14 Men And Women On What They Learned About Their Significant Other Through Meeting Their Family

1. “I learned that if my boyfriend doesn’t watch what he eats then by 55 he’ll weigh nearly 300 pounds. Yikes!”

—Janice, 23

2. “A couple of years ago I was dating a guy who flat out refused to ever meet my family. He always had some reason. He was too tired or had other plans like hanging out with friends. This went on for two years. In the meantime I’d spent time with he and his family on four different occasions. I finally realized this just mirrored his general disinterest in the relationship. He really didn’t care about my life at all.”

—Fiona, 25

3. “When I first met my current wife’s mother and realized she was hot I literally thought “jackpot!”

—Brad, 24

4. “That my boyfriend’s apparently biological need to always be right was inherited not just from one parent but from both. To his credit, he’s worked really hard on that.”

—Shelly, 21

5. “It’s kind of amazing to meet the parents of someone you love and then see their qualities reflected in their parents. You can look at little things like their sense of humor or the way they smile and it all comes together how they go to be who they are.”

—Michaela, 27

6. “I think meeting your SO’s family can teach you a lot about them but especially what kind of life they’ll expect to live. A girl who grew up with parents making $250k a year between them is going to expect to live that same kind of life once she’s out of her 20s. Same goes for dudes too, I think.”

—Richard, 25

7. “Went to Christmas with a boy I was dating a few years ago. His family was unbelievably boring. They barely spoke to one another, barely cracked a smile. Meanwhile, my bf always described himself as an introvert but when I met his family I realized that he wasn’t just an introvert. He was a boring person from a boring family and I suddenly imagined a life with him full of endless silence and sitting around doing nothing. Dodged a bullet there.”

—Marissa, 28

8. “Best part about meeting family is watching them dance around all the little private battles they’ve been fighting with one another for decades because there’s a guest in the house. Reality tv IRL.”

—Jan, 29

9. “I learned where my girlfriend learned to cover her mouth when she laughs. Her mom and sisters all do the exact same thing. I found it cute and sort of Omen level creepy all at the same time.”

—Chris, 27

10. “All those pet peeves the woman you love has? Yeah, you find out real quick that they didn’t think of those themselves. I’m sure my wife thought the same thing when she met my parents but it’s amazing the things and behaviors we think we’ve chosen when actually they’ve just been handed to us by mom and dad.”

—Mark, 24

11. “I learned that my ex-boyfriend whines to his mom when he’s home. Total boner killer.”

—Anna, 26

12. “The first time I met my wife’s family I was dreading it. In the past, with other girls, it had always been a chore and ended up being a bad time, especially if it was on a holiday. When I met my wife’s family though they were great and I had a blast. I think that’s when I knew I wanted to marry her.”

—David, 29

13. “It’s sort of funny to me now but when I first met my boyfriend’s family, the first thing I noticed was how unattractive they all are. He’s gorgeous but he’s apparently some sort of family freak because everyone else is fairly hideous. So, basically it’s a toss up as to whether our kids would be model good looking or Hunchback of Notre Dame level awful looking.”

—Cecelia, 27

14. “I sat through his mother showing me probably every baby picture that had ever been taken of him. Saw all the awkward middle school year photos and the high school years. Basically learned more about him than I had in the entire six months we’d been dating. Moms are good like that. They want you to know what you’re getting into.”

—Janice, 26