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How To Survive Meeting Your Girlfriend’s Extended Family
Just the other day I had the opportunity to meet my girlfriend’s extended family via a graduation party. By extended family, I mean the Cousins, Uncles, god parents, and family friends. Needless to say I was a little worried about being thrown into a party with these folks, especially a party with copious amounts of alcohol available. I was nervous about meeting these people before I learned about the booze, but after I got there and saw all the drinks, I was terrified – especially because my girlfriend made it known to me that her family has a knack for ‘messing’ with people. Lovely, I thought.
I decided to go to the party a little early to visit with my girlfriend, and to possibly help set some stuff up. Possibly put out food, drinks, or whatever was needed. I was happy to help because I knew things were hectic around the house beforehand. Because I was there early, I was able to meet people as they arrived. I was ‘the boyfriend’, so all the concerned relatives were eager to meet me to see what sort of fellow I am. More importantly, because the guests arrived slowly, I was able to follow some simple guidelines I set for myself before the party. Normally I wouldn’t have bothered with this, but like I said, I was nervous about meeting these people! The checklist is as follows:
- Be Friendly
- Greet with a firm handshake
- Make Smalltalk, but not too much!
- Ask Questions, but not too many!
- Roll with punches
- Don’t misrepresent yourself(myself)
- Be patient
- Wear camouflage and hide in bushes
My plan was pretty simple. I wanted to be kind and courteous in order to make a good impression. Making a good impression, I have read, is important when meeting people. It is argued as one of the most crucial points in a new relationship with someone – and if you don’t make it a decent one you run the risk or misrepresenting yourself, and no one wants that.
Thankfully, I wasn’t alone. My lovely girlfriend was there to introduce me to her family, who were all pretty nice folks. I was equally thankful that the main focus wasn’t on me. Most of the relatives were content with conversing with one another, and that made me relieved because I got a chance to talk with other friends from our school.
Later that evening…
My fears came true when people started getting drunk. Generally meeting your girlfriend’s family isn’t this frantic. I’d wager a good 90% of the time no one is drunk. Unfortunately for me, people started getting drunk, and the questions started getting odd. I was briefly accosted by an Aunt who was ‘off her shit’, but it was all in good fun. I sort of laughed it off with the other relatives and all became well again. As it turned out, getting messed with wasn’t really a big deal
Why? Because it’s all in good fun. No one really means any harm, and in all honesty, for me, it sort of helped break the ice with her family even more. I was lucky. I wasn’t interrogated like I assumed that I would be. Instead, I was asked simple questions that ended up primarily being about school. It wasn’t that horrible!
The night was fairly quiet after my run in with the drunk and equally crazy Aunt. I learned to play Egyptian Ratscrew, and had a good time sharing fire building know-how around the bonfire. Thanks to the boy scouts for that.
Closing Thoughts
Meeting the family was easy. I followed the basic rules I set for myself, and it turned out to be fairly fun. In fact, I didn’t even end up talking as much as I thought I would. If you’re worried about meeting your girlfriend’s family, don’t. It’s stress you don’t need, and I think it’s safe to say that chances are that there isn’t anything you need to worry about. My only advice, is that you follow my guidelines, or expand on them with your own, and try to meet the family without the presence of alcohol.
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