Meeting your S.O.’s parents can be nerve-wracking. Even if you get along, being around them can make your partner feel like they have to be constantly “on” and perfect at all times. Which is why it’s understandable that being so wound up can make for some pretty embarrassing moments. Here are 12 guys on their most cringe moments in front of their partner's parents:
1. "I burned the turkey"
“This was on Thanksgiving. Her entire family are like, big foodies. They love to cook or bake or grill. And they all have like, a specialty. Anyway, I knew going in that I was walking into a Thanksgiving dinner that would ruin all other Thanksgivings for me. If you’ve ever been in that kind of a house, where cooking is serious business, it’s overwhelming and intimidating. I tried to make myself useful, but I got the kind of jobs that were like, ‘Go get more ice.’ You know, stuff for people who can’t cook.
At one point, somehow, I was asked to check on the turkey because no one else was around the oven. I had no idea what I was looking at, but I figured it needed more time. But I felt like that wasn’t enough so I said, confidently, ‘It needs another hour.’ In my head, there was no way it wouldn’t need that. The turkey wound up burning, although in my defence, it didn’t burn that badly. But enough that it upset all these five-star chefs. They were so polite but I wanted to fake food poisoning and leave. My girlfriend wouldn’t let me. Now we’re married and we’re all comfortable enough that me ruining Thanksgiving is a running gag.” — Dylan, 26
2. "I didn't realise they could hear me - and smacked their daughter's bum"
“We were at [her parents'] house for dinner, and they both left to take the dog for a walk. And I thought I heard the door open and shut. To better illustrate it, my girlfriend and I's backs were to them, and the front door was sort of around this little lip, but if they hadn’t left, they could still see us. So they were putting the leash on the dog or whatever, and I thought I heard them leave, so I slapped my girlfriend’s ass and said something about having sex later. I don’t remember the exact phrase, but I was just playfully teasing and it usually makes her laugh. But I’m sure you realised at this point they didn't leave. So to them, I just spanked their daughter and announced that we’d be f*cking later in front of them. Her mum stared at me, horrified, and they rushed outside.” — Tim, 25
3. "I farted... a lot"
“We went to her parents' to visit them for the weekend, and at one point her dad asked me to drive him to some sporting goods shop because he needed clubs. This was in the middle of winter. The other thing to note is that her mum’s cooking really upset my stomach. So I’m locked in a car with her dad, and it’s just us and I can’t roll the windows down and I can’t. Stop. Farting. Look, it’s a natural function and we all do it, but he probably thought I needed to see a doctor by the end. They were all silent, but they definitely smelled. I’m hoping he had a cold but he never said anything to anyone, to my knowledge.” — Dan, 28
4. "Most of her family saw me naked"
“Her parents had a pool, and every summer they do a little family reunion-cookout thing. I was playing around with her nephews and did a cannon ball in front of them. My swimming trunks came off. I guess I didn’t tie them up. I basically jumped in, shot up to the side and came out in one smooth motion. I realised almost immediately and jumped back in. But for a split second, I was nude in front of most of her relatives.” — Michael, 26
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5. "I lied about being good at golf"
“I pretended to be an avid golfer to get her dad to like me. He then decided to take me out golfing. I figured it’s not so bad, I can take a crash course and if I’m terrible, I’ll just say it’s been a while since I last played. It was just after I had graduated uni, so I had that excuse. Turns out, we were golfing with two of his buddies, and I held up the game constantly.
"I was obviously terrible, and they had to wait for me. I was missing swings, hitting it into the woods, everything someone new at golf could possibly do. Divots everywhere. They were all pissed and kept heckling me. I’ve never been golfing since.” — Eric, 28
6. "I vomited on the dinner table"
“I threw up at their dinner table. In my defence, I was young and stupid and still in high school. I was 17 at the time. I was supposed to meet them for dinner but had to cancel because a team meeting of mine got rescheduled for that day. So her family rescheduled with me, and I wasn’t feeling well all day but didn’t want to cancel again. Her parents seemed to like me enough, and I was desperate to impress them.
"Her mother started telling me this really heartfelt story about how her mother came to America and it seemed like we were really connecting. But I started to feel really sick. I was trying to hold it off so I wouldn’t have to interrupt this moment to rush off to the bathroom. But it erupted out of me. It felt like I threw up over the whole table, but apparently it wasn't as bad as I remember it being. Still an embarrassing thing for me to do. My girlfriend drove me home since I was obviously sick. We broke up soon after for unrelated reasons, so I never saw her parents again.” — Shaun, 27
7. "I crashed into their garage"
“I crashed into the side of their house. OK, that sounds dramatic. But the dinner was really uncomfortable for me because I was trying so hard to be the perfect boyfriend to them. As I was leaving, they came onto the porch to wave goodbye. I waved back and remember thinking, ‘Oh, wow. This isn’t over.’ Then I accidentally drove forward into their garage door instead of reversing. I wound up staying there another hour apologising.” — Will, 28
8. "I argued about paying the bill, and then couldn't"
“This is probably not the worst thing in the world, but I insisted on getting the meal. It was one of those where the father said ‘It’s no problem’ and we kept going back and forth and I had to basically force the card into the waiter’s hand to make sure I got to pay. My card got declined. He had to pay anyway.” — Aaron, 28
9. "I accidentally got high"
“My girlfriend refuses to believe me, but I promise this all happened by accident. I ate a few brownies that were in my shared kitchen. Turns out they were weed brownies. Luckily, they were homemade and my roommate was pretty bad at it so I didn’t get like, out of my mind high, but I showed up to a football game we were going to together still pretty high. I was doing my best to play it cool, but when you’re high you overanalyse how to be normal, and you’re totally off. Yeah, they could tell. Everyone could tell. I came clean and apologised profusely, but no one believed me.” — Luke, 27
10. "They forced me to sing"
“They made me sing karaoke in front of them at a bar as an icebreaker. I hate karaoke. It’s my worst fear. They might as well have said, ‘can we bury you alive?’” — Pete, 27
11. "I kept shouting at her grandma"
“I went to a family party with my girlfriend, and for some reason thought her grandma was hard of hearing. I’m not sure if someone said something and I misheard it or what. Everyone loved her grandma, so I knew if I got into grandma’s good graces, it’d be a good look. So I spent a lot of time with grandma, talking very loud at her and explaining things other people said. She thought I had something wrong with me, so she politely let it happen. My girlfriend thought it was hilarious.” — Jake, 29
12. "I scared her dad"
“My girlfriend and I love to scare each other. Some couples love to hike, we come up with convoluted ways to make the other person pee their pants. Her dad, for reference, is a very no-nonsense guy. I can’t imagine the man smiling, let alone having fun. The point is, he’s not the kind of guy who would think scaring each other is funny. Basically, my girlfriend and I were staying over for the weekend in her old bedroom. She went to go shower, I said I was going to head downstairs. I got the bright idea to hide in her wardrobe and scare her when she came back in. I couldn’t see in there–it’s a solid door, no slats or anything. But I heard someone come back in the room. I waited a beat, and jumped out. Her dad was there and he screamed. The whole house heard it. They won’t let him live it down and he’s hated me ever since.” — Chris, 28
