WHO IS THE SOBER MOM SQUAD? REDEFINING MOTHERHOOD WITHOUT WINE

IT’S HARD TO SEPARATE ALCOHOL FROM PARENTHOOD.

I mean, let’s be honest, motherhood can drive one to drink. (The exhaustion and constant screaming alone! Jesus take the wheel!)

And these days, you really can’t scroll a single page of Facebook without seeing a meme about wine and locking oneself up in a closet to get some peace and quiet.

But for some people, the line between a harmless “glass to relax” and a problem can be very fine, and therefore very easy, to cross.

When it turned that way for Celeste Yvonne, one of the founders of the Sober Mom Squad, she knew it was time to change things—for her and for other moms in the same spot.

I recently interviewed Celeste for my talk show and podcast, and we had a great conversation about what it means to be sober; why she started the squad; and what she has to say to moms who might also be ready to put away the wine.

Check out the full episode here, and listen to the podcast episode here! Meantime, highlights below:

ON HER “AHA” MOMENT TO QUIT DRINKING:

“For the most part, I though I had a pretty good handle on drinking. I had a father who was an alcoholic, and I thought I could control my alcohol better than he did by setting rules up: No drinking before 5pm, don’t drink and drive. I had these established rules. … And I thought, as long as I continue on that path, I”m good.

As you know, when you become a parent you have to be available 24/7. And suddenly, not only was I dealing with the parenting chaos that comes, I was trying to do it with a hangover. My hangovers were getting increasingly worse. I was noticing I was drinking more to have the same effects, because my tolerance was going up.

And I woke up one morning and was like, ‘This is not sustainable. I can’t continue down this path and not expect it not to lead somewhere really bad. So I quit.”

ON SOBER LIFE:

“I quit drinking almost three years ago and the life I have found in sobriety has empowered me, my parenting, it’s empowered my confidence. … There’s something very exciting in sobriety that I don’t think the media talks about at all. We don’t see it in Hollywood; we don’t see it in TV shows … the memes, the TikTok videos. No one talks about the benefits of sobriety, and I feel like if I’m doing anything, it’s that. … There’s a beauty in sobriety that people don’t see or understand.”

“I want to extend this conversation because there’s a beauty in sobriety that I think people don’t understand.”

ON THE BIGGEST WORRY WOMEN HAVE WHEN CONSIDERING GOING SOBER:

“They’re worried they won’t have fun anymore, or … what are they going to do at parties? The concept of life without alcohol is scary because no one talks about it.

The first word that comes to mind is ‘boring,’ and that’s something we have to talk about. It’s actually the opposite of boring. When you enable your mind, you can have better conversations, you can have a better handle over your emotions, you can do more things.”

ON WHY SOBRIETY DECISION HAS MADE FOR BETTER MORNINGS:

“Parenting with a hangover is probably the worst experience on planet Earth. If I quit drinking for that alone, it’s 100% worth it.”

WHY SHE THINKS SOBRIETY IS CONNECTING WITH SO MANY MOMS:

“We all got self-quarantined in March … and all of a sudden we went from whatever we were doing before to home schooling children. … The mental load for motherhood has never ben heavier. The conversation I keep hearing is, ‘My drinking started to get out of control.’

Add to that mix every single meme you saw… talking about drinking, ‘quarantinis’ … day drinking … This is the narrative we’re having, and it’s getting heavy. And especially for the moms who used drinking to cope, it’s starting to catch up with them.

So me and four other sober moms got together .. and formed the Sober Mom Squad as a way to connect once a week … and not only let these women know there is hope and opportunity in sobriety, but to give them a chance to connect with each other, and share their experience. Because there is so much therapy that goes into the shared experience.”

WHAT SHE SAYS TO CRITICS WHO SAY SHE’S TAKING THE FUN OUT OF SOCIAL DRINKING

“Where is the line of calling someone out for a dangerous narrative, and just letting moms have their fun conversations and their fun TikTok videos? There’s a line there for sure. When it goes to—where they’re using their children as props, showing day drinking without consequences or ramifications of what comes with that—that’s where I get frustrated. … We need to bring it up.

We don’t see [the consequences] on social media. We only see the jokes.”

If you want to learn more about getting sober, reach out to a trusted group like Alcoholics Anonymous or the Sober Mom Squad.

Stay healthy, friends! xo

“We all got self-quarantined in March … and all of a sudden we went from whatever we were doing before to home schooling children. … The mental load for motherhood has never ben heavier. The conversation I keep hearing is, ‘My drinking started to get out of control.’

Add to that mix every single meme you saw… talking about drinking, ‘quarantinis’ … day drinking … This is the narrative we’re having, and it’s getting heavy. And especially for the moms who used drinking to cope, it’s starting to catch up with them.

So me and four other sober moms got together .. and formed the Sober Mom Squad as a way to connect once a week … and not only let these women know there is hope and opportunity in sobriety, but to give them a chance to connect with each other, and share their experience. Because there is so much therapy that goes into the shared experience.”

WHAT SHE SAYS TO CRITICS WHO SAY SHE’S TAKING THE FUN OUT OF SOCIAL DRINKING

“Where is the line of calling someone out for a dangerous narrative, and just letting moms have their fun conversations and their fun TikTok videos? There’s a line there for sure. When it goes to—where they’re using their children as props, showing day drinking without consequences or ramifications of what comes with that—that’s where I get frustrated. … We need to bring it up.

We don’t see [the consequences on social media. We only see the jokes.”