Parents, when did your child’s partner win you over?

parents when did your child's partner win you over I was never excited about the idea of my daughter dating when she left for college I thought I had at least a few years before I would have to meet some boyfriend and pretend to like him but only 3 months in she brought home Ethan Ethan was exactly the type of guy I never imagined for my daughter he was lanky had messy hair that looked like it had never seen a brush and said dude way too much he was polite but there was something about his laid-back attitude that rubbed me the wrong way my daughter was always responsible focused and had big plans for the future Ethan on the other hand seemed like he just coasted through life without a care in the world I tolerated him but just barely for months I kept my conversations with him as short as possible I answered with nods and grunts never giving him much to work with if he asked me a question I gave a one word answer and then went back to pretending to read something on my phone no matter how much I tried to keep my distance he never seemed bothered by it he always smiled acted like we were already close and kept showing up at my house with that same easygoing attitude then came the family dinner my wife cooked a big meal Ethan came over and we all sat down to eat everything was going fine until my wife and daughter realized they had forgotten something for dessert they decided to run to the store to grab it leaving me alone in the house with Ethan for the first time ever the silence was unbearable I scrolled through my phone pretending to be busy while Ethan sat there staring at the table like he was trying to will himself out of the situation finally after what felt like an eternity he cleared his throat and said so do you like whiskey I looked up the kid looked nervous I nodded his face lit up like I had just told him he won the lottery I actually brought a bottle my dad got me for my birthday it's supposed to be really good want to try it I had no idea why but I stood up and said yes at first it was just as awkward as before we sipped our drinks in silence neither of us sure what to say then he started telling me a story about how he tried to impress my my daughter by taking her rock climbing he ended up getting stuck halfway up the wall and had to be rescued by an instructor while she stood at the bottom laughing I laughed too a real laugh I told him about the time I entered a chili eating contest to impress my wife when we were dating only to throw up all over a state senator's shoes one drink turned into two two turned into more than I could count we started talking about everything music movies embarrassing College stories I found out Ethan was not as aimless as I thought he had plans and was working towards starting his own business he was not just Carefree he just chose not to stress over things he could not control at some point we got loud we were laughing and shouting across the kitchen table by the time my wife and daughter came back we were completely drunk singing along to an old rock song neither of us knew the words to my wife looked completely unimpressed my daughter stood in the doorway staring at us like we had lost our minds Ethan grinned at my wife and said ma'am I love your cooking that was it I lost it that night changed everything I stopped tolerating Ethan and actually started liking him now he is like a second son to me I still do not know exactly how it happened but somehow over a few drinks and a ridiculous conversation he won me over and honestly I am glad he did