7 Years 113 days - Dadda's Little Girl7 Years 113 days - Dadda's Little Girl
I'm Quitting Alcohol
Comedian David Boyle talks about his daughter’s first day of school, the shock of realising how fast children grow, and the pressure to be present as a sober parent. With sharp humour and raw honesty, he shares the emotional highs and lows of family life in long-term recovery.
6:42•5 Sept 2026
Dadda's Little Girl: Sobriety, School Shoes and Sudden Emotion
Episode Overview
- Sobriety can heighten awareness of how quickly children grow and change.
- Being truly present with kids matters more than personal distractions and ego.
- Parenting brings both intense joy and intense frustration, often in the same moment.
- It’s easy to feel you might miss your kids’ childhood if you don’t consciously refocus on what’s important.
- Humour and honesty can help process the emotional chaos of family life in recovery.
“"If you don't pay attention you're gonna miss everything."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? In this bite-sized episode of *I'm Quitting Alcohol*, comedian David Boyle shows that sometimes it comes from the most everyday moments: getting teary over his daughter's first day of school. Across just a few minutes, Boyle talks about being "jolted" out of his "distracted narcissistic self-indulgent fucking loops" by watching his little girl walk into school.
That small milestone hits him like a truck, reminding him how fast life goes and how easily you can miss your kids growing up if you aren't really present. This isn't a soft-focus parenting chat, though. True to style, Boyle mixes sentiment with sharp humour and plenty of swearing.
One moment he's talking about the sweetness of hugs from "daddy's little girl", the next he's describing himself yelling like a "psychopath" because she keeps mixing up the words "all" and "at" during reading practice. It's raw, messy and very human. For anyone in alcohol recovery, this episode gives a glimpse of what long-term sobriety can look like: ordinary family chaos, emotional whiplash, and a deep sense that these moments matter more than anything else.
Boyle admits he's scared of waking up in "five six ten 15 years" feeling like he missed his kids' childhoods, so he keeps pulling himself back into the moment, even when that moment involves tears, scribbled notebooks and spelling drills. If you're a parent in recovery, or just someone trying to care more about real life than old habits, you'll recognise the mix of love, frustration and gratitude running through this.
It’s messy, honest, and quietly moving under all the jokes. How are you making sure you don’t miss the fleeting good stuff in your own sobriety?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.