Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook

Uproar After NC State Agent 'Fixes' Girl's Lunch Preschooler has to eat chicken nuggets instead of mom's meal »

Boozing Author/Mom Hits the Wagon

By Drew Nelles, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 16, 2009 1:07 PM CDT

(Newser) – Stefanie Wilder-Taylor made a name for herself penning light-hearted accounts of life as a hard-drinking mom, so her blog readers were shocked when she announced that she was laying off the sauce, the New York Times reports. Drinking-while-parenting “was a way to express that we’re still fun people,” but when she woke up on the couch fully clothed one morning, she realized, “I have these kids who are depending on me, and I have a bad problem.”

With book titles like Naptime Is the New Happy Hour, Wilder-Taylor was the highest-profile spokeswoman of a burgeoning pop-culture movement that wryly points to the bottle as a cure for motherhood’s stresses. Her blog fostered a community of parenting under the influence, but most of her readers have been supportive of her decision. “It’s embarrassing to be all ‘Rah Rah Rah! Gooooo BOOZE!’ only to zip off with my tail between my legs,” Wilder-Taylor writes, “but it’s what I had to do.”

[Images (1)]

[Quotes (1)]

Popular blogs like Mommywantsvodka have turned booze-happy parenting into a pop movement. (Shutterstock)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

It’s embarrassing to be all ‘Rah Rah Rah! Gooooo BOOZE!’ only to zip off with my tail between my legs saying, ‘never mind, I’ve joined the other team,’ but it’s what I had to do. - Stefanie Wilder-Taylor

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

AP Photo

35 Brutally Honest Reasons Men Say No to Sex (The Stir)

Which Entertainer Pulled Out of 'Inappropriate' Whitney Tribute? (NewsOne)

The French Government Wants to Tone My Vagina (Slate)

Obama Photo on Facebook Helps Catch Drug Dealer (HuffPost)

Hottest Women to Ever Appear in the SI Swimsuit Issue (Bleacher Report)

Partner Links

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

Showing 3 of 5 comments

jagerhans

Aug 17, 2009 12:19 PM CDT

this is such a disgrace, such a stupid depressive thing, such a sign of selfishness, ignorance, recklessness that defies commenting. parents resorting to continuous drinking to keep themselves alive and fun. huh. if their parents never grew up enough to understand that you must choose - you become a parent or you stay alone and do wtf you want but plz without spoiling children - I wonder how can those poor children. sorry but when it comes to children i get moralist. children have the right of growing up in a protective, rock steady family with both masculine and feminine presences and no booze fiends around.

cognitivefilter

Aug 17, 2009 5:30 AM CDT

i don't see it that way, i think she did ultimately choose her children over booze...

NxBigmouthery

Aug 16, 2009 9:22 AM CDT

Maybe she saw the story about 'chick-lit' taking a hit in the recession. How is it empowering for people to be regaled with superficial anecdotes about the alleged joys and adventures of being a piss-head while also acting as the primary carer for children?

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Rick Santorum: Birth Control Is 'Not OK'

Valentine's Day Role-Playing Goes Very Wrong

New York Times (Source Grid »)

Wilder-Taylor's blog
http://babyonbored.blogspot.com/

Lifestyle • Health

motherhood • alcohol • alcoholism • mothers • alcohol abuse • drinking • blogger • writers • mother

More Newser Stories

1 in 6 Americans Is a Binge Drinker

Nation's heaviest boozers are in Wisconsin, study finds

(NEWSER) - Federal health officials have released their most detailed study yet of America's binge drinkers—and if you're a college-educated, high-earning young white man from Wisconsin, you may already be drunk by the time you read this. Researchers found that 38 million Americans, roughly a sixth of the adult population, are binge drinkers who over-indulge an average of 4.4 times a month, Bloomberg reports. A binge was defined as five or more drinks in the space of two hours for men, and four or more drinks for women. More»

Booze and Writing: the Ideal Combo?

Christopher Hitchens defended his notorious drinking habit to the end

(NEWSER) - Christopher Hitchens defended his prolific smoking and drinking habits even though they probably killed him. "Whatever enhances and prolongs and deepens and sometimes intensifies argument and conversation," he once wrote, "is worth it to me." But does boozing really aid the creative process? Slate takes a look, perusing anecdotal evidence and a few amusing studies in which people got pickled and tried to write something. More»

Medvedev: To Combat Alcoholism, Let's Drink Wine

'Alcohol abuse stem from other drinks,' he says

(NEWSER) - In order to combat alcoholism, Dmitry Medvedev would like Russia to push people to drink more wine. That is not a joke ... and neither is Russia's battle with alcoholism . Medvedev believes that encouraging people to put down the vodka bottle and pick up a nice chardonnay is one way to win the war. "Countries where this sector is strong have no problems with alcohol abuse: problems with alcohol abuse stem from other drinks," he explained. More»

Arizona Prof's Research: Getting Students Drunk

They're paid $60 for night at the 'bar'

(NEWSER) - An Arizona State professor wants his students to get smashed—and he’s willing to pay them to do it. That’s because William Corbin is researching the effects of alcohol on behavior, and ASU students are his subjects. Several nights a week, he converts his lab into a bar, complete with top 40 music and jeans-clad research assistants as bartenders, the Arizona Republic reports. Only one kind of drink is served, vodka mixed with 7UP and juice, whose strength is adjusted according to the subject’s weight and sex. More»

To Cut Cancer Risk, Stop Drinking So Much

Sticking to advised limits would prevent thousands of cases

(NEWSER) - Drinking leads to at least 13,000 cases of cancer in Britain each year, a study finds—and thousands could be avoided if people would stick to alcohol guidelines. That UK-centric finding comes from a study that examined the tie between diet and cancer in eight European countries. Researchers discovered that among men, more than half of the cases of cancer of the upper digestive tract, colorectum, and liver attributed to alcohol in 2008 resulted from having more than two drinks daily; in women, more than 80% resulted from having more than one drink per day, the Guardian reports. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website