dinner with boyfriends parents - help?

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emlion
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18 Jun 2011, 8:42 am

next saturday i'm having a proper dinner with my boyfriends parents for whatever reason.
i'd like very much to go and do this for him, but it's been so long since i've been in that setting it's already driving me to panic.
i can cope in a party setting, because i can go and hide in a corner, but with an across-the-table type dinner, there isn't anywhere to hide.

they're lovely people, and know that i have trouble with things like this - but i still want to be as 'normal' as possible.
i hate having to make eye contact and smile and ....all the rest that goes with it.

i'm not sure what i'm looking for - any tips on how to make it easier and whatnot, i guess...



MXH
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18 Jun 2011, 9:01 am

I recomend drink jusrt a tiny bit. Enough to elax but not enough to lose control of yourself. Really theres not much else you can do about this besides suck it up and go.



OneStepBeyond
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18 Jun 2011, 9:31 am

you dont have to smile lots, just ocassionally to show you arent in any great pain(even if you are).
Pre-prepare some questions/convo topics incase of awkward silences. simple stuff such as 'hows work mr.boyfriendsdad' or 'we did this cool thing last week...'. compliment on the food if they cooked it. if it's a restaurant then make small-talk based on what you think of it/whether you've been before etc.
Tell your bf beforehand to help you out and talk lots. maybe say things like 'tell them about that place we went the other day', so all the attention/pressure's on him but it still seems like you're participating?
Order wine.
Deep breaths.

Proper meals like that are my worst nightmare too I'm probably not the best of help:|



emlion
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18 Jun 2011, 9:59 am

Quote:
Tell your bf beforehand to help you out and talk lots. maybe say things like 'tell them about that place we went the other day', so all the attention/pressure's on him but it still seems like you're participating?


I like this. (:


ah silly dinner. it shouldn't make me panic so much. i know them quite well....just blah.



Simonono
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18 Jun 2011, 10:39 am

If a demonic eyeball appears in the cake, don't scream, just quietly leave.



emlion
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18 Jun 2011, 10:53 am

Simonono wrote:
If a demonic eyeball appears in the cake, don't scream, just quietly leave.


I shouldn't eat the eyeball then? :cyclopsani:



keira
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18 Jun 2011, 11:07 am

These kind of things used to make me panic as well and I know what it's like to want to be as "normal" as possible. Actually I wasn't liked very much by my ex-boyfriends mum so that made the situation even worse.
I used to ask my ex-boyfriend to help me out a lot. Sometimes I even gave him clear instructions how to do that. And when things got a bit too overwhelming I used the "restroom excuse" which gave me some alone time to pull myself back together.

I hope everything goes well for you. Good luck! ;)