"It's not meeting my parents, it's going to see a show", is what has just flashed up on my phone. The man I've been dating, casually (very casually) for the past few weeks loves the theatre and presumably loves his parents so when the opportunity presented itself to combine both, he's jumped on it and seems to be dragging me down with him.
This happening so soon implies that this is more serious than I'm ready for. I do believe I've reading too far into it but would you blame me? He might not be thinking I'm the girl of his dreams. However, how many one night stands have you introduced to the people who changed your nappies?
I would avoid my parents meeting anyone unless I'd accepted the full-time girlfriend role. He either really likes me, or really doesn't care what his parents think of me. One of them is better than the other, but only just.
I have no problem meeting my other (casual) half's parents in theory. If you look at it simplistically, it's just a group of adults meeting up and partaking in the same activity. Let's pretend that's the only reason and we're not all just secretly judging each other.
When it comes to whether a guy's parents like me or not, it swings wildly between two extremes. Some of them see my airy-fairy writer's lifestyle as something they don't want their straight-laced - to their knowledge - son getting caught up with.
It's a bit like being the naughty kid at school. The tension can make me act strange and say inappropriate things.
However, when parents aren't the type to control what their adult offspring does, it's a lot easier to relax, have a drink and talk about common interests. I think that's what'll happen at this theatre production of doom.
Thinking back over all the awkward situations, it's actually a sister I've had the most problems with. After a relatively (haha) lovely evening with the parents; me, my boyfriend at the time and his sister went out for a couple of beers. She was very much of the opinion I should try to impress her which I wasn't particularly worried about.
When me and her were alone, she told me an obnoxious story about how she and my boyfriend's ex got on exceptionally well, how much she missed said ex and how it was a shame they broke up. So I said the obvious thing - "don't worry, I much prefered my ex's sister too" - and the conversation got a bit uppity. That was also the night I got put in the cells a few hours at the local police station for something almost completely unrelated. It mustn't have been my day.
There are some standard useful tips on how to act when meeting your lover's parents but we'll get back to that once I've figured them out myself. In the mean time, fingers crossed for me.
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