Drinking at 6year olds party

[Lindylou1980]

My daughter in law was seen secretly drinking at our grandaughters 6th birthday party. Her and her partner had hip flasks at a ball pit.
they have had a lot of difficulties this year but I don’t think this is acceptable.
should I say something?

If you're concerned about her in general then I'd speak to her about that rather than focusing it on the drinking. People get VERY defensive about their drinking and she will be likely to struggle to get past the idea that you're criticising her. Just ask her if she's OK as you know things have been difficult. She may open up she may not. But there's slim to no chance she will if you tell her her 'secret drinking' is 'unacceptable'. The exception would be if they were drunk and incapable and were driving or responsible for a child themselves.

@Onlyvisiting if the venue sold booze then it would be ok to have a drink surely? I guess a hip flask is a little extreme. If they really are having alcohol issues then the only way it can be addressed is if they see it as a problem and want to quit. So I just don't really see what OP can do.

You're getting mixed responses because your post was very vague and short on detail. It sounded like your daughter-in-law was drinking in the garden at a kids party. But it's actually your step daughter, who you've been worried about for some time drinking from a hip flask in soft play.

If she's your partner's daughter I'd talk to him about it and see what he thinks.

Well I wouldn't personally if I was responsible keeping an eye on multiple children. And it just seems totally unnecessary to me. Like wandering around tesco car park swigging from a flask Not necessarily about the amount of units consumed but not a situation that most people would consider a normal one to add alcohol to.
But do any soft plays offer alcohol to be drunk in the play area???? This seems unlikely but I've never been to one!

@Onlyvisiting I see your point. But nothing bad happened? If they are having problems that's a shame, but based off that incident alone I'd not be overly concerned.