For not wanting to get drunk?

[MuthaInsuperior]

I'm known as being a bit of a bore in my family - always making excuses to get out of social gatherings and choosing a week in the lake district over a week in Benidorm etc. Anyway my cousin has been wanting me to go for a night out with her for AGES and each time I've made excuses and promised "next time".

Anyway - she invited me to a night out this friday and I got sick of making excuses and agreed. She's now REALLY excited about it and we've text lots about it and are both looking forward to it - only thing is I don't want to get drunk and I think I'm going to be accused of "spoiling the night" or "being boring" once she realises I'm not going to get drunk. One text she sent me mentioned getting "plastered" and I've tried to hint that I won't be drinking loads but I don't think the hint has been taken.

My plan is to alternate each alcoholic drink with a plain diet coke - and try and make each half last ages so I'm actually drinking less anyway. They're going to pick up on this quite quickly and I'm worried I'm going to get accused of "spoiling it", especially as she's looking forward to it so much.

I HATE being drunk though, I hate the hangover, I hate the realisation of how much I've spent on getting myself that way the next morning and I also want to take the kids to the cinema early Saturday morning.

I'm not being a boring old fart am I? I'm 30. Am I not normal?

On whether your cousin and friends will notice you not drinking much, I found that when pregnant and not drinking, nobody actually noticed at a hen night or my own birthday party that I was not drinking. They were to busy worrying about how much alcohol they had in their own glasses and how soon the next drink would be on its way.

YANBU.

I'll have a couple of small glasses of wine when I (rarely!) go out, but no more than that as I can't cope with a hangover and looking after DS.

I know how tricky it can be when your friends get overly involved in how much you do/don't drink though. One of my friends got engaged when I was newly pregnant and was 'really, really upset' that I couldn't get drunk on her hen night. Another one used to always buy me shots when we were out (back when we were students), which I'd just line up and ignore as I hate drinking spirits!