Introducing Your Long Distance Boyfriend or Girlfriend to Your Friends and Family
You are more likely to first meet your partner’s friends and family online in this instance. When it comes to friends, it’s not so much important to meet your partner’s in person, but simply knowing your partner does in fact have friends can put your mind at ease for many reasons. Having a good group of friends generally shows you that your partner is generally liked and you may get a better picture of who your partner is by the people they associate with.
Meeting your partner’s parents usually comes a bit later in any relationship, once things have become a little more serious. Upon learning of any new relationship, many families can be a bit suspicious of an outsider being welcomed in. This is especially true with long distance relationships and relationships that began online due to the stigma surrounding both. Your family may prove to be cynical and may give you advice to be cautious, at least until they have a chance to meet your partner.
Speaking of my own personal experience, upon learning I had entered into a long distance relationship with an American that I had only spent 12 hours with, a number of my family and friends were certain I was going to end up murdered, chopped up into pieces, and thrown in a garbage bin. Their concern and overactive imagination came from a place of not having met my long distance partner and not knowing anything about him.
You must remember that your family and friends genuinely care about you and are most likely looking out for your best interests. While it may be difficult for them to fully understand your long distance relationship at first, it is always good to initially get their input on things.
If the input from your family and friends is unreasonably negative, which may often be the case, it’s important to keep in mind that it is hopefully coming from a place of not completely understanding your unique situation and not yet having seen the type of relationship you and your long distance partner have together.
It is important to keep in mind that you shouldn’t sacrifice one relationship for another, meaning you don’t want to gain a partner but lose a friendship or connection with a family member. Your new partner shouldn’t consume your life rather they should enhance it. Likewise, your family should show signs of happiness for you rather than jealousy or disdain for your decision. If either side shows signs of being unreasonable, feel free to put them in their place. You should be open to the opinions offered by your friends and family but it’s equally important to stay true to what you and your partner share.
Introduction to Friends
If you and your partner live in the same general area, meeting each other’s friends isn’t usually very difficult. You e social circles or it’s quite possible you were matched up by a common friend. With long distance relationships, however, sharing friends in common becomes quite rare and meeting each other’s friends becomes a bit more difficult.
Because couples in long distance relationships often see each other rather infrequently, they may find themselves wanting to make the most of their time together and may not be willing to waste time with introductions to friends. It’s also important to keep in mind that just because you may have met your partner’s friends doesn’t mean that you have to introduce them to yours.
While you should never be embarrassed to introduce your friends to your partner or your partner to your friends, you may wish to keep the two relationships separate until you feel the timing is right. Many people wish to hold off on introductions to family and friends until their relationship is more serious especially with long distance relationships.