I took my BF home to meet my family this month. He'd met some of my family before but had never experienced a weekend living in my former world. We both survived but I don't think I'll hurry to bring him back. After all, it was a bit of a stressful weekend - much less relaxing than when I visit solo. Lucky for both of us my family is pretty low key and there weren't any 35-person Arnold gatherings to suffer through or intense periods of questioning by older family friends. During the years I've lived in Toronto I've considered bringing people home. Not often, and never too seriously (after all I would need to have a relationship that lasted past two months), but I thought about it. Now I can't imagine putting myself through that with a BF I barely knew. I keep picturing how awkward that would have been - introducing the guy to everyone who matters the most to me, only to break up one month later. Or perhaps without a solid relationship between us he would have been totally thrown off by my dad's eating habits or disgusted by the dingy area around the Winnipeg airport or my house wouldn't live up to his standards. OK that last one probably not - if he could survive hanging out in my TO apartment I'm sure my parent's house would be considered livable!
After saying all this, I can't help but wonder why girls are always in a rush to bring someone home for the first time. Yes it is a huge step forward in a relationship, but more often than not you're putting people you care about through so much only to have to do it all again when your new relationship starts next season.