Should you have alcohol at a children's party?
I was shocked that the main talking point about my 4-year-old's party was how free-flowing the drinks were. But are you shocked too?
About this time of year, I start thinking about what to do for my little girl Bodhi's birthday. It's in August and she's turning 5.
Last year was a blast and will be tough to beat, l'll be the first to admit: though it did bring up some debate...
We invited a bunch of parents from nursery and – as we'd just got married a couple of weeks before – we had a fair few leftover cans of beer and bottles of Prosecco to reel out for a festival-themed party.
Plus, the sun shone. Result!
Bodhi-fest (as we called it) was a rocking success for the kids and grown-ups alike but, a few days after the party, bumping into some of the parents, the key thing they remembered was how, er, generous we'd been with the drinks – and, in fact, that we'd had any booze at all.
While I wasn't exactly keeping a tally on who had what on the day, I think most people had a drink or 2. A couple of guests might have said no, but one mum and dad we we were particularly good mates with stayed long after the others had left and had a few more bevvies while our little ones played well into the evening.
Had we not had the wedding the week before, and a surplus of drinks to get rid of, we might not have been quite so generous on the alcohol front.
But I must admit it hadn't even crossed my mind that it might be inappropriate to serve up booze with a bunch of 4-year-olds running around.
A few drinks on the go seemed like a good idea to my husband and me. After all, even though you know most of the other parents by sight, no one knows anyone else particularly well – and a drink or 2 can often help the convo flow that bit easier.
We purposefully didn't get a bouncy castle in case of injuries and stuck to an arts and crafts area, a 'princess parlour' and fake tattoos for the kids (and adults!) who fancied it. Simple and pretty safe fun.
BUT there was such a lot of chatter following the party about the amount of drinks we had, it left me wondering if we'd done the right thing.
And, if I'm honest, I was a bit shocked (and a bit sad) that the one thing about the day that had stuck in our guests' minds seemed to be the free-flowing booze (was it really that much?)
So I'm thinking I might just stick to tea and coffee and squash with the Bakewell tarts this year...
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Tara is mum to 1 daughter, Bodhi Rae, and has worked as Content Editor and Social Media Producer at MadeForMums since 2015