By Samantha Davis
It’s days before Christmas and planes, trains, and automobiles are fired up carting loved ones home from across the country. And it just might be the year that you invite your special someone home to meet the family.
First, bringing someone home for the holidays to meet your family deserves an applause. This means that you care about your man enough to see a potential future with him and that you want your family in on it. Brava.
Now, in the case that you are a little nervous (okay, maybe a lot nervous) about this introduction, thinking about all the melodramatic meet-the-parents scenes in movies, let me speak some truth into this for you.
1. Go Easy on Your Family
As women, we think it’s our life appointment to worry about everything. Worry if they will like him, will he like them, what if this and what if that? Girlfriend, have some hot cocoa and chill out. Sure, there will definitely be an embarrassing moment or two as your little brother tries to sneak attack a prank or photos of that awkward time in middle school start to surface. But can you get mad at a family who loves you and likes to have fun? If he likes you, he will want to like your family. The more relaxed you are, the more fun you will have. Focus on loving and serving them, not worrying what they will do or say at any moment. You deserve to relax!
2. Go Easy on Yourself
You’re taking him to your home and to your turf. You set the pace and the rhythm here. If you want to show him around your town and share with him old memories, then do that! If not, then don’t! Just make sure that you are letting him see at least a glimpse of where and from whom you came. Allow for some space and time for the two of you to talk with members of your family over coffee, get to know your cousins over a card game, or spend some time walking around the neighborhood. The expectation is to introduce him to your family and that will be accomplished the second you walk in the door. So after that, just relax!
3. Need a game plan? Call a Friend
If tips and tricks and a schedule will calm you down, chances are, you know someone that has experienced introducing a special someone to the family at Christmas. Call them! This is what community is for. Ask them how it went and what happened. What went “right” and what when “wrong”? What moments were the most memorable? What do they laugh about when they think on those memories? Surely you will get lots of great stories about silly first impressions, goofy personalities, and probably some awkward tension. And hopefully, you will see the bigger picture — that all is not actually riding on this one meeting. After all, your relationship didn’t! It took a lot of ups and downs to get to this place.
3. Keep Your Eyes On Jesus
If you still find yourself worried or stressed, remember that Christmas has nothing to do about you, your boyfriend or your parents totally loving him. (Which they probably will) Christmas is a celebration of the birth of a baby named Jesus that followed hundreds of years of expectation for the Messiah. It’s the answer humanity was waiting for. Keep your eyes on Jesus and what his birth meant for everyone. When you look at your family and friends this Christmas, remind yourself that Jesus’ life was for them. And when you keep your eyes and heart on that, and take a deep breath, you’ll realize that everything is taken care of and is just as it should be.
Merry Christmas. Have a wonderful time with yours.
Meeting the Parents: Christmas Edition