Can you still be a party animal and be a responsible parent/s?

I'm not a parent but I would like to be one day.


I like to party(all night if I can) but I don't think you can socialize like that and have fun and still be a great Mom/or Dad?


Any Points of View out there?Can you still be a party animal and be a responsible parent/s?
this is my point of view on it:


it depends on the circumstances. no you cannot party all night with limited sleep and still be attentive %26amp; alert to your child. you can however go %26amp; have drinks with friends, get home at a decent hour %26amp; still get up with your child.


adult time is recommended for any parent, married, single, one child or five. all doctors %26amp; pedetricians recommend that you have adult time once a week or a couple times a month to maintain your sanity, but there is a fine line between socializing with friends %26amp; partying hard all night!


if you leave your child with a responsible babysitter (like a nanny or grandparent) that they are familiar with to go out every now %26amp; then with friends, no biggie. just make sure you do it responsibly!Can you still be a party animal and be a responsible parent/s?
I know i will get lots of thumbs down for this..but YES you can.


although not everynight..or every weekend!


What i used to do, is go out on the friday night, and get totally legless, then i could relax knowing that my partner wasnt at work on saturday, and he looked after the kids all day!





Now i am a single mum, i can no longer do this..but every other weekend, my ex takes the kids from a friday @6pm, till saturday @8pm..so if i do go out, then i go out on the friday, anf spend all day in bed!
You can't,





I had my first at 22 and although i was living with my mom,


I would put my son to bed at 8 pm, my mom would watch him and encourage me to go out with my sister





I would only go to a local bar, no more then 1 beer, and usually just soda,





come home and check on him at midnight, and go out until 2pm the latest,





on that note, I would always wake up with him in the morning and feed him ect,,


so you can imagine that the 2 pm was very Infequent,





and I only went out BECAUSE my mom pressured me to go and have fun,





I only did this once in a while and on a friday or saturday,





on the last occasion I had 2 drinks and got my first hang over


I NEVER drank again, nor went out





I felt that if I couldn't take care of my child, there was no point,





M





YOUR priorties take a back seat when kids arrive
I was 18 when i had my son and when he was six months i would go out and ';party'; drink hang out, whatever came up, and i would come home the next morning. But it's not worth it cause you are just thinking about the baby you left at home for someone else to watch.


So now i dont go out i would rather be with him and sure that he is safe, so when he wakes up in the middle of the night he knows i am there.
no you cannot, should get all that out of your system before deciding to have children, and when you do have children most people don't want to be a party animal, there wants and needs change, they are content being with there child, it brings more joy then partying ever could
No. this is why most people settle down then have kids.
I WAS TRAPPED INTO PARENTHOOD SO IM JUST BIDING MY TIME TILL I CAN PARTY AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!
No. Not an all night party animal. Most people, once they decide to have children, actually do not want to stay out partying all night. You can still hire a babysitter and go out and have fun, but your life does change quite dramatically. Most people who are mature and who have ';sown their wild oats'; welcome this change, but there are a few people who feel very tied down. If you enjoy partying that much, I would be sure and wait a good long while before settling down.
Yea, I agree and don't agree. I had my oldest daughter at the age of 18 and I never regret her but I regret not making smarter choices. I never got to party I really don't even know what it would be like to really party I guess you could say I was a goody two shoes growing up. It's either that or the fact that my mom was a single mom and I had to help take care of my three sisters so I grew up faster so in short if you take a night here and there no it doesn't make you a bad parent but if you feel the need to do this constantly then you are not ready to be a parent.





Good Luck!
LOL Um no. Unless you want your baby to grow up with a hung over mom and at a baby sitters house most the time! You have to pay attention to your baby to help them grow not to mention make sure they don't get hurt. Babie and children need stability! Like a strict schedule. Not gonna happen if you party all night. Please don't have a baby til your done with all that ****!
you can go out and have fun every once in a while if you have good family or friends willing to take the baby over night you cant take the baby with that's not good parenting me and my husband go out maybe 1 time a month just because you become a mom life doesn't stop however you do have high priorities and when you are a mom parties are not one of them
I used to party all the time before I had my son. I don't feel you can be a good parent %26amp; party all night, the 2 just don't go together. When I see my old party friends they always ask ';you going out tonight?'; When I tell them ';no, I don't even drink anymore'; they can't believe it. When you become a parent you have to grow up and make some sacrafices, one of which SHOULD be your party life.
There is no real yes or no answer to this question. It's healthy to have adult time after kids- but as they get older and understand what's going on- you don't want them telling their friends at school that ';mommy had too much beer'; or something like that.


But, I play Bunko with a group of girls, and it's great! Once a month we meet up, have some drinks, and catch up on all the gossip and all that. And then maybe once a month the parents go out, and we get a babysitter. Also, in the summer, we have an adults only vacation, and then a kid friendly vacation. Usually the adults only vacation gets all of our partying out for the rest of the year!


Kids are great! You'll be surprised at how much you will give up, or how much you would rather be with them than out on the town. Not to mention, that hopefully who ever you have kids with will be someone you enjoy staying home with too.
You can still have fun, but it is hard to be a good parent when you are passed out on the couch.
You wont have the energy to be a good parent if you like to party. Then again you wont have the energy to party when you have got kids. If you dont want to give up your party animal lifestyle I wouldnt have kids. It wouldnt be fair on the kids if you wanted that kind of lifestyle.
No-the ones who really party end up neglecting their kids while they party at home. You don't want to be one of those moms that bring their kids to the bar when you can't find a sitter, do you?


The times I did go out when my kids were little, I was calling the sitter every half hour or so. Its hard; you do still need to get away and have a good time without the kids sometimes-maybe if you are close to your parents they could take the kids all night once in a while; you wouldn't want to do that to the kids (or your parents) very often. Also, think about who the designated driver is going to be-VERY IMPORTANT!! Who is going to raise the kids if you die in an accident, or are tied up in court after causing an accident.
No you cannot. If you're hungover and feeling grim after you have been out, then you cannot look after the child properly...you need to be on high alert a lot of the time.
Your idea of what is fun will change as you get older. I used to go out a lot and late in college. When I was in grad school, i realized that I preferred to stay at home with my boyfriend and watch movies, and go out for a drink with friends now and then. Now that I have 2 kids, I find enjoyment in my career, my children, and my husband as well as doing mellow things with friends (tea, after work drink, etc)
Well, can you party all night, and get up in the morning at 6am and be able to take care of your kids properly all day? Would probably be pretty hard to.





If it was only an occasional thing, and you had a babysitter lined up, then it would probably be okay.





However, most women, when they become mommies, don't really have the desire to party all night anymore.
In a word, NO!





Get the partying out of your system while you're young, and THEN settle down and have kids. This is a good reason to not become a teenage parent. Wait until you've had your fun, then you'll be ready to become a responsible and devoted parent.
While Mom is out partying, who will be there if the baby wakes up crying in the middle of the night? What if the kids get sick and want Mommy, but she's out hitting club after club and drinking? Kids want Mommy during those times, not a strange babysitter. It's one thing to go out and have a reasonable night out every once in awhile, but doing it frequently is a sign of an unfit parent.


Or, what if your foolish choices while out partying get you hurt - or worse? Who will be there to take care of your children? Getting drunk off your @ss when you have children at home is extremely dangerous, inconsiderate, and irresponsible. That's just something that parents need to consider.


Also, hard nights usually mean days of sleeping in or being groggy from partying all night. It's a good way to let your kids down, and eventually get them taken away by CPS.


I do enjoy the occasional night out. I also still have many of the same hobbies an interests that I had before I became a mom. But kids DO change your life; you can't expect to run wild after having kids if you want to do what's right for them. But when you're truly ready for children, you won't mind the changes in your life.


Think long and hard before you have children. If you're not ready to give up being a party animal, you're really not ready for children. Good luck.
sorry, but I disagree with all you party poopers here. I'm 22 with two children and my husband and I still go out and ';party hard.'; It's not an every night thing like it used to be, but once or twice sometimes even three times a month they stay overnight with my parents or inlaws and we go out til the wee hours of the morning, drinking, socializing, just enjoying ourselves. The kids like the sleep overs at grandma and grandpas and imho we're better parents the next day when we pick them up. Every parent needs time to themselves to do what they enjoy doing, and if you enjoy partying then so be it. I'm at home with my kids 24/7 besides those few nights a month playing, reading, learning with them and sorry, but I'm a good mom. Likewise my husband loves spending time with them and just interacts so wonderfully with them, better than most [older] parents I know who spend every friday night at home.
I don't think that u can be a ';party animal'; %26amp; be a responsible parent, especially if u drink a lot when u go, but I do think that u can still go out %26amp; have fun %26amp; be a responsible parent. I'm 21 %26amp; use to party all the time before I got pregnant. I'm not really a drinker though. I just use to go to have fun with my friends. I'm going to start back going out sometime after my daughter is born, but not as often as I use to. Just be prepared to slow down before becoming a parent.
It depends on what you mean by party animal. If you are talking about one who drinks/smokes/parties wildly, then that person is not responsible, period, and wouldn't make a responsible parent.





Partying all night is irresponsible.
You can still socialize and have fun when you are a parent. But all night benders go out the window the second you find out you're pregnant and probably won't ever be the same if you decided to party hard again.





You have the desire to be a mom and once you bring a life into this world everything you used to like to do will be changed somehow. From my own experience, the love I feel for my son outweighs any ';fun'; I could possibly have outside of our home.
The definition of 'party animal' is a fairly loose one here. I can't believe everyone is answering no to this! I'm a 28 year old stay at home mom. My husband is 32 and we have a four year old and a one year old. I see absolutely no reason why you can't party your butt off all night long every so often..... I think I'm an incredible parent and I go out and get fall down drunk about once a month until 2 or 3..... or 4 in the morning. Kids sleep over at grandma's and we go our and tear it up and pick them up at noon the next day. If you can't suck it up to take care of your kids the next day then I guess you just don't deserve to go out. We are totally normal people. I can't believe I'm this outside of the norm on this.
I had a child at 23 and her mother (19 at the time) and we would party pretty hard, pretty often; and not just on weekends. I realize now that we were stupid kids. We were living with my very straight-laced parents and we weren't taking care of our child very well. I eventually came to my senses and her mom and I split when my child was 6 months old. Her mom's desire to keep partying was a big factor in our separation. However, since I didn't have a child to care for all the time, and I was feeling depressed about losing her mom, I started partying even harder.


Again, I eventually came to my senses. I had to cut off contact from my so-called freinds and remove myself completely from the scene for a while. I had seen what it was doing to me and my parenting ability. I hated myself and I have A LOT of regrets.


Now, I'm a bit older and MUCH wiser and I really have no desire to go out all the time, or even get drunk at home.


I'm a lot happier with my life and I KNOW I'm a better parent. (for one thing, I can remember stuff now) And I know I'm setting a much better example for my child. As parents your main job is to be a teacher, whether you want to or not. You ';teach'; your children everything they know, because no matter how much schooling and formal education they have kids learn a lot more by the example their parents set for them (good or bad) than from any other resource.





There's no reason you can't go out an enjoy yourself once you have kids, but you have to be resposible even if the kids are at Grandma's for the night. You never know when you might have to make a run to the emergency room because something horrible has happened.
Yeah, take a look at my ex if you can find him. He drank and did drugs, that is part of the reason he isn't allowed to see his son. His lifestyle isn't a stable one. He disappeared for hours or days. I stayed at home watching our child. I felt like a single mom being with my ex. He always went out by himself, and did whatever he had to do. He never grew up to take responsibility to take care of his own. He couldn't hold a job for more than 3 months, just when he'd get a raise or another step up the ladder of success he quits. I am glad I am not with him anymore. Parents with kids that party all the time I think are neglecting their own kids. Kids need their parents there, regardless of age. You can go out once in awhile if you can afford a sitter and drinks. I wouldn't make it a habit of every single weekend, all weekend long. Parents need a break from their kids. Being hungover the next day isn't a great Idea.