Mommy Wine Festival Under Fire for Mixing Babies and Booze

ByElizabeth Licata

There’s nothing like a “moms and drinking” controversy in the morning. From the mom who was publicly excoriated on Facebook for having a wine spritzer at the pub next to a sleeping baby, to Beyonce drinking Cognac a few weeks after having twins, there’s just something about the combination of moms and alcohol that really makes people want to write judgmental open letters. That’s why it’s no surprise that a “Mommy Wine Festival” in Toronto has been inundated with criticism and charges of irresponsibility because “babies and booze don’t mix.”

In spite of the criticism, the event called A Very Mommy Wine Festival was held in Toronto on Wednesday. Advertised with the tagline, “Babes on the Hips, Wine on the Lips,” it had food, wine tastings, parenting talks, gift bags, and local vendors. It was described as an opportunity for a bunch of mothers to meet up and do something social, with wine. Babies were welcome.

A wine tasting for moms sounds like fun

Mothers, especially new mothers, can be very isolated. Organizers said they wanted to give mothers an opportunity to get out, meet people, talk to adults, and feel welcome.

Critics said that all sounds great, but can’t you all do it with tea instead? You have babies, and babies and booze don’t mix.

Tea is wonderful, but if someone wants wine instead of tea, can’t she just have that? A mom should be able to drink wine without someone popping out of the walls to say, “The more you drink the more likely you are to binge drink!”

Organizers say wine is optional at all their events, but they do host a lot of wine-themed events. Sometimes they’re just for mothers, sometimes they’re mommy-and-me events.

“Wine is always optional,” wrote organizer Alana Kayfetz, who has a one-year-old. “We create a safe and fun space for new moms to connect. We give women permission to be human. We put their well-being first. Those who claim we have any other agenda misunderstand our goals. As you can see, a witty event tag line is not our call to action. We tried ‘Mommies that like to drink tea,’ but nobody came.”

Would dads at a beer festival get this sort of reaction?

Kayfetz told The Huffington Post that she thinks the some of the backlash is because the wine festival is for mothers, and people don’t like the idea of mothers drinking.

“If this was a man’s beer fest where babies were welcome, it would be celebrated, it would be revered,” Kayfetz said.

What do you think of the Mommy Wine Festival? Let us know in the comments.

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(Image: iStockPhoto / Credit:Milatas)

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