Dating during the Holidays...

The second half of the year is full of big holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas...So what do you do when y'all are just dating???

Do you get together?
Are one of you working during holidays?
Do just go to your parents?
Do you invite them along with you to your parents?
Wait how do you know if you are both ready to meet each others parents?

If you are doing it together with just the two of you that can be VERY relaxing, but stressful if neither of you know how to cook a turkey or ham. lol. Then again it can also make some happy memories. Happy memories are always good to have. It keeps the relationship healthy.

If you each go to your individuals parents house and celebrate do you keep in touch? I would imagine so. It lets them know that you have them on your mind; and we all know we like to be on someone's mind somewhere out there.

Our (current marriage) first Christmas we spent apart because we lived in different states. He wasn't able to get leave due to others beating him to it to ask for leave time.  Which was no big deal. We still kept in touch over the holidays though. Since he ended up working we texted and sent pictures back and forth. He loved seeing the girls happy with their new nerdy toys. Yup all my girls got learning electronics. They loved them. That is the only Christmas we have spent a part.

If you go together how do you introduce them?
-This is my girlfriend
-This is my friend
-This is my good friend
-This is my boyfriend

If you are the one being introduced listen to how they do it because it might tell you how they see you.

If it is the first time meeting parents I don't recommend it. Holidays are great to overwhelm others because normally during the holidays ALL the family gets together. By the way I don't recommend the over the top meeting the family on holidays. No one likes to feel overwhelmed. It is a good way to give someone an anxiety attack though.  Instead do it on a quiet weekend. Or maybe just a quick day trip.

That is what we did. When my Husband came to visit while on leave we went to visit my parents. They lived 3 hours away so it was a little day trip. One of my little Sister's had her boyfriend over so he met him too. It was a nice and sunny day and since we were in a vehicle for those 6 hours we talked to get to know each other more.

But WAIT!!! WAIT!!! WAIT!!! How do you know they are ready to meet your parents?!?!?!

I honestly can't answer that question because every relationship is different. So you have to dig down deep and think....are they ready? Are you ready? If you said no to the last one then I would wait. Or end things. Again it depends on the situation.

With my current Husband it was more of a reunion. See my Husband's Mom was my Mom's best friend in the Navy.  They were also each other's birthing coaches for each other when the were pregnant with us. So when he was in town visiting on his leave I didn't have much of a choice. My mother was so excited to see him and how much he had grown since she last saw him. She spent the time getting to know him from a mother's point of view and concerns for  her daughter who had already dealt with a TON of heartache. Can't blame her for looking out for her child that she has loved and raised all these years. So that actually made it easy for me to introduce them. At the time I had introduced him as my friend. I knew one day we would be more.

Take advantage every chance you get to learn something new about your partner. Getting to know them is a two way street so ask and answer questions.