Meet the Parents

First impressions. They are important and something we tend to think back and remember about people. I think we all agree that we want to make the best first impression. I am reminded of when my husband Nate met my family for the first time and how he really left an impression.

He came over to have dinner with them (at the ripe old age of almost 19). He brought his charm, good looks, killer smile and even his guitar. He was going to win them over. He sang a little for my family and the conversation flowed pretty easy. No awkward pauses, or strange nuances to speak of, until.......

Nate politely excused himself and retreated to the bathroom upstairs. He was gone a little while, but nobody really seemed to notice. When he returned he seemed a littler flustered, maybe nervous. I assumed it was the pressure of having to "meet the parents." But the truth of the matter is the movie "Meet The Parents" took a real life twist on what had happened to poor Nate, on the very night of meeting my family for the first time.

Of course we think back on it now and can all laugh. But the sheer embarrassment Nate had to endure the night he met my family surprises me that he even ever talked to me again! You see, Nate had used the restroom upstairs, and well, clogged it. He clogged it so bad that the overflow started to go through the vent and down into the downstairs bathroom. I think it was my sister who noticed something wasn't right in the downstairs bathroom-and then the cat was out of the bag.

Poor Nate. And then, my poor Dad. They both had to go upstairs and plunge the toilet together. Not exactly the male bonding experience I was hoping the two would have.

I don't know what went on in that bathroom that night, and Nate hasn't really talked much about it since. I do know that my parents had to buy an entirely new toilet because he well, killed that one I guess. He did manage however, to make a lasting impression on my family (despite the toilet debacle).

Now at family dinners or holidays Nate always seems to use the downstairs bathroom. And manages to laugh now when we reminisce about his first time meeting the parents.