I don't want to.

I will be 32 in 4 days, and I am just now learning to say "no" . I mean, I am sure as a 2 year old I was an expert, and I did pretty well in high school when it came to drugs, sex, whatever...but eventually I lost the ability. Erma Bombeck tells you there are more important things to do then sleep. Transients tell you to never turn down an invitation. You want to be active, blah, blah, blah. But there are other sides too. There are people who tell you you need downtime. I just never thought it applied to parties. Okay, maybe I was taught that it did not apply to parties. After all, I used to get an earful every year from my dad for missing his superbowl party to write my research paper that always seemed to be due the next day.
I think part of me still clings to the high school/college mentality that forced you to go out every Friday and Saturday night. Somewhere along the way, we became obligated to go to weekday parties, too. But know what? I am now learning that there are certain things I would rather do than obligate myself to go to places I don't want to be. Yeah, we drove to Jersey for 3 hours on Thanksgiving, but I mostly wanted to go. Tonight I do not want to go to a dinner. I am taking a stand. I don't have to go. I am not going to be blacklisted from society for missing one dinner. I have other obligations, namely, Harry. I WANT to stay home and have dinner with Harry and Kevin, get Harry ready for bed and play blocks with him. I am not missing a dinner to watch TV, I am missing a dinner for a better invitation: one with my son. That one is more important. And you know what? It is also more fun!