John Stamos quit alcohol before becoming a father — aspiring parents take note
Actor John Stamos, who works all the time but is probably still best known for his role playing Uncle Jesse on the sitcom Full House, knows what a lot of us never find out until it’s too late: parenting is a lot easier without drinking alcohol.
Parenting — especially parenting young children — can run you absolutely ragged. The fatigue, the sudden, constant demands on your time.
The result? A lot of people actually develop an alcohol problem after using it as a way to “relax” or “calm down” at the end of a another long day of parenting and/or working.
Ask relatively new parent Stamos though, and he’s thankful alcohol is no longer a part of his life.
Early mornings
“I know who I am certainly by 57 now,” he told E! News recently. “It’s been close to six years in June that I sobered up. I never could have been a father during some of the more — some of it was really fun and some of it got to be very unhealthy.”
Stamos now gets up with his son at 5 a.m., something he would never be able to do while drinking. It must be deeply rewarding to be able to do that after a night without alcohol-damaged sleep.
Stamos achieved sobriety following his own personal rock bottom: a DUI in 2015.
He actually credited two of his much younger co-stars for helping him down the path to sobriety.
Stamos credits Josh Peck, who he was with on a show called Grandfathered, for showing up at the right time in his life and helping with his recovery.
Of former Full House star Jodie Sweetin — who dealt with her own issues — he told Variety: “I hit rock bottom. Jodie lovingly allowed me to walk my own path and when I finally humbled myself to ask for your help, I realized that the perky little blabbermouth had become the master of wisdom and was right by my side during some of the most difficult days of my life.”
He added that his family “will only know me as a sober husband and father. This is Jodie’s legacy in my life.”
New autobiography
Stamos is in the news this week because he just signed a new book deal that’s expected to touch on his road to sobriety.
The autobiography will reportedly be “the story not only of a life lived in front of the camera, but of the surreal highs and devastating lows of a misunderstood heartthrob who has always remained a dorky kid from Orange County, and of his midlife quest to find sobriety and a family of his own.”
I look forward to reading it!
Aspiring parents, I hope you draw some inspiration from this story and that it motivates you to kick booze before you welcome a new child into your life … it really will make everything easier if you don’t disrupt your sleep with a substance.
The latest from me:
- Top Chef’s sobriety maintenance involves fitness focus
- Remi Wolf offers a warning about what comes after sobriety
- 30 days no alcohol: this is by far my top health benefit
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