The Mum Wine Lie: Why Alcohol Never Made Motherhood Easier

You woke up on the bedroom floor swearing this was the last time, and by Friday you were hovering over that party invite knowing exactly how the night would end. This is the episode about the moment you finally step off the merry-go-round.

I sit down with my dear friend Victoria Vanstone, host of the award-winning Sober Awkward podcast. Vic shares the raw truth of her journey from binge-drinking party girl to eight years alcohol-free, including the "one hangover too far" that changed everything and the therapy visualisation that finally set her free.

Timestamps

Introduction (00:00)

The Morning Everything Changed (01:56)

Why "I Can't Do This Anymore" Hits Home (04:11)

Parenting Present, Not Hungover (09:10)

How Mummy Wine Culture Targeted Us (14:23)

Alcohol Is Addictive By Design (24:23)

The Merry-Go-Round That Set Her Free (28:22)

Losing The Party Girl Identity (30:09)

The Rejection That Started It All (38:49)

The Coping Strategy That Stopped Working (49:55)

Finding Joy In The Simple Life (54:26)

Why Sober Retreats Change Everything (59:00)

Final Words For The Woman Questioning (01:04:50)

Victoria Vanstone is the host of Sober Awkward, the award-winning comedy podcast that follows two former party animals navigating life without booze, now with more than 7 million downloads. She started writing the day she gave up alcohol and became a much-loved over-sharer through her blog Drunk Mummy Sober Mummy. She is the author of the memoir A Thousand Wasted Sundays and Mumming: A Year of Trying and Failing to Be a Better Parent, and she is now on a mission to help others break free from normalised social binge drinking.

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/sober-awkward/id1565657975

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drunkmummysobermummy/

If Vic's story resonated with you, grab her memoir A Thousand Wasted Sundays 👉https://a.co/d/080IDnnV

Check out her sober retreats over at 👉https://www.soberawkward.com/

***

Sarah Rusbatch is an accredited Health and Wellbeing Coach and one of Australia's leading experts on grey area drinking. Her podcast,  Stronger, Bolder, Wiser, is the go-to space for women who are questioning their relationship with alcohol, navigating life alcohol-free, or simply curious about what life could look like on the other side of the bottle.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. And if you haven't already, subscribe so you never miss an episode, and leave a review to help more women find this community.

Struggling to know what to do when stress, boredom or big emotions hit?

Download my free guide "100 Things to Do Instead of Drinking", a toolkit for sitting with those feelings instead of reaching for a glass of wine.

Get your free guide → https://sarahrusbatch.com/free-guide-100-things-to-do-instead-of-drinking

Follow along and see the behind the scenes over at https://www.instagram.com/sarahrusbatch/

Join my latest Alcohol Free Challenge here - https://programs.sarahrusbatch.com/alcohol-reset-challenge?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=organic%20social&utm_campaign=april+reset+challenge&utm_content=promotional

and find out more about my other programs here - https://sarahrusbatch.com/

If you want to join a space where women feel safe to be seen, ask the questions they don’t always say out loud and connect with others going through the same as you, join my free Facebook group, Women’s Wellbeing Collective here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/342319476897067

And if changing your relationship with alcohol is something you want to explore further, you can find my book Beyond Booze on Audible, Spotify, Kindle and Amazon. Click the link here - https://sarahrusbatch.com/beyond-booze