Meet The Family

(This Monday thing is a rough gig, especially while coming off a weekend of birthday celebrations.)

A few things about my birthday dinner / B meeting my family on Friday:

1) The Peanut was having a bad day. This was obvious from the moment I saw her at the train station, where she greeted me with a languid wave, rather than running to me and hugging / kissing. This sort of behavior continued all night, at one point with her standing in the kitchen, hands on her hips, declaring that this birthday party was 'not good' and that she wanted to go home. I think she's got a lot going on right now - she just started pre-school and my brother/SIL told her this week that they're pregnant with twins (yes, twins!). Oh, and since she's known me, I've never had a boyfriend, so she might've been feeling a little threatened by that (as evidenced by her refusing to speak to B, and asking him directly why he was there).

2) It was really hot on Friday. My father had decided to remove the window air conditioners the weekend before. B now has a new saying: 'hotter than ridiculouschick's parents' kitchen'. It was uncomfortable. He was visibly sweating, then trying to discreetly wipe his forehead with a paper napkin (he told me later that he was worried about bits of it coming off and sticking to his face).

3) As part of our dinner ritual, my family says grace, with everyone around the table holding hands and each saying what they are thankful about. I had prepared B well in advance for this, and, as he is a Comedian, he spent the warning time thinking of smart-ass answers (sample: 'I'm thankful I'm a Jew, the chosen people, by the way, and that I don't have to say grace before every meal'). On Friday, B ended up sitting next to my dad, so he awkwardly took his hand. When his turn came, there was a long pause while everyone waited for him to speak. As I looked at him, I could see that he was worried that his hands sweating and that all the sarcastic answers were floating through his head, blocking any thoughs of acceptable ones. He finally mumbled something about meeting me.

4) Despite the heat, a petulant 3 year old, and grace - the evening went smoothly. B was just about perfect and everyone seemed to like each other.

Except The Peanut. She wasn't liking anyone on Friday. I hope she'll come around eventually.