Tripping Over the Line: Psychedelics, Alcohol, & Raising Kids
Can psychedelics, wine, or even video games make you a better parent — or just help you survive the day? One dad explores the blurry line between escape, presence, and parenting with intention.
Before I had a kid, a doctor could’ve easily slapped me with the “heavy drinker” label.
I wasn’t waking up to tequila shots or anything, but I drank most weekends to wind down after a stressful five days of work.
Every now and then, I’d drink enough to get drunk. My cycle was normal enough, at least in my circles in New Orleans, to not feel like a problem.
When my baby was born in September 2024, something shifted. I didn’t sober up completely, but I started cutting myself off, either subconsciously or purposefully. Two, maybe three drinks if it was a big event. More often than not, I’d just leave early so I didn’t have to do the counting game at all.
After six consecutive months of the worst sleeps of my life, the last thing I want is to wake up hungover. Sprinkled in with the self-preservation, though, is a mix of guilt, responsibility, and the terrifying realization that I was now the adult in the room.
So I’ve really started to wonder, where’s the line?
Self-Care or Selfishness?
The first post-baby buzz I got at Thanksgiving dinner is when I started to question the ethical dilemma of parenting around substances. Is a couple of drinks “okay” because I’m not slurring my words, or is the very act of taking the edge off a kind of selfishness when you’re someone’s entire sense of safety?
Parenting adds a complication to the narrative. The stakes are higher when someone else is counting on you to keep it together.
And that question doesn’t stop at alcohol.
What about weed? Psychedelics? Microdosing?
Are these tools for healing and presence, or just fancier ways to check out? Where does that leave the “D.A.R.E.” generation — parents who grew up with a little too much negative propaganda — who find themselves curious, ready to experiment, or already use these things to unwind and reflect?
This isn’t a lecture. I don’t have a clear answer. And I’m sure the entire concept of this article has triggered some more conservative parents to close the tab, stop reading, and judge.
But these are the questions that keep swirling around in my head as I navigate the strange Venn diagram where parenting, substance use, mind-expansion, and ethics overlap.
A lot of the time, parenting is really boring. And I’m not even in the “read the same book five times in a row” phase or listening to “Baby Shark” for twelve hours on repeat.
What nobody tells you is how little space there is in a day when you’re busy keeping a tiny human alive — how slow the hours can feel, how repetitive the tasks become.
So, my phone is the first thing I reach for when I’m overwhelmed, bored, or just itching for that little serotonin hit that parenting doesn’t always offer.
Even while admitting this, the last thing I want to do is be an inattentive, absent-minded father.
Are my phone and drinking habits actually relaxing, or am I chasing a version of myself that existed before baby wipes and burp cloths?
I’m not trying to self-destruct. I’m just looking for small doses of relief. But I’m starting to see how easy it is to lose track of where relief ends and avoidance begins.
Old School Rules vs. Modern Reality
There’s a constant see-sawing of what’s right and what’s right and wrong in parenting — and that includes substance use.
Before anyone knew the risks, drinking and smoking around kids was the norm. Watch any episode of Mad Men. You’ll probably wince not just at the neglect, but the cocktails during pregnancy and the chain-smoking in the nursery.
When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s, substances were certainly around, especially in my hometown of New Orleans.
It was there at crawfish boils, festivals, parades, where grown-ups walked around with go-cups and friends passed around something with skunky smells at Jazz Fest. It was no big deal. In fact, it was part of the ambiance.
Now, with social media and the never-ending news cycle, things seem more black and white than ever. Having a drink, a smoke, or whatever around your kid is irresponsible — at least that’s what all the top comments of any social media post will tell you.
On the other hand, our culture is becoming more open as we learn about the many side effects of formerly taboo substances.
Microdosing makes headlines in Forbes (but what doesn’t nowadays?) Cannabis is legal in more than half the country, and people are finally opening up to the benefits of this humble plant. Tech CEOs are even leading team-building ayahuasca retreats.
What Psychedelics Can (and Can’t) Do for Parents.
The framing of these substances has completely changed in the last decade from “this is bad, don’t ever do it,” to “hey, these can actually be used as tools for healing, creativity, or growth.”
Psychedelics aren’t just about escapism anymore, they’re about presence, trauma work, self-betterment.
There’s an alluring idea floating around that these benefits can help us become better parents. More grounded, compassionate. More able to access joy in the parts of parenting that feel like a grind.
Popping a psilocybin capsule won’t magically fix impatience, boredom, or frustration. But they may be able to offer a different perspective. A shift in how you see your life, your routines, your relationships. They may help you notice patterns, soften judgment, and connect the dots you’ve ignored.
Let’s take a closer look at how micro and macrodosing can help you parent better.
Microdosing: Small, Sub-Perceptive Doses
A lot of parents are turning to microdosing as a subtle way to stay present and emotionally balanced.
They take low, sub-perceptual doses of psilocybin or LSD — not enough to make you trip, but enough to help be more engaged with the moment instead of resisting it.
One Redditor wrote, “I have a 3-year-old. I’m much more patient with her and very loving and understanding when I microdose.”
And it’s not just Reddit. A Sky News piece followed moms who use psilocybin in tiny amounts, describing it as “life-changing.” They felt less irritable, less buried by the grind, more in tuned with their kids.
Microdosing often follows protocols like the Fadiman method. It’s a simple structure: you take a microdose on day 1, then take two days off, and repeat the cycle. The point is to let the effects settle in and give your mind time to integrate subtle shifts rather than build up tolerance or overdo it.
Importantly, many parents intentionally choose to take their microdose on a non-parenting day, either when their child is at school or daycare, or when another adult is holding down the fort.
And the benefits don’t stop on day 1. Many report effects like increased calm, mental clarity, and emotional spaciousness bleed into the off days. They feel more grounded and present even when they’re not actively dosing.
Macrodosing: Full Psychedelic Doses
There’s also the deeper end of the pool: macrodosing. Full psychedelic experiences are about surrender. Where the world bends and your ego loosens.
These experiences can crack open parts of you that have been buried for years, surfacing trauma, reframing your identity. They can invite raw honesty about who you are and how you’re living.
For parents, this can be illuminating and destabilizing. These journeys might reorganize how you see yourself as a person, caregiver, or partner.
And because of that, it’s not something you do while managing naptime.
Macrodosing requires space, time, and guidance to fully let go. If it’s going to have any place in a parent’s life, it has to be contained with a strong, thoughtful structure. That could mean taking part in a guided retreat or staying with a trusted friend while someone else is fully in charge at home.
When done well, macrodosing can be a catalyst for real transformation. It can reconnect you with parts of yourself you’d forgotten. The curious, compassionate parts that can hold a space for a child’s chaos because you’ve finally learned how to hold your own.
Where to Draw the Line
Timing, context, and responsibility matter more than ever when you’re raising a human. Of course, there should always be a boundary. I’m not saying you should microdose, and I’m definitely not suggesting you should jump into a full trip while actively parenting.
And beyond the ethical debate, there’s also a legal one. Psilocybin and LSD are still illegal in most places. If anything were to happen, even something beyond your control, and it came out you’d dosed, the consequences could be massive. Custody issues, legal charges, and worse.
As fascinated as I may be by the idea that psychedelics might make us more patient, more present, more open-hearted parents, there’s no avoiding the fact that parenting raises the stakes on these (and every) choices.
That doesn’t mean these substances have no place in a parent’s life. Done with care and intention, psychedelics can help us reconnect with patience and gratitude and even parts of ourselves. They can offer a reset when we’re stuck in cycles of burnout or reactivity.
But they’re not a shortcut. They’re tools. And just like any tool, their value depends entirely on how and when we use them.
True integration means bringing the benefit of the break, however small, back into our actual lives. That could mean journaling after a psychedelic journey. Or, you can lean on your existing support system. Talk to a therapist, check in with your partner, mentor, elders, or even integration circles.
We were never meant to do this parenting thing solo, and we don’t have to process all of life’s stresses in isolation, either.
Further Reading
The Void Starer: How Philosophy's Greatest Pessimist Discovered Cosmic Love
Aldous Huxley: The Literary Genius Who Opened the Doors of Perception
To Oblivion & Back: Exploring The Benefits of Psychedelic-Induced Ego Death
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