She’s 39 and a mom of three. Life is busy. Work is challenging. The kids are always on the go. Her husband helps out with household family stuff as much as he can, about as much as she can these days. At the end of the day she is exhausted. She looks forward to the kids going to bed so she can have some peace. Peace doesn’t come easily, though. When she finally sits down on the couch her mind is filled with a list of “to do’s” and demands. She wants to relax. She deserves to relax. It starts with a glass of wine a few nights a week. It’s a small little joy. She soon finds herself drinking a glass or two every night. Eventually two glasses doesn’t quite take the edge off. She needs a few more.
I read an article today entitled, “Stress turning middle-aged women towards binge drinking.” The title caught my attention.
Binge drinking doesn’t always look like it did in college. No, mom doesn’t need to be crashing frat parties and drinking out of a beer bong to considered “binge drinking.”
Jason and I talk about Escaping Adulthood all of the time. Apparently some women are resorting to alcohol to assist them in escaping their Adultitis.
I have nothing against a drink or two here or there. Jesus drank with his friends all of the time. The difference is the motive.
The article highlighted a women’s magazine that did a survey of 1,000 middle-aged women in London about their drinking habits. The survey found the following…
Women in their 40’s are skipping office due to hangovers and are even passing out after a night’s drinking, just like people half their age, as they struggle to cope with their stressful lifestyles.
A quarter of women said they drank moderately during the week, a considerable number of 35- to 44-year-olds admitted making up for it by getting drunk at weekends.
A lot of mothers said that their children had seen them drunk. While others admitted over drinking and then missing work because of a hangover.
It sounds like these women are lacking hope; hope that their lives are worth living with passion and persistence; hope that can really only come from a higher power.
More than ever we need to look at children for the strategies they use to cope with their lives. How much different would this woman’s life be if she spent her evening “drinking time” playing, praying and meditating, dreaming, taking a bubble bath, going on a walk with her husband, and connecting with her best friends. Our lives are filled with purpose. It takes time and clarity of thinking to discover this purpose. Once it is found, peace will come as a precious gift from above.
[tags]stress, moms, binge drinking, wine, middle-age[/tags]
Kim, I thought this was your best and most powerful blog entry ever because of the way you expressed yourself and wove faith and purpose into the topic. My hope is that at least 1 troubled mom out there reads this and seriously refects on their purpose in life and gift of being a mom.