A single mother-of-one from the UK has taken aim at other single mums who go out drinking on the weekend and says parents of young kids shouldn’t drink ANY alcohol or have a night off from parenting.
According to the Daily Mail, charity volunteer Paula Winchester from Newcastle-Under-Lyme in Staffordshire, claims she hasn’t had a night out in more than two years.
Paula, 30, is mother to Leah, 4, and says mothers who hit the nightclubs every weekend and look after their kids when they are hungover are guilty of “‘disgraceful, half-hearted parenting”.
“Everyone has different views on parenting but I really don’t think single parents do deserve a night off. I’ve only been out five times in the last four years, but I realised you’ve got to be in a fit state to look after your child,” she said.
“When Leah is with her dad, I don’t see that as an opportunity to drink alcohol. It’s not ‘my time off’ because I need a break, it’s Leah’s time with her dad.
“It’s nice having an evening to myself but I’ll usually have an early night. I couldn’t be hungover and trying to look after Leah the next day.
“I did it once or twice [two and a half years ago] but it wasn’t fair on her – I didn’t have the energy and it wasn’t safe. Share this article
“Sometimes I’ll invite ten other mums to the park for a picnic and only two or three will say yes. But if they get invited out on a Saturday night, they all say yes and manage to find a babysitter and conjure up the money to go out. It’s a very selfish culture,” she said.
Leah spends one weekend overnight with her dad and the other weekend with him during the day on Saturdays.
Paula said she started going out with friends again when Leah was 14 months old, but after a few times she realised this wasn’t fair on her child. She says she last went drinking in January 2014 for her 28th birthday and now rarely drinks.
“Young mums have made the decision to give up a lot of their freedom to have a child. And once you’ve made that choice, your whole life should revolve around your child,” she said.
“While Leah is young and depending on me, I’ve got to be there for her and she is my responsibility 100 per cent of the time, even when she is with her dad.”
Source: Daily Mail