20 Married People Whose First Time Meeting Their Partner's Family Went Hilariously Awry
Not too long ago, we asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to share the most cringeworthy thing that happened when they met their partner's family and they delivered some serious awkwardness. Here are some of the most memorable responses, along with a few new stories from the comments section that will give you secondhand cringe:
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1."When I met my boyfriend's family, they had just gotten a new golden retriever puppy. Well, when my boyfriend and I retired for the night, I changed my underwear because I was on my period. And the new puppy broke into our bedroom the next morning, sniffed out my period panties, and ran away with them!"
"It was not a fun time when his parents had to hand me back my dirty underwear! I still have trouble looking them in the eyes sometimes."
2."I had just met my boyfriend's mom at her place and it was going well, when she said her new boyfriend was coming over. Turns out, her new boyfriend was MY OLD FUCK BUDDY! My boyfriend didn't know and neither did his mom. It was awkward."
3."I met my Italian ex's family during a summer in Italy and I didn't speak a word of their language. Well, one night, his parents hosted a big dinner party with all of his extended family and his mom served chicken cotoletta, which is basically breaded, deep-fried chicken breast similar to the Japanese dish chicken katsu."
"She asked him to ask me if I liked the food and I nervously blurted out, 'Yes, of course. I LOVE katsu!' And suddenly there was silence, except for the laughter of my ex's brother, who was the only other person at the table who spoke English. After a pause, my ex leaned over to inform me that 'katsu' sounds very similar to 'cazzo,' which, in Italian, means PENIS. That's right. I chose the first family dinner to announce to the whole extended family that I indeed love penis."
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4."I had gone to visit my now-husband's family for the first time. We flew into town and drove to his parents' house, but they weren't home yet so I decided to take a shower to freshen up. Well, a few hours later, someone mentioned that I might have left something in the bathroom. I went to look, and low and behold, MY THONG was in the middle of the bathroom floor!"
—dg_6
5."I knew that meeting my now-husband's parents was the final step in our relationship so we traveled to see them. Well, the first night we went out to eat and our waiter asked us if we wanted dessert. I told my husband's family that I had a major sweet tooth and said, 'I could eat so much sugar, I could wind up in dentures and still keep eating candy!' I thought it was a funny joke, until his mom flatly responded, 'I wear dentures.' Awkward."
6."When I was dating my ex-husband, I partied a lot. And one time, I had a pot brownie before going to his place to hang out. Well, when I arrived, not only did he surprise me by introducing me to his parents but he also told me we were going to his dad's birthday dinner at a restaurant! It hit me FULL FORCE while I was reading the menu and I was freaking out internally!"
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7."The first time I went to my boyfriend's apartment, after having not-so-quiet sex, I went to the kitchen for some water and a woman stepped into the hallway. I was hella confused because he hadn't mentioned anything about living with someone else and she looked surprised to see me too. Of course, I jumped to conclusions. So when she started to talk, I gave her the cold shoulder and went into my boyfriend's room, ready to go off. I said, 'What the fuck?!' and he said, 'Oh yeah, sorry, that's my mom.'"
"My boyfriend had never mentioned living with his mom so I had no idea he didn't live alone! I felt like the biggest idiot in the world! Not only was I rude as hell but she had also probably overheard us having sex! I had a very long talk with my boyfriend and apologized profusely the next time I saw her. We’ve been together five years now and I still can’t believe that’s how I met his mother!"
8."The first time I stayed with my in-laws, they failed to mention that the downstairs toilet was finicky. When I went to poop, I clogged the toilet and it overflowed into the hallway, soaking their carpet! I didn't know to shut off the water so my father-in-law spent the whole day vacuuming my poop water! A decade later, they still give me shit about it."
9."My ex rotated between her place and mine, and she lived with her dad, sister, and grandma. Her grandma hated my guts and though she didn't speak English, her disdain for me needed no translation. Well, one night, the bathroom we normally used at her house was broken so we had to use the main one, where the light wasn't working. In the middle of the night, I felt a shit coming so I felt my way down the dark hallway into the dark bathroom..."
"I pulled my pants down and felt my way to the toilet, when suddenly I grabbed a handful of grandma's fleshy thigh! A slew of Cantonese swear words followed and I was so startled that I apologized profusely, then ran face-first into the doorjamb!"
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10."One of the first times I brought my now-husband home to meet my parents, he thought he heard someone open the door on him while he was showering. Later, when he was recounting the story to my parents, he said, 'I thought I was going to give one of you a surprise. You would've thought an anaconda was attacking me!' My mom yelled. My dad laughed."
11."My now-husband took me to meet his aunt, uncle, and cousins at a family get-together and he warned me ahead of time that they like to eat exotic food. Well, when we got there, his aunt asked me, 'Do you like rabbits?' But I heard, 'Do you like rabbit?' assuming she was talking about eating one. I didn't want to sound like I was a fussy eater so I replied, 'I've never eaten it but I'll give it a go!' She was asking if I'd like to see her pet rabbit, who had just had babies."
"It’s been a decade, and they still pretend to hide their small animals so that I won’t eat them whenever we visit. And to top that off, they send me a birthday card with a rabbit on it every year!"
12."We were at my girlfriend's parents' house early in our relationship and I was explaining to her mom about the app I use to read books on my phone. Well, I opened the folder I'd labeled 'Entertainment' to show her the app and forgot that it was right next to my Pornhub and XVideos apps!"
"She didn't say anything, but I turned bright red and quickly closed out of that screen."
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13."I'd just met my now-husband's parents and we sat down for a lovely dinner. Well, I was telling a story — animatedly — and I sent a full glass of red wine flying all over their pristine cream-and-white house! It hit the tablecloth, the carpet, the walls, the curtains, everything! It looked like a murder scene!"
"His mother tried her best to hide her horror but it took her two days of scrubbing to sort everything, and I think she had to throw the tablecloth away. We've been together 14 years now and to this day, his grandmother tells everyone to look out if I'm even near a glass of red wine."
14."My in-laws live abroad and their first language is Arabic. We couldn't travel to them in person so my husband arranged for me to meet them over FaceTime. Well, my husband had never introduced his family to a partner before and in his culture, that is a BIG deal. So I learned how to say, 'Hello, I'm called Emma' in Arabic in order to connect with them."
"Well, 'called' in Arabic is one letter away from the word 'fart.' And I was so nervous that I straight-up introduced myself as, 'Hello, I'm farting Emma.' Apparently, this story is now told the world over."
15."I met my first serious boyfriend's family at their big, Italian Thanksgiving dinner at his grandma's house. I was super nervous as I met his cousins, aunts, uncles, mom, and dad, but all was going well...until I met his grandma. We both leaned in for a hug but since apparently we're both left-handed, we leaned in the same direction and slammed straight into each other!"
"I managed to break an heirloom wine glass of red wine on her white marble floor AND broke her nose during the cleanup. My boyfriend and I did not last."
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16."The first time I met my ex's parents was on a trip to Costa Rica and sometime during the course of the trip, I got a UTI that had me running to the bathroom every 20 minutes one night at dinner. My ex's mom raised concern over a potential eating disorder so my ex had to explain my situation...to his parents...whom I'd just met three days prior!"
"The next morning, I had to go to the pharmacy with his dad — who's a doctor — to get the necessary medications to clear it up. It was mortifying but hilarious, and an ironically bonding experience overall!"
17."When I met my husband's family for the first time, it was at a barbecue and there were a lot of people squeezed together at a tiny, wonky table. While trying to get up, I tipped the table over and all eight people got drenched in salad, food, and whatever drinks they had!"
18."I dated a guy my sophomore year of high school and while we hung out at his house a few times, it wasn't anything serious. Well, two years later, I ended up dating his older brother, who was away at college when I dated the younger one and so the former never knew. Things were definitely more serious with the older brother and when he brought me home to meet his parents, the first thing they said was, 'You look really familiar.'"
"I then had to announce to the parents and the older brother that I used to date the younger one."
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19."I'm not religious so I wasn't stoked when my boyfriend said he wanted me to meet his family at a Catholic service in a city an hour away. Well, we were late and there was no time to talk beforehand. So when it was time to take Communion, my boyfriend started frantically whispering to me to cross my arms to refuse the wafer since I'm not Catholic."
"But I guess the priest didn't get the memo because even though I crossed my arms, he started flying that wafer plane right to my mouth! I panicked and just bolted back to my seat, only to turn around and see both the priest and my boyfriend's dad laughing at me!"
And finally:
20."My then-boyfriend came over for Sunday dinner to meet my parents for the first time and while talking about his day, he said that he'd just cleaned his fish tank — a chore he referred to as 'my own personal Vietnam.' My father — a retired Army veteran — nodded and said, 'Huh. My own personal Vietnam was...Vietnam.'"
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Some responses have been edited for length and clarity.
