Relationships

10 Cringeworthy Stories Of People Introducing Their Partners To Their Parents

If rom-coms taught me anything (aside from how to properly sprint through an airport to win over your beloved), it's that introducing your partner to your parents is supposed to be hilariously awkward.

The first time I ever tried to oh-so-casually tell my dad a guy was going to pick me up for a date, he grinned and insisted I have the young man come to the door. It was my junior year of high school, and after weeks of exchanging awkward Facebook messages with the cute senior who did the lighting for the school plays, he asked me out for ice cream. The day of the date, he parked his mom's sedan in my driveway and waited for me to come outside. Instead, I texted him to come inside to meet my dad. God bless him for being brave enough to do it.

I expected a quick hi-bye situation, but instead, they actually hit it off. My date and my dad wound up having an intense 20-minute discussion about the Pac Man-themed Google Doodle of the day. Nerds, right? Meanwhile, I slouched onto the chair by the back door, waiting for them to finally wrap up so I could feel like a rom-com heroine, driving around a sleepy suburb with a cute older boy.

I'm glad I got that first nervewracking introduction over with at 17, because I felt more confident the next time I brought someone home — a serious boyfriend instead of just a crush.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I know it's peak season for introducing partners to parents. So I asked real people how their introductions went. If you're prepping for that first big meeting between your significant other and your family, whip out a pen and paper and start taking notes. Some of these stories are almost too good to be true — and others will make you cringe so hard, you'll want to cancel Thanksgiving altogether.

This woman's mom did not come to play.

The first time I introduced my mom to my boyfriend, she actually said straight to our faces, 'You can do better than that. This is just a phase.'

— Daniela, 23

This woman's dad didn't think the boyfriend would stick around... But now they're married!

When my (now) husband met my family, my dad said, 'It was nice meeting you. Good luck out there,' as though he'd never see him again. I had only known the guy for two weeks. I had invited him to a football game with my family. My much younger siblings were hanging over him all day, and my other brother's girlfriend spilled Fireball all over him. But for some reason, he stuck around.

— Emily, 27

This woman's dad actually referenced the movie Meet The Parents.

My boyfriend is from Florida and comes from a pretty chill family. I’m from New Jersey and my parents are neurotic and from Brooklyn, so before we visited my parents’ house, I warned my boyfriend that he would probably think my family was insane.
When we got to the house, my dad walked out to greet us before we were even up the driveway, then said, 'Wait, let me go back inside so you guys can have your entrance!' He literally re-entered the house and closed the door so we could walk in ourselves. Once we were inside, one of the first things he said to my boyfriend after shaking his hand was, 'Have you seen Meet The Parents? I’m like Robert De Niro,' which was the worst reference in the world because Robert De Niro’s character is an ex-CIA agent and gave the visiting boyfriend a lie detector test.
My boyfriend and I had plans to have real dinner with my parents later, after we went apple picking at a farm near my parents' house, but that first initial meet-and-greet makes me laugh so hard.

— Alexia, 24

This woman's boyfriend charmed her parents before she even got to the bar.

My boyfriend expressed interest in meeting my parents a couple months into our relationship — and I was thrilled. I think my parents are chill, but meeting anyone's parents is intimidating, so I was really happy he made the first move (as opposed to me dropping hints). My parents live right outside of New York City, where I live, so they came to Manhattan to grab drinks one day after work. I was running late (typical), but when I finally got to the bar, I found my boyfriend charming my parents. My parents don't have this huge laundry list of deal breakers — they just want me to be with someone who has a good head on his shoulders (check) and treats me well (double check). I assumed they'd like my boyfriend, but I love seeing how close they've become over the years. I mean, he's spending Thanksgiving with us this year — something must be going right!

— Kelsey, 25

This woman was really nervous, but everyone hit it off.

My parents are super loving but very quirky. And by quirky, I mean that they're literally the weirdest people I know. Before they came to town for 10 days, I prepped my partner for their quirkiness, meaning I pre-apologized for God knows what about 50 times and said, 'You don't have to hang out with us more than once if you don't want to. It's fine!!!' about 80 times. When the meeting came, I played it cool for my partner's sake, but I was 100 percent silently sh*tting my pants the whole time because I just wanted everybody to like each other. Everything was fine, though, and they ended up hitting it off super well.

— Theresa, 24

This woman's grandma offered her boyfriend a trip to the Bahamas right off the bat.

My high school boyfriend had already met my mother, and she loved him. On my graduation day, that’s when he met my father and my grandmother. Upon meeting him, my grandmother pulled me to the side and told me to ask my boyfriend if he would be interested in a seven-day cruise to the Bahamas with me to celebrate our graduation. I couldn’t believe it. She meets him once, loves him, and offers him a seven-day cruise?!? I can only imagine what our wedding present would have been!

— Angelique, 24

This man's parents were surprisingly supportive of his new boyfriend.

I drove home to Dallas with my boyfriend Mark after exams last December four months after my parents found out I'm gay. I had no idea how my mom would react, but she gave my boyfriend a big hug. I was more worried about my dad, who's a lot more conservative and was a lot more broken up about my sexuality at first. But he greeted Mark the same way he always does when he meets new people; he was very bright and pleasant. I was so relieved after all of that. We all spent the rest of the night talking and drinking wine, and my parents genuinely tried to get to know Mark. The next day, my mom said she loved him, and my dad called him a smart, nice guy. I was so glad!

— Thomas, 19

This woman's mom said they could never get married.

My parents met a boyfriend of mine in high school and my mom said right there in front of him that he couldn't marry me because he's not Jewish. She maintained eye contact and everything. It was pretty bad. We ended up going out for a couple years.

— Emily, 20

This woman's mom jumped the gun on introducing herself to the boyfriend.

Introducing my parents to my boyfriend was a pretty standard thing. Mom hugged him, we went for dinner, etc. But once, before they met in person, I was FaceTiming my parents while my boyfriend Ethan was sitting on my bed next to me, out of the video frame. At this point, we were 'together' but not at the stage where I had really told him that my parents knew about him. Out of nowhere, my mom goes, 'Hi, Ethan!!!' I turned super red in the face. My mom is very intuitive — she's one of those moms that somehow knows everything. I guess I was making eye contact with Ethan or something whenever she said something crazy or embarrassing in some way. Once I hung up, Ethan and I laughed so hard, we were crying.

— Hannah, 22

This woman wound up introducing her new boyfriend to her entire family all at once.

They first met properly when I invited him to our New Year's Day party. He met everyone — parents, cousins, aunts, uncles — at the same time. Poor him! We were only a month into the relationship, but he made such a good impression. I was quite happy. I was concerned, though, considering I had been in a bad relationship before and my parents hated my ex. But luckily, it went really well, and my boyfriend got along with my whole family. We're still together to this day.

— Melanie, 20

There's no need to sweat an introduction. You love your partner and your family loves you — by the transitive property, that means they're basically guaranteed to hit it off.

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