Parental stamps of disapproval

Today I watched "The Family Stone" and realized a few things.

One, I don't know why I've always thought I liked that movie.
I think it's because it has three of my favorite actresses in it which distracted me from realizing I actually dislike the plot a great deal.

Sarah Jessica Parker arrives to meet her boyfriend's family at Christmas and they all instantly hate her.
How can you hate Carrie Bradshaw??
Their overwhelming disdain is irrationally bizarre and you have to choose sides between SJP and the entire rest of the cast.

Eventually, because life is so darn unpredictably full of twists, SJP's original BF ends up with her sister, the lovely Claire Danes and Sarah JP hooks up with his brother.
Why not?
Now the whole family accepts these new match ups and everyone lives happily ever after.

My point?

I remembered how awful it felt when Mr. Volcano's parents were as welcoming to me as the Stone family was towards Ms. Parker.

The first time he told his parents he wanted them to meet me they told him they were "still in mourning" over the loss of his ex wife.
Nice.
In mourning?!?
She didn't die, their love for each other did.

When I finally DID meet the Volcano clan they were all overwhelmingly weird and shy.
It was like an episode of the Twilight Zone and I'd stepped inside a zone where they all smiled and seemed polite enough but were secretly planting pins in my voodoo doll.

But I did gain points with the father when I told him to stop being a baby and just eat the damn fish already even if it didn't get cooked the way he thought it should.

I certainly know how to leave a lasting impression.

The real kicker, of course, was when we tried to arrange it so both of our parents could meet after that and the Mr. and Mrs. Volcano suddenly got too busy to attend a Christmas Eve church service as one big family.

Oh yeah.
I could feel the love.
Even the baby Jesus rolled his eyes.

Is it any wonder that this blissful match of ours was doomed to fail?
And is it so surprising that Mr. Volcano had to flee the state to get away from such a parasitical family?

Sigh.

That was not a good year.
The man was uncertain about me and his parents wished I was someone else.
Not exactly happily ever after.

But then I thought about this Christmas.
And how when Guy told his Mom about me she couldn't wait to meet me.
And when she did she was so overwhelmingly loving and warm she invited me to come visit anytime.

And I thought about how much my parents love Guy.
And how Mom and I agree this is the only man I've dated that my dad has actually liked.

Sometimes it takes parents time to warm up to the people you love.
But sometimes when they're in tune with you, they know when something's right and when it's a mismatch.

I'm thankful that for the first time, the stars have aligned and I have found a decent guy whose parents like me.

Now his parents and mine?
Oh, just a few liberal Beavers fans breaking bread with a couple of conservative Ducks fans.
No prob.
None at all.

I just better make sure there's plenty of wine.