Dear Renita, I m going home to celebrate Christmas with my family, and bringing my Jewish boyfriend. He ll be meeting them for the first time what s the best way to introduce him to the family and our celebration of the season without making him uncomfortable? –Nervous Dear Nervous, As much we look forward to the holidays as a time of peace, love, joy, and family gathering, we all know that the holidays can create a lot of stress and tension in relationships.
Couples who share the same faith tradition can disagree over where to spend the holidays, and even fight about whose family traditions are more worthy of their time and energy. But being part of a relationship where there are different religious beliefs can make the holidays even tougher.
My hunch is that explaining to your Jewish boyfriend the virgin birth will be easier than explaining to him why a senile great-aunt (like the one in my family) insists upon coming down to family dinner dressed like Mrs. Santa Claus. The best way to prepare a stranger to meet your family during the holidays is to sit down and share with him some stories about your family, explaining some of your religious beliefs and traditions, and giving him an idea what he can expect when he meets your folks.
Getting him to share a few tales of his own family s traditions might help give you an idea what a normal holiday gathering looks like in his family. Don t hesitate to let folks in your family know beforehand about your boyfriend s religious background.