How do you bring up family stuff without making it weird?
So I’ve been seeing this guy for almost 4 months and everything is going really well. We met on Bumble, live maybe 20 minutes apart outside Philly, and he’s honestly the sweetest dude I’ve dated in a long time. He’s white, I’m Black, and he’s already met a couple of my friends. The only thing making me nervous is family stuff, because my mom can be kind of blunt and I don’t know how she’s going to act when I finally bring him around.
He keeps asking about meeting my family sometime this summer, and I do want that, but I’m stressed about making it feel natural. I don’t want to give him a whole speech like he’s about to be interviewed, but I also don’t want him blindsided by my aunties asking 100 questions or my mom being extra protective. How did y’all handle that first introduction? Did you prep your partner a little, or just throw them in and hope for the best?
Mar 13
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2 repliesB
Ben O'ConnorPREMIUMI’d definitely give him a heads up, but keep it light. Like tell him your mom is blunt, your aunties are nosy, and it’s not personal if they ask a million questions. That way he won’t think people are being hostile if they’re just doing normal family stuff the way families do.
When I introduced my boyfriend to my folks in Cleveland, I made sure it was somewhere casual first, not a whole formal dinner. We did a cookout at my cousin’s house and it was way easier than trying to make it some big serious event. Less pressure for everybody.
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Andre M.PREMIUMHonestly, the best thing I did was talk to my partner about what my family is like before he met them. I told him my dad talks a lot, my sister makes jokes, and my grandma will ask where his people are from like three times. He laughed and said he was ready, and that made me feel a lot better.
Also, don’t apologize too much for your family. I used to over-explain and it made it sound like I was warning people about something bad. Most of the time, if your man is solid, he’ll be fine. It’s usually us doing the stressing, not them.
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