Hello and Happy Holy Week! Before we start delving into this week’s question I wanted to say a special something to my friend and fan of the column, Sugiyama Ai from Japan.

こんにちは! それはあなたに先日よい話すことだった。 私はテニスのマッチでよく遊んだことを聞いた。 新しい映画で凝視していることそれは本当であるか。 それは実際に涼しい。 ホットドッグのホットドッグのホットドッグ。 私は私が昨晩身

Here is the question of the week:

Dr. Crews,
I have been hesitant to write, but I don’t know who else to turn to. Could you address some of the questions I’ve been thinking about? I am in a love dilemma! My boyfriend invited me to his house for the first time in a couple weeks. Like oh my God, I’m so nervous! Have never met his family before and we’ve been “dating” for a couple of months (…off & on…). What should I pack? What are some things I could do to really impress his mom? …So…after his parents go to bed, it will be our first real alone time together (outside of the dorms). What do you suggest I do? Ah!

Super Nervous, (but excited!)
Anonymous

Anonymous Girl,
Ahh, the first weekend at the parent’s house. I was recently having a conversation about the same topic with some Greenville seniors, Anna Wagner and Travis Hall. Before I tell you my thoughts, here is a little bit of the advice that Anna had for you, “LiKe OH mY GoD, gUrl, tHErE is liKe NoTHiNg ThAt U nEed 2 sWEat, LOL. JUs pLAy It cHIll N NeWaY hIs mOM wIll liKe toTAlly LylaS! :-)” Great advice from a great mind.

Here is the first thing that jumps out at me and causes me a little concern. You put dating in quotation marks like you kind of are and kind of not dating (or as you said off and on). No doubt, if you told me this in person you would have used you pointer fingers and middle fingers to simulate a quotation mark in the air. Before you head to his house, you really need to figure out if you guys are dating or not. How embarrassing to think that you are dating only to be introduced as “just a friend, Mom and Dad. We are DEFINITELY not dating and I hope she wasn’t thinking that. We are just friends.” You really don’t want to walk into that kind of a situation.

So you need to sit down and talk with your boyfriend you make sure that are actually dating. Some colleagues of mine have even suggested to check your facebook relationship status and make sure it is set on “in a relationship” and not on “single”. If your status is set to “It’s complicated”, whoa, do you have some storms on the brink of your relationship. If your status is set to “engaged” or “married” you probably want to cancel that weekend and get out of that relationship as soon as possible. He might be a little too clingy.

Before you have your talk with your “boyfriend”, here are some questions and inspirational sayings that you might want to go over first:
o It's never to late to be what you might have been.
o Always eat your dessert first because life is unpredictable.
o No guy is worth your tears and the one who is wont make you cry.
o Its not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
o If you live forever, I want to live forever minus one day, so I never have to live a day without you.
o Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.
o Yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery, but today is a gift, that’s why they call it the present.
o You Kiss Many Frogs Before You Find Your Prince
o It's ok to be kissed by a fool, but never be fooled by a kiss
o Love isn't finding someone you can live with, it's finding someone you can't live without
o Every Girl wants a guy who can go to in her sweats, hair a mess, make-up running down her face, eyes red form crying and the 1st thing he says to her is "Baby, ur beautiful" and means it!
o The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart
o Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
It is true that most of these sayings can be found on the myspaces of most 13-15 year old girls, but nonetheless, they are helpful for deciding if your relationship is worth pursuing.

Now addressing the first question you ask, what should I pack? Since most weekends are three days long (although sometimes there are four days and every four years in February there is a one day weekend) I would suggest wearing casual clothes Friday, Sunday clothes Saturday, and then a real formal dress for Sunday. This way, you can progressively become more beautiful with each day. Never wear white socks. Don’t forget a tooth brush, tooth paste, comb, blow dryer, extra pair of sandals, jacket in case it’s cold, a good book, cell phone charger, matches, fire wood, jumper cables, GPS, bottle of water, map of the United States, a tent, flint, and your teddy bear. You should be set with those few items.

There are some things that you could do that would be impressive such as performing a song, tap dancing, making music with Champaign glasses (Miss Congeniality, anyone?), however, I feel that the most impressive thing you could do is juggling bowling pins that are on fire. That would do the trick. That or just hold a plain conversation with his parents that isn’t at all awkward. That would be really impressive.

Now that the parents have gone to bed and you and your boyfriend are all alone for the first time, it is time to start preparing for an elaborate prank to pull on his parents. It may take a while to think of one but I’m sure you will be able to do it. Perhaps a prank phone call? (“Do you have King Albert in a can?…Then you better let him out!”) Perhaps crack their door open and place a bucket of water above the door? (“Mom! Dad! The house is on fire!”) Perhaps shaving cream on the hand to the face? Anything that is hilarious and full of hijinks.

Well I hope this helps you Anonymous girl and please write back and tell me how it went. As for the rest of my readers you can now join the facebook group Love & Relations Relating to Relationships or if you want to read past articles and view super-special online extras, go to http://relationsrelatingtorelationships.blogspot.com/. Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon!