Hi Meredith,

I have been dating my current boyfriend for over a year now. Things have been going great so far and we are actually quite serious about one another. We have spoken about marriage numerous times and what our future holds if we stay together. He is planning to introduce me to his family in a few weeks. This is actually a huge deal because he has never introduced a girl to his parents before. In his culture, you don’t introduce a girl to the family unless you are very serious about her and plan to marry her. He was born in Greece and moved to the US with his family five years ago. We have talked about Greek culture and how different it is from American culture, me being an American. I actually love all of these differences and how the Greeks live their life. All with the exception of one.

The youngest son of the family is obligated to take care of the parents and live with them despite being married and starting a family of his own. My boyfriend is the youngest of the four children. He has talked about buying a big house and sharing it with his parents, his grandmother, and me once we are married. Although I want to stay positive and should love the fact that he is so family oriented, it’s hard for me to consume. I want to respect his parents and grandmother and want to love them like my own, but I cannot imagine living with them for years to come. Being an American, I need my privacy. I don’t want to be judged if I don’t do the dishes one day or don’t clean the other.

From what he has told me, Greek women are very focused on cooking, cleaning, and taking care of their spouse, which is fine for me because I plan to do all three. But when it comes to living with other people in the same house, I can’t imagine it being easy. I am worried that they will get into our personal life. The personal life that should be between a husband and wife.

Looking at it in a positive way, they will be able to help with the cooking and cleaning and once we start having children, they will be able to take care of them. But am I getting myself all caught up in a fairy tale? Will this actually work? Will being so close to his family actually drive us further apart?

– My Big Fat Greek In-Laws