Aunty Em: Sink or Swim…

You’ve guessed it, Aunty Em’s back again for yet another week of drama.

What with deadlines, life has settled down for many of us. The most excitement some of us are currently getting is finding that extra 20p  so you can afford a Twirl from the extortionately priced vending machines in Hallward.

Ps. Physics Building charges even more – £9,000 just wasn’t enough for Science.

Anyway, this week our troubled reader has a dilemma many of us have faced previously and might also have to face shortly…

Dear Aunty Em,

I’ll give it to you straight, do I or do I not meet the parents? I’ve been seeing a guy since the start of term and it’s going well, you know, I’m still trying to play it cool, but I do quite like him.

But with the Christmas holiday coming up, not only do we have the debate of if we meet up, but also where! There’s not really a place to meet in the middle as neither of us live near London, so we’d have to go to the other’s house – where the parents live.

It’s a bit soon to do the whole “meet the parents” thing, but I think if we want to see each other this is inevitable. Any advice?
Dear anxious reader,

We’ve all seen Meet the Fockers but, seriously, how badly can it go… Well actually yeah, it probably can. Seeing how our Uni tends to come from the South or a private school (listen to the general accent on a 34 bus, point proved), the parents could be absolute snobs ready to do a Binky’s mum (harsh, but deserved).

It’s highly unlikely you’ll get an FBI interrogator as their Dad, but not impossible – unfortunately it happened to myself, an interesting experience to say the least. But do not fret reader, I was with that guy for a year, you can get through it! 

Here’s some pointers: mind your Ps and Qs, maybe don’t wear what you would to Ocean, when they offer you a glass of wine don’t drink the rest of the bottle – that.will.not.end.well. Also, don’t let them hear you have sex or breakfast will be awkward, especially when the younger sibling complains he couldn’t sleep because of some noises…

As for him meeting your parents, have as much fun with that as you can! It’s always interesting to watch a guy sweat it out when your foot is in an interesting place under the table while your dad, or even more importantly, your mum is sussing him out.

While you’ve got him on your turf, maybe also introduce him to your home friends. You’ve been friends with them for a while so they know you pretty well. They’ll be able to see what they think of him and tell you if you’ve gone completely mad. I find leaving a guy alone with my best friend is more intimidating than with my parents.

If you chicken out of the above, there is always Nottingham. Just think, an empty house…a fridge full of wine…how wrong can that go?!

Merry Christmas…