking and breast-feeding. (Ah, reminds me of my college days… sorry, not funny.) In other words, the "concerned customers" didn't make the call while Earley was at the bar.

Would you do something if you saw a mom drinking and breast-feeding her baby at a bar? It's trickier than it sounds, I think – one the one hand, she has a right to do what she wants as long as it's legal. But as she becomes more and more intoxicated, the baby could be in danger, right? I'm not sure what I would do. How would you handle it?

Source: wfsb.com, others

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Do You Take Your Baby Bar Hopping?

Brett Singer — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:00:00 GMT

New York Citysearch writes:

"You had a baby. It happens. Despite consensus among suburbanites, you're not obligated to shed every aspect of your former self. In New York, at least, you can maintain some semblance of a social life." Then they offer a list of 5 "baby friendly" watering holes, where "in addition to spending quality time together, you can teach your child important life lessons--like how to squat above a toilet seat."

Right.

It's one thing if these bars are exclusively for parents and kids. "Baby Loves Bourbon" or something. One bar, Floyd, welcomes the "strollerati" during Happy Hour. The problem is that babies are not always pleasant drinking companions. If I'm at a bar knocking back a few and somebody's kid starts screaming, my strong preference is that said child not be present. And if you want to go grab a few brewskis, why not get a baby sitter? As a commenter on Gothamist puts it, "I dont [sic] bring a six pack to your day care, so dont [sic] bring your babies to the bar."

Let me put on my self-righteous, "parenting the planet" hat for a moment: Personally, I don't like the idea of babies being around excessive alcohol consumption. Whether or not someone is responsible for themselves is besides the point. Drunk people sometimes do dumb things. Why should your little bundle of joy get a pint of Guinness dumped on their head because some dope is upset that Brett Favre threw another interception? Or get hit with a piece of flying barstool when a different dope (or even the same dope) is mad that somebody looked at them funny? Now, let me take that hat off: it's up to you. Live and let live.

The other part of the "babies in bars" thing that I find irritating is the idea that, "you can maintain some semblance of a social life" after having kids. Maybe you can, but maybe you can't. When you have a baby, things change. You might not get to go out to bars the way you used to. Deal with it.

The flip-side to baby-friendly bars is baby UNfriendly bars. Brooklyn's Union Hall got a lot of flack back in February for their "no strollers, please" sign. What's especially irritating about the whining that ensued is the fact that if you can have a "babies welcome" bar, someone else should be able to have a "babies not welcome" bar. (This is similar to my notion that someone should be able to start "Up In Smoke Airlines" to cater to the nicotine crowd.)

How about our readers? Do you bring your kids to bars? Do you mind if other people do?

Source/Image: Citysearch

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Do You Have a Drinking Problem? Talk To the Kids' Doc.

JeanneSager — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:33:00 GMT

If your kid’s doctor asked you how much you drink would you tell her? According to a new study, most parents would. What’s more, they’d be more likely to tell a pediatrician if they feel they’ve got a problem.

The study in this month’s issue of the Journal of Pediatrics shows three quarters of parents with an admitted alcohol abuse problem said they would be willing to answer questions and take guidance from their child’s doctors. The same goes for three quarters of parents who reported they don’t have any substance abuse issues – they’re willing to let the pediatrician ask the questions.

Alcohol abuse is rarely a personal problem. Although you might be the only one drinking your liver into a pickled state, the affects extend to the children who watch you pass out night after night on the couch and the spouse who watches a chunk of the household funds being drank away. I can certainly see how it would qualify as a family health issue.

But there are parents who say they’re afraid their pediatrician wouldn’t be able to discern the difference between a social or occasional drink and alcoholism. To them I say: why do you have your child being evaluated by this person? If they don’t have the acumen to tell the difference, perhaps they’re overstepping their bounds with your child’s diagnoses as well.

Then again, what’s that AA saying? “Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery?” If you can’t do it for your kids, who will you do it for?

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Woman leaves toddler in car while she goes to a bar

Brett Singer — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Although that sentence sounds like it's from some demonic Dr. Seuss rhyme, the story isn't particularly amusing.

Authorities say a Largo woman left a 2-year-old boy locked inside a car while she went into a bar.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office reports that customers at the St. Petersburg bar saw the child sleeping in the back seat of a white sedan with the windows rolled up and doors locked early Sunday morning. Security workers at the bar called the sheriff's office.

This next part would be funny if it didn't involve a little kid. When asked by the authorities how long she had been inside the Club 54 bar in St. Petersburg, "She told them she had only been there for about 20 minutes, but other customers claimed the woman had been there for at least an hour." I have to wonder if she somehow thinks that it would be OK to leave the kid locked in the car while she had a drink if it was only for 20 minutes. Does it make her a better or worse person that she didn't come up with a good lie, like, "I just had to use the ladies' room" or something? I guess it doesn't matter. By the way, this happened at 1:00am, in case you were wondering. Also, none of the news reports I read say that this was her son.

The woman, 29-year-old Caroline Kreitz, has been released from jail and the boy was taken by Child Protective Services.

Source: mysuncoast.com

image: metromix

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Does PSA Blame Parents for their Daughters Being Raped?

JeanneSager — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:29:00 GMT

The public service announcement warning parents not to buy their daughters alcohol because of the heightened risk for sexual abuse for drunk teens is a total of 30-seconds long. But the Queensland Government in Brisbane, Australia has been drawing harsh critiscm around the globe for putting the blame in the wrong place - the victim.

Opening with a girl's stricken face as she weeps and fights off an attacker in a dark alley, the commercial follows the girl's night in reverse. It backs out of the alley, away from the guy into a party of teens drinking, then back to the girl's house where Dad hands her a box of booze and waves bye bye. "Don't kid yourself," an ominous voice says, "buy your children alcohol and they could pay the price."

Feministing, Jezebel and dozens of others have taken up bashing the Aussies for the short, charging the ad makers with blaming girls for getting raped and their parents for putting them in that situation. "I think what is upsetting about this is that it perpetuates the belief that rape is a young woman's fault and that if parents buy their daughters alcohol they are putting them at risk of rape," says Feministing blogger Samhita. "What about telling young men to not rape drunk women? That is what the focus of the PSA should be. Perhaps another conversation about youth and alcohol consumption is needed, but let's not tangle the issues."

I agree that there should be more education for guys about a girl's right to say no. But I think it's Samhita who is mixing the messages here. This is about parents not taking care of their kids. It's about a smarmy smiling dad (watch the video and you'll see it) handing his daughter a big box of booze, putting her in a car full of teenagers with said alcohol and waving without a care in the world. Rape isn't the only horrible thing that can happen to her out there.

Unfortunately, rape is a reality, and there is only so much parents can do to protect their daughters. The U.S. Department of Justice has surmised a woman is raped here in the states every two minutes. It can happen in broad daylight or a dark alleyway. It can happen with alcohol or without. And you don't have to tell me that girls who undergo some sort of sexual abuse often feel like it's our fault.

Which is why arming our daughters to protect them from some day being raped is part of our jobs. Not because they're the weaker sex. Not because they're doing something wrong. Because it's something that can, and shouldn't have to happen. Add alcohol to any situation where boys and girls co-mingle, and statistics show the risk of a rape occuring increases. The U.S. Department of Justice Violence Against Women report figures 45 percent of all rapes involve alcohol - which could mean the victim or the attacker. The numbers include adult women, but considering two in six rape victim are under 18, there are plenty of teen girls being raped where alcohol is a factor.

Not because they're bad kids or because they asked for it but because they lost their ability to function because they drank too much. They lost their ability to protect themselves from the dangers that are out there, and guess who failed to protect them? Their parents. The ones who sent them to a party with a bunch of alcohol and no education on what it can do.

So, yes, I do put a portion of blame on the parents. Which was the point of the PSA to begin with - to teach them not to provide ther kids with free alcohol, to teach their kids about the affects alcohol will have on the body - including the risk of blackout, the risk of losing the physical strength to push off an attacker, and the risk that someone else who's drunk may have their inhibitions reduced to the point where they'll do something stupid. Like rape a girl.

In fact, the PSA shows a girl being abused, but the narrator says "67 percent of teenagers have been abused or assaulted whilst under the influence of alcohol." She says "your children." She doesn't say girls. She doesn't say daughters. It's an advertisement about protecting our girls and our boys, teaching girls to protect themselves, teaching boys they're not allowed to use alcohol as an excuse.

It's an advertisement that puts the responsibility for kids in their parents' hands. And when they drop the ball, the blame belongs with them.

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JeanneSager — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:54:00 GMT

That's it. I'm not going out on the road with my kid again until I buy a tank. Maybe I should vote for McCain after all - he'd probably love to see us all driving them. OK, the venom is gone. On to the story.

A 10-year-old, driving 90 MPH down a Tennesee highway, flipped a van over the weekend. Why weren't any adults watching when a child climbed into the driver's seat and took the wheel, you might ask? I know I did. The answer didn't make me feel any better. A man and a woman were in the back of the van when it flipped, along with another 10-year-old and a 6-year-old.

Just wait, it gets worse.

The man, Randy Lewis of Bristol, Tenn., told police he'd had 15 beers that night plus some liquor. The woman, Paula Elaine Evans, was reportedly shoveling pills into her mouth as fast as she could when the cops arrived. Police would not tell the media if Lewis and Evans were the boy's parents. For his sake, I hope not. Lewis has been charged with seven violations, including third offense DUI and felony reckless endangerment while Evans faces charges of either child abuse or child neglect. Both are in jail while the three kids are in state custody.

Really, where do you begin with this one? I'm all for assigning someone as DD when you've had a little too much (or you know, two and a half cases too much) to drink. But my vote's for someone who can see over the steering wheel. Then there's Lewis' history. This was his third driving while intoxicated charge. And his duds at the arraignment? A shirt that says "By This Dad a Beer."

How about we just buy him a vasectomy?

Image: Fox News

Source: Kingsport Times-News

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JeanneSager — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:36:00 GMT

Apparently no one told Virginia Neel Blaker you aren't supposed to put carbonated beverages in a sippy cup. They didn't tell her not to serve beer to a toddler either. Oh yeah, and not to do it front of the police.

The New Mexico mom hit the trifecta in the competition for Dopiest Mom in America this week when a group of undercover officers were at her home to buy drugs from Neel-Blaker and her husband, James Blaker. First officers said they watched her give the couple's 18-month-old daughter a sip of beer from a can. Then she grabbed the baby girl's sippy cup and filled 'er up - "to make the baby sleep."

Perhaps she read Brett's post last week asking if anyone out there really thinks it's a good idea to give a 4-year-old a brewski? The cops said previous purchases of heroin and marijuana at the house, plus her offers to have sex with them for $100 apiece, suddenly took a backseat to the child abuse in front of them. Gee, you mean a mom who trafficks heroin out of her family's home isn't mother of the year material?

The little girl has been taken into custody by New Mexico authorities while her parents are in jail. At least one of us will be sleeping better.

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Dad buys beer for his toddlers

Brett Singer — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:00:00 GMT

The Father of the Year competition continues. The latest entry: a Wisconsin man who allegedly bought his 4-year-old a beer a county fair. As in, "Gimme two beers, lil' lady – one fer me, one fer junior. He's too short to reach the counter so I'll get it fer him." The dad did, however, make his son share that beer with his little brother – a 2-year-old.

When confronted by police, he said that it was, "legal for underage children to drink in Wisconsin, as long as they're with their parents." When the officer had the nerve to suggest that, "the boys weren't old enough to know what they were drinking," Daddy Drinkee "began yelling and swearing and was kicked off the fairgrounds."

I was kind of surprised to read that so many folks have seen people who seem to really really want little ones to drink soda, but beer? Has anyone ever heard of someone who thinks it’s a good idea to give a 4-year-old his very own brewski?

Source: orlandosentinel.com

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Brett Singer — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:30:00 GMT

From the "WTF" files (actually, 1010 WINS news radio) comes this story:

Three teenagers are accused of giving marijuana and beer to a 6-year-old and videotaping the intoxicated youngster for their amusement in Vernon. The two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old are charged with child endangerment. They will also likely face drug offenses, police said.

The teenagers were sitting around drinking and toking up and figured it would be funny to give the pipe to someone's little brother. Then they fed the little guy beer through a funnel. I'm saying "allegedly" because that's what you do in these stories, but according to 1010 WINS, one of the parents discovered four videos on one of the teens' cell phone that shows the whole incident.

While the "6-year-old is being screened for psychological and substance abuse problems," I think the three teenagers should be screened for the former as well. This certainly sounds like evidence of psychological problems to me.

Source: 1010 WINS
Image (not from this story, just seemed appropriate): drinkingstuff.com