This was originally posted for two wonderfully wacky ladies who had a podcast and website called Get Mommy A Drink. They no longer have the site or podcast, so I decided to post this refreshing White Sangria Recipe and the story of the tea party here. The tea party guests are all six and seven years old now, and all of us mommies are still drinking!

How do you have a tea party for a group of four year old girls and not want to run screaming down the street? One word – sangria.

I try to be a good mom.  I have done the room parent thing at my daughter’s preschool. I have schlepped to the zoo, the park, and more birthday parties than I care to remember.  But I am so not the artsy/crafty type of mom, who can sit for hours on end making precious keepsakes. I know those type of moms exist, but they must have much better prescription drugs than I do.

The one thing I can share with my girl is food.  People always remark about how well she eats for a young child, but I have believe children will eat all sorts of things if they are introduced early, before they have time to make up their mind against it.  Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of stupid Happy Meal toys in my child’s room. A lot. But when mommy is not being a slacker my daughter eats fish, salads, a variety of vegetables and lots of fruits.

My daughter decided she wanted to have a real tea party with her little preschool friends, whom I have dubbed “The Pink Posse.” Now, this was something I could do!  No paint, glitter, or construction paper.  Since the group is still very young, no need for the fancy stuff like finger sandwiches and petit fours.  Fresh fruit, cheese and an activity is all they needed.

The one concession to craftiness I made was to bake some sugar cookies for the girls to decorate using food coloring pens.  They could draw a masterpiece and then eat it!  To save time and energy, you can even buy a couple of rolls of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough.

But the moms needed more. While the little ones squealed and played princess, we moms sipped on a lovely white sangria and noshed on lentil salad with tomatoes and goat cheese.

A good time was had by all, but the key to success was that I did not stress about little details.  The kids don’t care if it’s not fancy, and if the mothers do then you are friends with the wrong mothers! And be sure to serve a delicious cocktail. It’s not a party without one, is it?