The holidays are a boss fight with relatives. This week on the LFGdating blog, we went through all of it: who to bring, what to say, how to explain your hobby, and when to put the laptop down. Here’s the week in one place, with links to everything.
Monday: the complete guide
Our complete guide to meeting the family covers whether you’re ready, how to prep, how to answer “how did you meet?”, and what the research does and doesn’t show about family approval and relationships. It ends with an FAQ you can skim on the train.
Tuesday: explaining gaming to family
When someone says “you still play those?”, our deep dive has scripts for translating your hobby into terms a skeptical table understands, plus a few things not to do. Short version: show, don’t lecture.
Wednesday: big dinner or low-key meetup?
We compared two ways to structure a first family meeting. There’s no study that crowns a winner, so we wrote a decision guide instead, with the pros and cons of each and the questions to ask your partner before choosing.
Thursday: a note from the founders
Casey and Pat wrote about the cost of the holiday-table laptop and why the best thing this site can do is get two people to the same table, then keep them there.
Friday: the seven-day prep plan
If you want to turn all of this into action, the prep plan walks you through the week before the visit, with texts you can copy and send.
Saturday: the numbers
For readers who like receipts, the data post pulls public figures on gaming, families, and online dating, links each one to its source, and lists the claims we looked for and refused to repeat.
The one-paragraph version
Meeting the family is a conversation, not a test. Decide together whether you’re ready. Pick a format that suits the people involved, tell the story of how you met the same way, translate your hobby into plain language, and agree on a signal and an exit. Put the devices down when you’re at the table, and debrief when everyone’s rested. None of that needs a perfect plan, only a shared one.
What we don’t know
We spent a week on a subject where the internet is full of confident numbers, and found that much of it doesn’t hold up. We found no study that names the best moment or format for a first family meeting, the research on family approval is old and mixed, and we couldn’t trace the popular claim that breakups spike before Christmas back to a source we could stand behind. We’d rather tell you that than invent a statistic. If you’ve seen better evidence, send it our way.
Your pre-visit checklist, short form
- Talk about what you are to each other before you talk to anyone else about it.
- Get the cast list: who will be there, and what to avoid.
- Agree on the “how we met” story and keep it true.
- Choose a signal for “I need a minute” and an exit time you’ll both honor.
- Bring something small for the host, and keep your phone out of the middle of the table.
- Debrief the next day, listening first.
That’s the whole week in six lines. If you want the long versions, they’re all linked above.
Your move
If you’re already planning to bring someone home, take a breath and use the plan. If you’re still looking for that someone, Player Two is out there. Two ways in:
- Get the app: Download LFGdating for iOS and Android.
- Sign up on the web: Create your free profile.
Next week, we start a new theme. Until then: be kind at the table, and bring snacks.