Can’t make the first two home games of the season because we’re away (for the week!) with Mrs SdP’s family. Obviously we’re on Sky today, but they have an immovable tradition of Sunday lunch the first full day.
Some think it’s booked for 12:30, others opine that it’s 1:30. Can I watch it? Will I miss it? The pub doesn’t have Sky. Everyone thinks it’s hilarious, I am on tenterhooks.
Anyone had any other stories of potentially or actually missing big games because of family commitments? Keen to hear about everyone who ditched their daughter’s wedding for a big cup game!
I also left my mate’s stag do in Prague early so I could fly back for the Hull semi final. I was the Best Man and still did it!
I think where you've gone wrong there is going away with the wife's family in the first place. Over the years there have been many occasions when this has cropped up for me - and I've declined to go. Reason? I couldn't stand to be in their company for more than a few hours. Not that there's anything wrong with them - there's not. They are nice people - but we want different things and I don't expect them to understand that. They wouldn't want to do what I/we do, and I certainly don't want to do what they do. So I'd rather not put myself in a position of disappointing them or falling out with them over it. I'd just avoid it altogether.
I do understand this "tradition" thing though about Sunday lunch. When I first started dating my wife, her family were the same. Sunday lunch was always on the table at 2pm and they expected her to be there for it. It used to f*ck up our Sundays every week, because we'd want to be out walking, cycling, whatever. We didn't want to have to cut that short and dash back to Sheffield just to chew on a bit of Sunday lunch for half an hour. Eventually, and not under any pressure from me, It was my wife that put her foot down. One Sunday she told her family that we had plans and wouldn't be having Sunday lunch with them. Of course, she was made to feel like the Devil incarnate, but she laid the facts bare to them. We're going out for the day, we're not rushing back half way through it just to have lunch. They didn't like it, but that's how it was and that set a precedent. From then on, it got a bit easier, and more acceptable to them, when we weren't planning to be around for Sunday lunch.
In your case I think the best thing is to just be open about it (although it sounds like you've left it a bit late now). I'd just say that it's a really special match today, the first of it's kind in the last 12 years, and you really want to watch it. How about you suggest the family getting together for a "brunch" or "late breakfast" and then having the traditional "Sunday lunch" a bit later, maybe 5 ish. That way they get to have your company twice around a dinner table, rather than just once! How fabulous for them eh? And you get to see the game!
Failing that, fake injury and pretend you've gone to the local hospital A&E. But don't forget to tell them to leave you some Sunday lunch plated up for later!
