Gahhhhh

On the one hand, yeah, I think it's a touch irresponsible to be drunk when you need to get somewhere and to rely on your kid to do that for you. If she'd have been a couple years older (into puberty), I'd have had no objection whatsoever.

On the other hand, he could have just decided to drive himself, which would have been 9,000 times worse.

Also, I've seen 9 year olds play video games, and they can be quite good. Handling a car should be no big deal. Oh, and if 9 year olds aren't allowed to drive, 70 year olds probably shouldn't be either. In fact, the 70 year old is gonna have the slower reaction time (although, experience can lead to earlier recognition of situations that need to be reacted to.)

And separation is an awful thing for both of them.