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Original poster

How much to drink on a weeknight

91 replies

Pandaghost · 10/06/2026 23:26

I went out for "a drink" with 4 friends last night. We are all between 35 and 45 and have children (eldest out of all kids is 11, youngest is 1. Most have 2 children).
1 person drove. 4 drank.
1 had one wine and couldn't have anymore because of work tomorrow.
1 had 2 wines.
2 had a bottle of wine each. 1 had this and a further vodka and coke (unsure if single or double).
All said they felt fine today (except the driver who had a headache which is clearly unrelated). All have busy jobs working either full time or 4 days a week and were in work today.
My question is how much would/could you drink on a midweek night knowing you had work and children to sort out and genuinely feel ok? I was the person who had one wine and couldn't handle anymore on a week night!

OP posts:
ShorterMumma · 11/06/2026 21:02

Zero. I never drink or go out midweek. I wouldn't be fit to get up with my dc then next morning.

Original poster
Pandaghost · 11/06/2026 20:57

PinkNailPolish2026 · 10/06/2026 23:45

I have friends who are retired and enjoy a wine or two every night, I have friends who don’t drink, I have friends who probably have one or two drinks a week, I have friends who start drinking at wine o’clock (whenever that is). I have friends and family who don’t work Monday-Friday so their weekend is during the week. I have friends who work nightshift and have a drink at 7am. I don’t keep count of how much my friends drink to be honest. I couldn’t imagine sitting in company and watching what others were drinking, I’m too busy talking and socialising to notice. You’ve noted what each person had to drink therefore you must have been watching, I find it really weird to be counting other people’s drinks. Why would friends ask how everyone was feeling after a social night out? I find that odd, it’s not something my friends or I ask each other.

Edited to add you put “a drink” in your OP, did you expect everyone to have “a drink” as in one drink each?

Edited

Going out for a drink is a common turn of phrase. We weren't going out for a meal or on a night out. The phrase used was "we'll go out for a drink" hence me using that phrase to give some context which i think was important.
As I've explained, I wasnt noting what they drank but it was discussed "are having another one? Yes ill have....". Nothing unusual in that for us as a group.
We have a group chat. One person (the driver) said she had a headache and felt shitty. Everyone else said they felt fine. Again, not something id see as being weird...
E.g "should have had a drink last night, got a banging headache anyway"
"Oh no, I feel surprisingly good"
"Ive just been the gym"
Etc

Not sure why people on here take perfectly innocent conversations and make out like people are weirdos for it

OP posts:
Carpedimum · 11/06/2026 20:37

Nothing, I am practically tee total these days. I don’t miss it, I don’t need it.

TheDevilWears · 11/06/2026 20:32

21 years clean and sober today 🎉 so for me none. But I think it all depends on the individual. Some people have a couple of glasses of wine every night … so a bottle and a vodka on a night out isn’t such a huge leap. Occasional drinkers could be suffering after two …

Shavasana · 11/06/2026 19:39

Nothing, and I feel much better for it.

Zanatdy · 11/06/2026 19:38

TeaPot496 · 10/06/2026 23:28

These days, even just one glass of wine gives me a racing heart and lack of sleep, unfortunately.

Same for me. I avoid week night drinking and try and stick to one on weekends. I would feel shocking in work after a whole bottle.

EdinaTheConfessor · 11/06/2026 19:26

I don’t any more but could easily drink 1.5-2 bottles of wine and function reasonably normally the next day.
Should I? Absolutely not which is why I don’t any more.

Wingingit73 · 11/06/2026 19:25

Maybe 1 glass and a coke. But i guess unless they're drinking a bottle a night its ok.

MeetMeOnTheCorner · 11/06/2026 19:24

@Pandaghost I was always judged for being a lightweight! My drinking friends always made me feel awkward for not wanting more. They undoubtedly judged me but because I didn’t drink much (2 glasses or nothing if I was driving) and having too much made me feel ill. They got the benefit of me driving though! We lightweights have our uses.

On my 19th birthday I seriously got drunk and had actually driven to the pub. A guy who owned a garage drove me home using his insurance but I was sick in my own car! Never again.

user293948849167 · 11/06/2026 19:22

I don’t really drink on weeknights but if it was a one off like this I would have one, any more than that and I would struggle the next day!

Wynter25 · 11/06/2026 19:19

1 bottle of wine but its normally just a couple

JulietteHasAGun · 11/06/2026 19:16

Genuinely the last time I drank a bottle of wine in one evening I have no recollection of getting home, woke up on the kitchen floor at 4am and spent the next day in bed. I appear to have become allergic to alcohol in middle age.

i now rarely drink and if i do it’s one glass of low alcohol wine. I feel I’m judged for not drinking to be honest.

Original poster
Pandaghost · 11/06/2026 19:15

DancingInTheMoonlights · 11/06/2026 19:08

👏👏

Show quote history

If you bothered to read my posts then you'd see that wasnt what I was doing 🙄

OP posts:
DancingInTheMoonlights · 11/06/2026 19:08

wishfulthinking25 · 10/06/2026 23:37

Not sure but you certainly wouldn’t be my friend anymore if you were counting the drinks I had on a night out and judging me on mumsnet the next day, that’s for sure!

👏👏

Wecandothisasalways · 11/06/2026 16:37

I didn’t drink when my children were small because I couldn’t be arsed with feeling knackered the next day…never have been an early morning person!
I am an all or nothing person ,so one drink always ends up with throwing the empty bottle away,so certainly am not a holier than thou person!

Ionlymakejokestodistractmyself · 11/06/2026 16:36

I won't usually drink at all in the week now, and barely at weekends too. If I do I wouldn't have more than 250ml of wine, which is either one glass or two depending on the size you go for!

Binge drinking is classed as more than 6 units within a few hours, and a bottle of wine is usually around 10 so drinking a whole bottle in an evening is definitely too much IMO, whatever you tell yourself.

Backedoffhackedoff · 11/06/2026 16:34

I don’t drink anymore but when I did I could easily do more than ghe bottle of wine women. Once I had 9 negronis 🙈

i would feel awful the next day but it wouldn’t really bother me once in a while, you just push through.

EverythingGolden · 11/06/2026 16:32

One or two glasses max but usually none these days. Even in my heyday I didn’t usually drink during the week because it wasn’t worth the stress the next day but could happily have a bottle and a half on a Friday.

Silverbirchleaf · 11/06/2026 16:21

If I wasn’t driving, I’d have 1-3 glasses. A whole bottle is a lot on any day of the week.

dingdangdongdo · 11/06/2026 16:17

I would be fine with two large glasses of wine but anymore and I start to wake up in the night thirsty and then I’m tired the next day.

My brother on the other hand can chug a crate of beer and be surfing at 6Am.
He’s 50s I’m 40s.

LeedsLoiner · 11/06/2026 16:12

My personal rule is no drinking on a "school night" - unless it's a particular event like going to a concert or someone's birthday. Otherwise alcohol only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Holidays of course are excluded from this rule ! 🍹

LethargeMarg · 11/06/2026 16:02

In my 20s I could go clubbing and still get up for work (as a teacher as well!?!)
these days a small glass of wine (125ml) would be the max.
about ten years ago in my late 30s I had a bottle of wine on a work night and spent the next day with the most horrendous hangover while at work…kept having to run to the loo to be sick - never again!!

Ibi · 11/06/2026 15:44

Larrythecatforpm · 11/06/2026 08:42

Nothing, i can’t drink anything these days without feeling like crap for a week afterwards. Easier to stay sober. That said bottle of wine each when they’re supposed to be supervising their kids? Confused

I don’t think anyone took their children with them on the night out!!

Ibi · 11/06/2026 15:42

I meet up with a group of friends once a month or so and we tend to try and leave work early so we are in the pub by 1700-1800. I can easily have a couple of aperitifs and then wine with dinner and a few after (probably well over a bottle sometimes). Because we start early, we are usually in bed by 2300, so can get a good night sleep. We try and do this on a Thursday as a few of us wfh on a Friday so I don’t need to be up until about 0700 which makes a big difference and I don’t feel my performance is impaired.

Pinkbus · 11/06/2026 14:58

I drink beer but know I'll feel off my game next day on more than 2 pints. TBH one will make me feel a bit jaded, so I often don't bother at all and stick to soda water.