Was your mother a drinker?

Not much but I drink like a fish

She was a complete teetotaler, and was very much against anyone else drinking, too. My father was a severe alcoholic. It took me a while to figure out how to drink moderately.

My late MIL was a real broad who drank scotch religiously, starting at 5:00pm.

Just a few glasses of red wine, OP. Limoncello on special cocktails. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen her drink a cocktail or anything 'hard.'

Yes! She loved her daiquiris.

Later on in life, she took on a fondness for margaritas as well.

My mother was a religious frau, so that would be a no.

ME: "I asked Mom to look what I left at their house."

BF: "Let's hope it's at the bottom of a wine bottle."

My mom drank beer. Out of a can.

And she spiked her Tab can with brandy.

And smoked Kools.

Wore pale pink frosted lipstick.

Yes. Everything. It was awful.

Yep, she was a boozy old hag

My mother enjoyed her nightly cocktail before dinner but otherwise drank only lightly on social occasions. At home her go-to cocktail was a vodka martini, which is also what my father - who drank even less - had when he was alive.

If we went out to dinner, she liked margaritas - regular, not frozen. Extra salt.

We rarely had any alcohol with dinner except that my father enjoyed beer with pizza. They do go together very well.

They taught me well. To this day, I cannot enjoy dinner unless I relax with a cocktail beforehand. (I'll drink pretty much any cocktail that isn't too elaborate or sweet.) It seems horribly uncivilized to just sit down and eat; I am mystified by other single people who consider "dinner" to be standing in front of the refrigerator in their work clothes, stuffing down last Saturday's leftover Chinese. On the other hand, I rarely drink at any other time, except, yes, beer with pizza.

R8, your mother sounds awesome.

My mother was a social drinker. We lived in Wisconsin, so often that would involve a bottle of our local beer when socializing, but when she enjoyed a cocktail after my dad got home from work or when we went out to dinner, she liked a manhattan.

R11, are you my brother? Sounds like we had the same mom. She always had a pre-dinner cocktail or a glass of wine with dinner, but rarely both. We went out for Mexican food a lot and she always had a margarita (just one). She also made great margaritas at home. The only time I ever saw her drunk was after a couple of really strong mai tais during a Hawaiian vacation.

In the last 10 years or so of her life, my mother would have one or two small glasses of Manischewitz wine as a nightcap. She would regularly keep a bottle in her bedroom by her bed. I thought she might be a budding alcoholic, but there were never any bottles piling up in the trash or hidden anywhere around the house and the bottle would last at least a week. She didn't start doing this until her mid 60s.

My mother has never had a drink in her life because she grew up in a family full of alcoholics, and it was chaotic. After what my mother saw growing up, alcohol never had any appeal for her.

1980s: We knew not to call Mom after 7PM.

1990s: We knew not to call Mom after 6PM.

2000s: We knew not to call Mom after 5PM.

2010s: We knew not to call Mom after 4PM.

Yes, unfortunately. Anything that she could lay her hands on but usually scotch or white wine from a box.

I moved out of home the minute I could afford to.

No. The odd glass of wine might have improved things.

My Mom drank red wine in the winter and white wine in the summer.

My mother loved her sangria.

Yes. My mom drank tab and whiskey. I’m dead serious. Now she drinks vodka and iced tea. She also took Seconal. Very 70’s

I amend what I said earlier. There is an old photo of my mom having a tequila sunrise in the late 70s in a family album somewhere! I've otherwise never known of her having cocktails.

Yes. You would drink too if you had four kids and a cheating husband.

Yes, she and my dad both got drunk together every night on beer and whiskey. We always knew to stay upstairs in our bedrooms after about 7 because that is their "alone time." Sometimes she would go to bed afterwards, other times she would just fall asleep in the living room chair where her drinking happened.

Rosé.

my mom used to drink white wine every day. one glass when making dinner and one glass with dinner. dad would have a beer with dinner (miller) - my family was Portuguese and Italian-Americans and looking back they drank a lot - every day, although rarely to inebriation. Sunday morning would be white Russians. Dad would have a boilermaker (whiskey and beer) on weekends. I drink wine every day mostly - but like my parents, one or two glasses, rarely do I get drunk - however, sometimes I can drink a whole bottle in one evening.

both parents, drunks.

grandads too.

chaos

On Saturday night they would go to The Lucky Lady. My mom nursed a screwdriver and my dad pounded down seven & sevens.

Definitely.

Never. How déclassé.

Where do I start?

My mother subsisted on vodka and Parliament cigarettes; it was the '70s. Every morning she awoke before our family to prepare us for our day, every day. She wasn't a 'Coffee Drinker'; she was 'a drinker.' When we awoke to prepare for work/school/our day, we'd find her at the kitchen table (obviously already awake for hours), engrossed in her NY Times Crossword Puzzle, with her lit Parliament 100 lounging in its huge glass ashtray; her iced vodka sparkling away in its 16-ounce glass tumbler: the perfect marriage.

There she sat in her faded house dress, legs tucked under her, pink sponge rollers decorating her hair, her pencil poised, while silently focusing on formulating a 14-letter synonym for 'Introspection' ('Thoughtfulness'); then she'd smile: Happiness.

Saturday mornings we'd find her enjoying/contemplating the same characteristics (introspection/thoughtfulness/the perfect marriage: happiness): she'd be silently tending to her precious Neon Tetras, though with three Parliament 100s glowing at once, in various locations throughout the house, with her sparkling vodka(s) nearby to keep her company.

Upon our clumsy arrival into the family room for Saturday morning cartoons, she'd jump up to hug us, her faded housedress swirling about her too-thin frame, with her pink-sponge rollers dancing about her head. She'd smile, laugh aloud, while kissing us on our precious, all-knowing innocent foreheads.

Sadness.

Scotch on the rocks & American beer from the can.

daily routine: Lillet blanc as an aperitif before dinner. (maybe an aperol spritz in summer) a glass and a half of wine (red or white, depending on entree) with dinner a cognac or B&B as a digestif before bed

94 and still going.

Good for them, they probably deserved a drink or four

Yep, my mom loved her cape cods and sea breezes.

Mine never smoked or drank booze. Died of cancer at 47. So drink and smoke as you please.

R32 :'(

Some of you sound like y’all have Anne Sexton for mom.

This explains so much about DLers.

My mother only drank Brandy Alexanders.

She only had purple drank

She loved her screwdrivers.

Only on Mother's Day! And she would get wasted.

Shut up and present hole.

She wasn’t a drinker until she was in her fifties. She drank scotch at night and took painkillers. When she was in her 60’s she was still drinking and she got into taking fentanyl. She died of a fentanyl overdose at age 68.

I'm sorry to hear that, R46.

My mom would spike her coffee with brandy in the mornings and said it would give her a boost.

My mom has never had anything against drinking, she’s just not much of a drinker. Maybe the occasional glass of Champagne at a wedding or other big event. When I was a kid she’d have a beer every now and then on a hot summer afternoon (and let me slurp the foam off the top...those were the days).

Only a couple of drinks every other night, OP.

Both mother and father were teetotalers. I started drinking at 14. Never learned to drink socially.

I always thought they were uptight and unhappy prigs because they didn’t drink. But realize now they would have been equally if not more miserable if they did drink.

Dad died of liver cancer at 62 (ironic right?) and mother looks like she’s going to pass 90 in perfect health.

[quote] No. The odd glass of wine might have improved things.

I feel the same way.

Although my father drank and they threw plenty of cocktail parties, I think my mother felt it 'unladylike' to drink (what would the neighbors think?). Her best friend was a three-martinis-before-dinner kinda gal so it's not like she was a prude about it. She claimed not to like the taste of alcohol, whatever that meant (unlike her son, me, who drinks anything that takes the shape of the glass.)

Interestingly, my mother died in her early 70s and Mrs Three-Martinis-Before-Dinner is still belting them down at age 90.

I'm sure DL's sizable Irish contingent have stories to add.

Already done R52

Mine was more of a smoker than a drinker.

No she died of dehydration.

Yep - Chardonnay and Now cigarettes

Not everyday but a few times a week. Would often over indulge. Both parents were binge drinkers and had some issues there. mom didn't believe in day drinking- start around 7 and end at 2am? Start late and finish late. Night owl. Died last year at age of 72 after complications from pneumonia (went into cardiac arrest). RIP Mom.

Bourbon and club soda...

My 82 year old Mother drinks a pint bottle of Tio Pepe Sherry every evening and smoke 40 cigarettes a day, has done for as long as I remember.

Never has a bad illness in her life.

Yep. She was out of the Mad Men era. A WASP from the midwest who moved to Greenwich Village in the 60s after graduating from University of Michigan. She met my dad on Fire Island. Both lived large in the city, attending an endless stream of cocktail parties (her words). When they got married and had us kids, they slowed down a little bit - but not much. Mom liked a martini, red wine and sangria in the summertime. Funnily enough, I never saw her drunk until I was an adult.

Her love for a cocktail never seemed to get in her way. She went to grad school, law school and had a big career as a corporate lawyer in the 70s and 80s. Knocking 'em back the whole time.

She's almost 80 now and she all but stopped drinking 10 years ago - though the occasional glass of red wine passes her lips.

Jameson on ice.

Our mother would have two or three scotch and waters before dinner every night, as we recall from our childhood. Our Father would join her for this cocktail hour, or so, but drank only beer.

My Mom worked so I would come home from school and start dinner, set the table, and mix up a pitcher of Martinis. Mostly Gin and almost no Vermouth. If she got sloshed she was less annoying and needy. I am surprised I never drank myself until I was of age.

My parents had a cocktail every evening. Generally only one that they both would nurse for a couple hours after dinner. I got my love of vodka gimlets from my mother. My father was a bourbon man.

R62, that's hilarious.

Yes, she WAS a drinker. An Irish drinker. A very angry Irish drinker.

Weighed 110 lbs, could go through a fifth of vodka in a day if she angry enough about something.

Dead at 60.

Your mother sounds FABULOUS r65!

An occasional glass of cheapish wine with the dinner. Some of my friend's parents had bar carts and beautiful crystal tumblers and would have a real cocktail before dinner. I thought it was so glamorous and wanted my parents to do the same, but with no success. I'm not a big drinker but really enjoy an aperitif or a coctail before dinner. In my crystal tumblers.

Yes, she was mainly a wine drinker. In the 1970s, her best friend lived two houses down. Both ladies had four young kids at the time, and I know we were a handful. They would get together and drink a couple of Club Cocktails and smoke ciggies. Then they would throw the empty cocktail containers in the middle neighbor's trash can, because everyone knew the middle lady, Rella, was an alcoholic! She was a great mother, BTW, still is.

R66

Oh, she was something else!

No. She would sometimes have a single glass of red wine with Friday night dinner. A glass of champagne at weddings or big birthday bashes. And she used to buy one single bottle of Baileys every Christmas.

My folks split a sixpack a couple nights a week. Smoked too. She had twins at 40, my sister at 42 and my brother at 44. Irish Catholics. She started drinking wine every day when we were all grown, when she was around 65. She lived to be 80.

My mother, along with my dad, had at least two cocktails before dinner every night of the week. More on the weekends when they were "socializing". They were both born in 1920 so really hit their prime in the Madmen Era of the 60's and 70's. She drank 7&7's in her Maude-like caftans, chain smoking. He drank gin martinis. Neither ever drank wine. Every evening she would say "Well, it's 5:30 somewhere in the world so it must be happy hour". From an early age I knew that was my cue to make her a drink. She judged my efforts by the color and often sent me back if the cocktail wasn't strong enough. Whenever they traveled they took along a hard plastic case the size of a portable typewriter with their travel flasks, glassware and shaker inside. My dad was in "outside sales" which required him to drive around the city calling on his accounts. Occasionally he would come home and nap in the afternoon. It took me years to figure it out he needed to nap after taking clients out for a 2 or 3 martini lunch. Both passed away in their late 80's.

Damn they sure knew how to party and drink back then!

We’re Irish. Everyone drank on both sides.

Yes. 100 proof Smirnoff. Sometimes in Pepsi

Yes, Christina darling, this is not 80 proof and it is only Smirnoff

no............however my mom liked men, really liked men, and her marriage to my dad wasnt very good so that occupied her time where other women turned to booze. Neither are healthy for kids to witness/

[quote]My 82 year old Mother drinks a pint bottle of Tio Pepe Sherry every evening and smoke 40 cigarettes a day, has done for as long as I remember.

Isn't it amazing how some people can smoke and drink and just get away with it? One of my great-grandmothers drank several glasses of whiskey or scotch nearly every night, was a heavy smoker of non-filter cigarettes, and lived to be 91. She was from the "Bette Davis Generation." I've known several other people who were like this, too. Sometimes it just all comes down to luck, I guess.

For awhile, at work I had to park in a lot a couple blocks away from the office. Between my car and the office was an elementary school. At about 2:30 every day, the mommy vans and SUVs would line up at the curb. The thing that surprised me was the unmistakable odor of alcohol wafting off several of the cars. I noticed every time I walked by.

Mother enjoyed a glass of wine in the evenings most nights, and the occasional cocktail with Daddy. He had a cocktail every afternoon when he got home from work, another with dinner (or a glass of wine), and usually a nightcap before bed.

Today that might be seen as excessive, but I don't think so. It seems to me that people were much happier when they all smoked and drank.

Damn, so many were. It's amazing any of us born in the 60s made it out of the womb.

I love that the annual Mothers Day-themed thread this year is about how much these 'ol hags got wasted.

R78 She also takes care of her mentally handicapped sister who lives independently close by (shopping, cooking, cleaning), not bad for 82.

Though she does order her Tio Pepe by the case delivered from an internet wine merchant now, so she's slowing down a bit.

Outlived my boring, non-smoking, moderately drinking Father by 23 years now.

[quote] Whenever they traveled they took along a hard plastic case the size of a portable typewriter with their travel flasks, glassware and shaker inside.

Oh my god, my parents had one of those too! I think it was because my mother didn't drink and didn't like hanging out in bars while my father had his nightly martini. Either that it allowed dad to drink in the hotel room while mom finished getting ready and she could keep an eye on him. Or maybe they were trying to cut down on the bar bills.

I found it in the attic after mom died and tossed it into the 'estate sale' pile. When I travel I much prefer to do my drinking in hotel bars or some local watering hole.

People never travel with those "barware cases" anymore. They just buy a bottle at some liquor store near the hotel and use the glasses in their room.

We're not complaining, r82, it's more an appreciation.

[quote]I found it in the attic after mom died and tossed it into the 'estate sale' pile.

I insisted on having an estate sale after my mother died. My sister said there was nothing but junk and wanted to throw it all away! I told her, fine I'll do the estate sale myself and keep all the money. Of course, after all was said and done, she showed up at my house asking for her half of the money. I told her to drop dead. She called me a simpering queer. I called her a fat whore. We didn't speak for a year.

you both sound lovely r87

Well, for Mother's Day, I'm buying my mom some of her favorite cab, so she'll be happy about that.

you're a good son, r89

Hell, when I got my first apartment, my mother came over and made Fuzzy Navels. I was eighteen. If I was old enough to take care of myself, I was old enough to have cocktail. I can't argue with that logic.

R90, thanks!

ours drinks like a fish, but still going at 93

A couple of gin fizzes and she was ready to go.

Neither of my parents were big drinkers. Though all of their 8 siblings had problems with alcohol or other substances at some point in their lives. I never saw my dad drunk until he was 70, and we went to the beach with his brothers, who were a bad influence. My dad is really quiet, got even quieter when drunk. My uncle is loud, gets louder when drunk.

God, I hate loud drunks.

Yep, every weekend.

I'm about to have some whiskey in her honor tonight!

Jim beam, baby!

She was not.

My best friend's mom was always a party. She was half in the bag most of the time. Very Betty Draper with a splash of Lucy Ricardo.

[quote] She called me a simpering queer. I called her a fat whore. We didn't speak for a year.

This should be enshrined in cross stitching.

Or on a Hallmark card.

My mom was never much of a drinker until her dementia started to take hold in her late seventies. Now she lives with me and her "occasional" Captain and Coke = at least a 1.75 liter bottle a week. I wouldn't really care because she's almost 80 and rarely gets drunk, but she's always accusing me of drinking her Captain because she doesn't remember drinking it herself. That's unlikely because I'd make a mouthwash & rubbing alcohol stinger before drinking that shit.

Captain Morgan is nasty.

I know an old woman who brags that, “My generation drank and smoked and our kids turned out fine.” But in reality, she had 3 kids. The oldest became a drug addict and died young. The youngest survived a brain cancer after grueling treatment. The middle one had 3 kids and got divorced from an alcoholic husband, but seems ok now.

My mom drank and was borderline alcoholic. I used to hate to see her drunk. If I confronted her, she would cry and say, “You’re just trying to hurt me.” The best time we had together was at the end of her life when she was too sick from cancer to drink.

My parents both had alcoholics as parents. My father never ever drank, Pepsi the strongest beverage he ever had. My mom would occasionally have a cocktail at someone else’s house (no liquor at home) or a wedding. It was always a highball.

My mother doesn't drink and never has. She gets really judgmental about those that drink and fell out with her sister that was probably a closet alcoholic for disguising her alcohol in mugs and drinking around her child.

[quote] That's unlikely because I'd make a mouthwash & rubbing alcohol stinger before drinking that shit.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'll drink to that!

Anything she could get her hands on🥃🍸🍷