There's no shortage of horror stories out there about things going awry when meeting your significant others' parents for the first time. Although many of them can be counted on for a humorous anecdote years later, sometimes it can make things seriously awkward for years to come in your relationship. Or days, depending on how bad that first impression really was.
Photo credit: rogerebert.comJust to give you an example of a bad, but not horrible, story, I shall offer my own. One sunny day in Spring, my boyfriend invited his parents down to Boston to hang out, get to know me, see him, you know, parent things. It all started off just fine. We went out for brunch at a lovely place downtown and got along famously. My boyfriend decided the afternoon would best be spent watching a movie, probably because it's the thing that requires the least amount talking. We all agreed and made a choice: The Master. A cinematic bit of brilliance. Unfortunately, it really wasn't. It was actually (in my opinion) a pretty mediocre film. Not only that, but there was nudity, tense and forceful sex scenes, awkward hysterical over-acting, and to top it all off, a co-masturbation scene. Not great meet-the-parents material.
After the movie we kind of silently chuckled it off, his Mom left the baked-goods she had prepared for him on the counter, and they said goodbye. After that we met a few more times in person, and I'm happy to say it was never spoken of again and my charm and character got me through that tense, awkward encounter unscathed. (probably...)
After that, I decided to compile a short list of things to do with the new 'rents INSTEAD of that.
1. Go to the public gardens or zoo
This first one is a great choice if you think you're going to feel uncomfortable facing his/her parents in an enclosed space. Public parks/zoos are great for walking around outside, getting the blood flowing and the nerves loose. It's also pretty easy to avoid awkwardness with so much going on around you; no intimate Sex and the City scenes to get your hands clammy and your mind racing. Furthermore, zoos are awesome and provide a great talking point: the universally beloved topic of animals.
2. Go to a wine tasting
This is a good option for those who want to be a little more sophisticated, and get to know the parents will a little less distraction. Warning: drinking too much alcohol has a tendency to loosen inhibitions (what? no way!) so things could get pretty interesting pretty quickly. If you're not confident you can hold you liquored-up comments, stay far away from this option.
3. Do that touristy thing in your town you've always meant to do
In Boston and never been on a duck boat? Perfect! Jump on it with your new older couple friends and ride off into the watery sunset! Been meaning to check out that new exhibit at the Natural History museum but can never find the time? Great because now it's going to feel as if time is slowing down to a crawl unless you find something exciting to do! The touristy outing option is pretty self-explanatory, and I think the most common one I hear friends going on with their in-laws-to-be. It's a crowd pleaser.
4. Play a board game
Any game but monopoly, and it's going to bring you back to a time when you had fun for the sake of having fun. For extra amusement, grab a bottle of wine or make fancy cocktails. If you're out of ideas for what exactly to play, check out Hasbro's Family Game section of the site and filter by the things you personally find fun in board games (i.e. strategy vs. physical games). Oh and why not Monopoly you may ask? Do you really want the parents to start pressuring you on your fiscal responsibility and investment decisions this early in the game? No. I didn't think so.
If you couldn't tell by now, the important thing to remember when meeting your partners' parents for the first time is to focus the outing on something outside of you and your relationship. If you feel comfortable simply going out to eat, expect 20+ questions from them about you and your circumstances. It may be endearing at first but it gets old fast. And if you feel comfortable just picking out a Oscar-nominated movie and pressing play, just maybe make sure there's no masturbation scenes ahead of time.
What do you think? Have any good meeting-the-parents-for-the-first-time ideas? What about those hilarious stories where it all went south quickly? Go on, this is a safe place.
