Spending your first Thanksgiving with your significant other can be intimidating. It’s nerve-wracking if you’re meeting their family for the first time, or if they’re meeting yours. To make your first holiday together a bit easier, here are some homecoming tips:
- Find out who you’re meeting. If you can get a sense of who’ll be at the table with you, and what they’re interests are, it’ll make conversation easier. And the better you are at holding a conversation with them, the more easily you’ll bond with your partner’s family members.
- Skip the small talk. If you’re not good at chatting like that, just offer to help out in the kitchen. Or, if there are kids, join in with whatever they’re doing. This way, you’re still doing something valuable, and it seems like you’re family-oriented. And you don’t even have to spend your first Thanksgiving with your significant other making idle chit-chat.
- Make alone time for yourselves. It can be hard to break away from the family during your first Thanksgiving with your significant other, but it’s worth it. Even though you want to spend time with their family and get to know them, it’s nice to have that one-on-one time to know that you have a place in their lives, too.
- Play it safe. You and your partner may have bonded over your political views, but that doesn’t mean everyone in their family shares them. Since you want to make a good impression, avoid topics that could be controversial, and follow the family’s lead.
- Support each other. Spending the holidays together can either bring a couple closer together or tear them apart. Focus on enjoying Thanksgiving together. Put in a little extra effort to make sure you’re in tune with your partner, and make sure you support each other. Remember, you’re in this together!
