Tasha Dhanraj hits the slopes with her boyfriend

Tomorrow, my relationship is going to be put to its biggest test. My boyfriend is coming skiing with my family. And no, not just my immediate family. He signed up to it several months ago, but it was only last week he felt compelled to ask, “So, just how many people are coming on this?” The answer was 13. He was quite intimidated by this number. To me, it isn’t intimidating – it’s intimate. The last time I went on a holiday with my extended family there was about 30 of us. Thank goodness my boyfriend and I weren’t an item then. I don’t think he would have survived the flight over.

I didn’t really think about how stressful this whole thing would be for me. Not only have I got to hope that he gets along with them all, but he’s never been skiing before so I’m essentially taking him to France only to push him down a mountain with a couple of planks of wood attached to his feet. That is, if he ever manages to get to Folkestone for the Eurotunnel before changing his mind and running all the way back to his home in Wadhurst.

It’s not like he’s never met my family. Hopefully the many Saturday tea parties he has been summoned to will hold him in good stead. My family are more than welcoming, they’re just a little intense. They’re a bit like puppies: lovely when there’s one in a controlled environment and it’s all excited to see you, but not lovely if you’ve got 13 all wanting your attention at once when you’re in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with only snow-topped trees to hear your cries for help and your only escape route is in the form of a pair of skis.

When my boyfriend and I went to New York together, it was our holiday. We had organised and planned it together.
If we didn’t enjoy it then it was both of our faults. But this holiday is different.
I persuaded him to come. It’s with my family, not his. It’s what I’ve been doing since I was four. It’s the equivalent of me going on a footballing holiday with all his mates from uni.
Oh, no. What have I done?
I’m almost definitely just panicking too much. It should all be fine. He’ll get along with everyone and he will love skiing. But if all else fails, I’ll build us an igloo and keep him hidden from everything.