7 Years 142 days - Milo & Otis7 Years 142 days - Milo & Otis
I'm Quitting Alcohol
Comedian David Boyle, seven years sober, vents about undisciplined kids at his daughter’s birthday party and celebrates the nostalgic charm of Milo and Otis. The episode mixes sweary humour with firm views on parenting and a glimpse into his daily alcohol-free life.
7:10•4 Oct 2026
Strict Parenting, Birthday Chaos and a Milo & Otis Throwback
Episode Overview
- Boyle rejects "light touch" parenting and insists on firm discipline for kids, including his children’s friends.
- He refuses to let his son use visiting friends as a loophole for extra snacks and video games.
- A Chinese mum at the party earns his respect for her strong, no-nonsense parenting style.
- Boyle highly recommends showing young kids the 1986 film Milo and Otis, praising its timeless story and humour.
- He prefers older, story-rich children’s films over much of modern kids’ content, with a few exceptions like Bluey and Paw Patrol.
“If you're not gonna get disciplined at your house, you're coming to my house and you're gonna get fucking disciplined.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? For Australian comedian David Boyle, it’s less about serenity and more about surviving kids’ birthday parties without losing his mind. In this short, punchy episode of *I’m Quitting Alcohol*, Boyle mixes sobriety with a full-throttle rant about parenting, discipline and childhood nostalgia. You’ll hear Boyle, seven-plus years sober, laying out his no-nonsense approach to kids and their mates tearing through his house.
He’s brutally clear about boundaries: "If you're not gonna get disciplined at your house, you're coming to my house and you're gonna get fucking disciplined." There’s zero sugar-coating, only raw honesty about what it’s like to be the strict parent in a sea of what he calls "light touch" mums and dads.
The episode swings from the chaos of his daughter’s birthday party to his frustration with children testing limits, especially when his son tries to use friends as a "loophole" for snacks and video games. Boyle’s response is blunt, sometimes hilarious, and very much in line with the podcast’s promise of being "raw, unfiltered, real recovery. No script. No filter.
No drinks." Amid the tirade, there’s genuine appreciation for one fellow parent – a Chinese mum who, like Boyle, doesn’t mess around with discipline. He even pulls her aside to say he enjoys the way she parents, finding a rare kindred spirit in the birthday-party madness. Then the tone shifts into warm nostalgia as he talks about showing his kids the 1986 film *Milo and Otis*.
Boyle remembers watching it "like a thousand times" as a kid and calls it a "heartwarming funny story" that "still holds up" nearly 40 years later, recommending it over most modern kids’ shows. If you’re on a sobriety journey and want something blunt, sweary and very real about family life without alcohol, this daily snapshot of Boyle’s world might be just the laugh and reality-check you need. How would you handle those kids in your living room?
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