A woman is fuming after finding out that her mother and partner drank more than two bottles of wine while babysitting her three children, with the youngest being eight months old.
She took to Mumsnet to see if she was being unreasonable with her concerns about her children's safety. She wrote: "Would you be annoyed if the person who was babysitting your kids was drinking while doing it? Context - I went out yesterday for a brunch, I was out from 1pm-8.30pm so not late. My mom and her partner babysat my three kids for me.
"When I got home, there was two empty bottles of wine on the table (homemade wine so stronger than normal). They had also been to the pub with the kids (she had checked with me first about going there - it has a play area) but they would have had a drink there too, so that’s a whole bottle each plus at least one or two other drinks. Am I being unreasonable to think you shouldn’t drink that much when looking after someone else's children?"
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Mumsnet users were eager to share their mutual concern about the situation. One mum said: "I wouldn't like this either. If she would like to drink a bottle of wine - fine. But if she would like to do this whilst babysitting, I'd find someone else next time." Another added: "I’d be cross. Two drinks over the course of the afternoon, not a problem. Two bottles of wine over the afternoon, irresponsible."
Other users were concerned by the volume of alcohol her mother and her partner drank, saying: "No I would be really unhappy about this too. That's not a glass of wine/beer with dinner type thing (which wouldn't bother me as such, but is definitely not something I would do if I was babysitting someone else's kids), it's a completely unnecessary amount to put away, before 8.30 at night!" Another added: "Oh wow, considering the ages of your children it's even more shocking."
One woman said: "That is a lot of booze. A pint at the pub wouldn’t concern me or a glass of wine with dinner but I wouldn’t be able to function with that much booze. I know other people have a higher tolerance but that is way too much. I wouldn’t be asking them to babysit again for the foreseeable future." While another added: "Not okay. They have a alcohol problem if they think that this is okay."
However, some commenters suggested that the grandmother and her partner could have been coherent enough to babysit. One commenter said: "Seems a lot, but were they actually drunk? I feel me and my husband could manage that and still be perfectly coherent." While another said: "If you’re paying them then you can stipulate that they don’t drink whilst working. If they’re doing you a free of charge favour then you’re on a hiding to nowhere, really."
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