Dating sober while my partner drinks — did I overreact by ending it?

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I once left her at my home with my younger child while I took my older child to a sporting event — about 4 hours. When I returned she was fully drunk, incapable of driving or holding a coherent conversation. My child was fine but noted she had drunk a lot of juice. I confronted her weeks later after she was drunk again early on a workday and ended the relationship.

I told her she has a problematic relationship with alcohol and I don’t want that energy in my life given my own sobriety journey and the poor decisions I made when I drank.

She’s now asking to try couples therapy and has offered to give up alcohol for a period. But I worry her promises are ones she’ll struggle to keep and that she genuinely has no awareness of her own limits. I also don’t know if I have the energy to support someone in recovery as a single parent.

Was I too rash? Am I wrong?”

Posted Jul 11, 2026, 1:14 PM UTC

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