Once you have gotten past the trauma of the first few dates, and settle into your new relationship, you are faced with meeting the friends and family.

Family, sometimes it can be a bit tough - especially with all those smiles!

This in itself can be rather traumatic because depending on how close he is with his friends, it can be a deal breaker.

Male friendships are very different to female ones. They are a lot less complicated and lot stronger. Guys often have very large social circles that include friends they have grown up. While these circles can be large, they are often very tight.

Don’t interfere, woman!

Fortunately guys are also a lot more accepting than girls are. So gaining their approval and acceptance isn’t actually that hard. They generally just want their friend to be happy and as long as you do that then they don’t generally have a problem with you.

But there are times where personalities clash and clash bad. What do you do then?

When this happens, it’s worse than J-Lo’s acting in that film about that thing

It has happened to me once. I had met a few of his friends and it had all gone well but when I walked into this guys house I just knew there was going to be tension. Maybe it was because I had decided this but the friend felt it too. Not even an hour into the afternoon him and I were having a argument  debate about drugs. I felt uncomfortable. It wasn’t a conversation I felt him and I needed to be having. It was also the first time that my partner actually snapped at me. It wasn’t fun.

So how do you deal with it?

I avoided it. It was just easier. Fortunately this specific friend didn’t feature in his everyday life and we actually broke up soon after that.

Oh no - there he is again - probably stoned….

The easiest thing is to avoid the situation. If he is a peripheral friend it is pretty easy to do but if he is a close friend, it does make it harder. It is made even harder if the friend returns your feelings. It makes it hard for you to then make an effort to put aside your feelings and try – for the sake of the relationship.

The lengths your efforts go to depends purely on your feelings for the guy and your willingness to make an effort. If I had stayed with that guy, I would have made a concerted effort to be nice around his friend. I would have avoided situations where tense conversations could arise and if they did I would have suddenly had to go to the bathroom and then avoided him for the rest of the evening.

Just avoid them, and look pretty when you’re doing it

Your genuine willingness to want to try and build a relationship with his friends, especially the ones you aren’t fond of, will go along way with your boyfriend and he will then be more open to not putting you in situations were you aren’t 100% comfortable in respect of the friend.

It is a tricky one though. It is a brave woman who tries to come between a man and his friends. It is a smart women who realises she has a place next to him and his friends.