Meet the Parents

When to meet the parents? That is the question.

It's definitely a point of contention. Growing up, all I can remember is friends, magazines (thanks Cosmo and Seventeen!) and tv shows (Sex and the City) teaching you that for no sane reason should you introduce your parents to the new man/woman in your life for months on end. I'd like to think that we've moved past that belief and grown adults are able to meet the person you're dating, regardless of how fresh or stale a relationship may be.

So after just barely 5 weeks, I'm doing it. I'm introducing my parents to my man friend. To me, it's not a huge deal. It's dinner with my parents, brothers and grandparents for my mom and i's co-birthday celebration. Part of me feels like I should be panicked. After all, this is not something I'm accustomed to: dating someone or introducing them to the parents. But I'm ok with it.

He accepted my invite with no big concern, even when I said oh, the grandparents would be there too. Some of his family comes to visit in a few months so I imagine I will meet them if we're still hanging out.

What about you guys? Do you have 'meet the parents' rules when dating?

Comments

Kerry said…
I think meeting parents early on is a good idea. It helps you avoid the high pressure meeting later and as long as no one assumes too much, I think it works well. Joe and I met each other's parents pretty soon after we were dating. That was largely because we were still in college and didn't actually have homes of our own. Even if we did have our own places, I still think it's a good idea.
Anonymous said…
I'm with you, I think the whole concept is a liiittle over-rated. Although, I guess you wouldn't feel that way if you didn't Want them to meet, or didn't care about your family and the guy. And you might be a little weary if you had some Crazy fam.

:) I'm sure you both will have a good time.
So@24 said…
No set rules for these things. Gotta do what you feel is right, go with the gut.

And if he's excited about it, all the better
glad to hear others don't think this is crazy weird to be introducing someone to the fam before things get crazy serious.
Laura said…
My boyfriend met my mom right near when we first started dating, and he's met her several times since. Then his mom got jealous that she hadn't met me, especially since she lives right here in the city, so we met for brunch. I was really nervous b/c I wanted to impress her, but it was really fun and I liked her a lot.

However, he still hasn't met my dad. I'm really nervous about him doing so - my dad isn't crazy per se, but he is excellent at making situations awkward by just not really having any idea how uncomfortable he's making people with (well-intentioned) jokes or comments. Like the time my (unengaged) brother and his girlfriend gave my dad a Christmas card together (one of those ones with the picture on the front) and he was like "oh, so this means you're getting married? When will I get grandkids?" AWKWARD.

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