Could you suggest that the social functions that your work has are family functions?
I think that this is my main issue. These things are strictly no partners, etc...

Well, I just spoke to my boss about not going to this afternoon's event and he was fine with it. He's not going either and although he didn't say it outright, I got the impression that he thinks the whole thing is a bad idea and that hardly anyone is going anyway (apparently I was one of the first people to put apologies and others followed suit). So I suppose that's good.

I think this may be the next issue working mums have to fight - we have the right to breastfeed and lactation breaks, now we need to be recognised as being exempt from work drinks because we are primarily mothers, and employees second...

Or maybe it's just me - as I don't usually drink I get drunk really fast and when the drinks are free, well, let's not go there.... I have no desire to get messily drunk in front of people who I need to be taken seriously by the next day.

Teresa - I know what you mean about being ignored. I had one workmate giving me cr@p for not wanting to go today and it was all I could do to stop myself saying sarcastically "so if I go, then you'll acutally talk to me or something??"