A big meeting

This Christmas The Flautist is going up to spend four days with my parents along with me, Wendy, and Pinkie Pie for the first time.  Having my girlfriend and wife both be part of family holidays is a thing I have wanted for a long time.  It is partly that I want that to be a normal and accepted thing to do, but this isn't just a move for the sake of advocacy; I actually think that everyone will have a good time together and get along well.

I know a number of people in nonstandard relationships who have tried this sort of thing and usually it has not gone well.  Mostly this was due simply to family members refusing to acknowledge or respect the relationships in question rather than any real incompatibility.  I don't think this is likely to be an issue for me though as my family ranges from wholly supportive to uncertain and concerned, but I expect everyone to conclude that the best thing to do is just grin and carry on.

After all, they all know that telling me not to do this is going to accomplish exactly nothing aside from making me grumpy, so might as well just accept it.  My parents have never made even the slightest attempt to control who I am involved with and I don't expect that to change now that I am on the latter side of 40!  This is something I really appreciate, as even though they noticed that Wendy was a great fit for me long before I did they said nothing and waited for me to figure it out.

I will never forget when I told them "So, yeah, Wendy, who I am renting a room from, and who just got divorced two months ago... she and I are dating now, while her ex husband, my buddy, is also living in the same house."  I figured I was going to get a lecture, and instead the reply was "What took you so long?" 

The funniest bit so far was when I mentioned this to a friend and she asked why I would do this at all.  I started explaining about poly dynamics and treating partners well and she cut me off with "No, no, I get that, but why would you inflict your family on someone you like?"

I actually like both my girlfriend *and* my family!  I enjoy family Christmas!  I guess this is not something everyone assumes is true.

Honestly I think the trickiest part is just going to be food.  The Flautist is a vegetarian with gluten intolerance, and that means that 90% of the meals at my parents' place won't work.  It is going to take a bit of adjustment, no doubt about that.

Really though, if the hardest part of the whole thing is that I have to cook a lot to make sure the meals all work for everyone, that is a pretty small challenge to overcome, all things considered.