How Can I Tell My Elderly Mother That She Can’t Live With Me?
A reader still picking up the pieces after a recent divorce is wrestling with guilt for not wanting to take his mother in, knowing she wouldn’t hesitate to help him.
By Philip Galanes
A reader still picking up the pieces after a recent divorce is wrestling with guilt for not wanting to take his mother in, knowing she wouldn’t hesitate to help him.
By Philip Galanes
A reader’s brother-in-law is insisting that she accompany her children to his 1-year-old’s birthday party, even though attending would require her to miss an important funeral.
By Philip Galanes
A reader who was made to choose a college based on price is struggling to understand her parents’ support of her younger sister at an expensive private school.
By Philip Galanes
Stung by the revelation that her sister frequently took her clothing without permission in their youth, a reader is baffled by the disclosure: Was it expressly to hurt?
By Philip Galanes
A reader’s uncle and aunt were touched when she sent them a Christmas card, but her sister thinks the gesture was a betrayal of their father’s memory.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is anxious about the language barrier keeping her from bonding with her partner’s friends. A two-week group vacation has ramped up the urgency.
By Philip Galanes
After 20 years in a house that was never meant to be a “forever home,” a reader thinks it’s time for a move, but her husband refuses to consider her wishes.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is fuming after a friend lied about her efforts to get a wig made for a sick child, and thinks her other friends should know about the deception.
By Philip Galanes
When a woman tries to remedy a relative’s unequal generosity to her children using her own estate, her daughter-in-law wonders whether her husband is being shortchanged.
By Philip Galanes
A reader has been feeling left out by her husband’s siblings-only dinners — and never more so than when her brother-in-law crashed a recent get-together.
By Philip Galanes
Although his wife has long maintained that she doesn’t want to know the identity of her birth father, a reader is tempted to find out on her behalf.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is torn between attending a final dinner with his uncle, who has terminal cancer, and supporting his father, who wasn’t invited because of an old grudge.
By Philip Galanes
A reader’s wife sees bigotry in their exclusion from group photos at a nephew’s wedding, but her husband is reluctant to write off his relatives for good.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is angered by friends who list their homes with other real estate brokers — sometimes without giving his husband a chance to make his case.
By Philip Galanes
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A reader’s feelings are hurt after offering to fly to celebrate her sister’s 70th birthday only to be told not to bother, as “all her family” would be there.
By Philip Galanes
Two years after one of her children received a generous birthday gift, a reader wonders whether to intervene on behalf of her overlooked child.
By Philip Galanes
Four years after being laid off, a man in his 50s is still relying on his father, who just moved into an assisted living facility, for support and housing. Should his sister say something?
By Philip Galanes
Put off by pitying displays of concern for her son’s paralysis, a reader wonders how to handle a well-meaning friend whose support misses the mark.
By Philip Galanes
A reader had hoped that her grandmother’s ring would stay in the family, perhaps to pass on to her daughter, but her former sister-in-law has so far refused to give it back.
By Philip Galanes
After supporting an old friend through years of incarceration with letters and shipments of books, a reader wants out, put off by the woman’s lies about her situation.
By Philip Galanes
Reunited with her son after half a century, a reader feels slighted by her seat at a family wedding, where her son’s wife had already made her feel less than welcome.
By Philip Galanes
Frustrated that she and her partner live too far away from his parents to reap the benefits of free grandparental supervision, a reader wonders how to broach her feelings of being cheated.
By Philip Galanes
After offering his brother lodging for his course of radiation therapy, the man informed him — with one day’s notice — that the invitation was contingent on an apology for a long-forgotten letter.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is distraught that a woman she’s estranged from has been added to her most treasured circle of friends. Is there anything she can do to reclaim the group chat?
By Philip Galanes
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Months after the bulk of their mother’s estate was divided and paid, a reader’s sister is seeking to keep a remaining balance of $150,000 as payment for her work as an executor.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is left wondering how to patch things up with irked neighbors after an understandably preoccupied friend left the reader’s dog alone to bark all night.
By Philip Galanes
After her son responded with interest to the idea of moving back home to raise a family, a mother is hurt to realize that he never intended to keep her around.
By Philip Galanes
Years after traveling cross-country for her sister’s “fake wedding,” a reader feels slighted as both a guest and a taxpayer — and in no mood to have her over for the holidays.
By Philip Galanes
Now that her children’s grandparents have a second home just a few minutes away, a reader finds herself struggling to keep up with (or politely deflect) their unplanned visits.
By Philip Galanes
On the hook for the lion’s share of care for her homebound mother, a reader wonders how to get her out-of-state siblings to pick up the slack — or at least the phone.
By Philip Galanes
Parents who installed a camera in the eye of their daughter’s stuffed bear ask how — and whether — to come clean about their surveillance now that she has left for college.
By Philip Galanes
A mother feels an urge to send her sympathies to the family of her son’s classmate who recently died, but she worries it could be an upsetting overstep.
By Philip Galanes
A reader feels conflicted about attending celebrations as a friend of the family when the woman who was her original connection won’t be there. Should she bow out?
By Philip Galanes
A reader feels frustrated by her husband’s daily expectations of sex, which she worries may be a sign of something more troubling.
By Philip Galanes
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A couple is eager to be closer with their new friends, but they worry that insisting that guests arrange for child care will start the relationships off on the wrong foot.
By Philip Galanes
A new wife is eager to join in the fun after her husband and brother-in-law wrap up their weekly jam sessions, but she’s reluctant to impose on her sister-in-law.
By Philip Galanes
Unsatisfied with her middle-aged son’s meager displays of gratitude, a reader wonders whether to stop footing his bill for a yearly camping retreat.
By Philip Galanes
A reader wonders how best to call out male friends and co-workers when they dismiss her assessments of her own health.
By Philip Galanes
A retiree is mystified as to why his new wife is willing to pay for her share of groceries and utility bills, but refuses to chip in for property taxes and insurance premiums.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is dreading his son’s engagement party, where he expects to encounter not only his estranged ex-wife, but a constellation of former in-laws.
By Philip Galanes
A reader who is uncomfortable with expensive gifts doesn’t know how to respond to a $7,000 handbag she had begged her mother not to send.
By Philip Galanes
A reader who works with children wonders when she and her boyfriend should reveal their new relationship to his family, including his child who is in her care.
By Philip Galanes
After his mother agreed to host him and his wife for Christmas, a reader is hurt by her decision to spend the holiday itself with her daughter instead.
By Philip Galanes
A thorny question of custody is complicated by the fact that the reader adopted the original dog, but her ex paid a majority of the $50,000 needed to clone it.
By Philip Galanes
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Fed up, a reader blocked the caller’s phone number. But should she leave room for the woman to forge a relationship with her granddaughter?
By Philip Galanes
A stray comment on a dating app brought to light some hard feelings a reader once shared with a former friend. Should she confront her about it and talk to her stepbrother?
By Philip Galanes
A reader is perturbed to have been presented with a tip screen while groggily paying for a cosmetic procedure performed by a doctor.
By Philip Galanes
A reader asks whether she should be more blunt about her wish for birthday and anniversary presents from a man who isn’t the gift-giving type.
By Philip Galanes
A reader doesn’t want to upset his father, who requested his presence, but the idea of taking a vacation to celebrate a woman he has cut out of his life makes him squirm.
By Philip Galanes
A reader asks which details of her marriage — if any — she is obligated to share with her visiting mother-in-law.
By Philip Galanes
A reader ponders her next move after being left out of vacation plans with four other women.
By Philip Galanes
After ending a yearslong extramarital affair, a reader worries about a coming dinner party that will be attended by both the former lover and the reader’s spouse.
By Philip Galanes
After getting an initial thumbs up that may have been in jest, a reader wonders how to make a sensitive request that is more likely to be taken seriously.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is unsure how to respond to a child’s wish to go by a different name after learning that the child’s mother decided not to honor the request.
By Philip Galanes
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After her sister-in-law spent the money from the sale of her parents’ house on upgrades to her own, a reader bristles at being made to feel she must chip into costs for their care.
By Philip Galanes
When an ex returns from out of the blue with the same drinking problem but a new desire to be in his daughter’s life, a reader is unsure how best to protect her child.
By Philip Galanes
Mindful of costs, a reader wonders whether she and her husband are obligated to extend the same hospitality to their daughter’s best friend as to their son’s partner.
By Philip Galanes
A reader asks whether she has to apologize after recounting a joke that used racist language in front of her son’s friend, who later said he had felt unsafe.
By Philip Galanes
A reader’s adult stepchildren want nothing to do with her or their father after learning that the couple plan to leave their estates to each other. Should he reach out?
By Philip Galanes
Put off by her fiancé’s request for a prenuptial agreement after years of paying her own way, a reader is finding that resentment is crowding out her excitement.
By Philip Galanes
After witnessing her father at a motel with a woman who was not her mother, a young reader describes experiencing near-daily guilt about not having spoken up.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is left to make new arrangements after learning that her boyfriend, who had agreed to live with her for the summer, was jockeying for an internship in Washington.
By Philip Galanes
A reader eager to be freed from $100,000 worth of co-signer responsibilities seeks a judgment on her daughter’s behavior.
By Philip Galanes
Eager not to participate in his husband’s junk-food habit, a reader hesitates to draw a line in the sand, stung by memories of disagreements over his spouse’s smoking.
By Philip Galanes
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A reader who has been dating her boyfriend for a year is unsure of how to negotiate his grief over the death of his wife, who was debilitated by severe dementia.
By Philip Galanes
An email from her husband’s visiting boss about a higher-than-expected charge from dinner rattled a reader enough to send a check. Was it an overreaction?
By Philip Galanes
A reader doing battle with 25 percent annual interest is tempted by her boyfriend’s offer of an interest-free loan, but she worries it may be inappropriate to accept.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is anxious about her relationship with a 23-year-old daughter who refuses to accept the man now poised to be her stepfather.
By Philip Galanes
A reader wants to shore up her brother against financial hardships, but she’s unsure how to stipulate what the money is to be used for without coming off as controlling.
By Philip Galanes
Distressed by her grandson’s failure to pay for the support of his daughter, a reader wonders whether she should try to engage with him — and his absenteeism.
By Philip Galanes
Years after coming to grips with her husband’s infidelity, a reader still feels an urge to make his lover suffer.
By Philip Galanes
A reader who overheard a neighbor shouting cruelties at her young son wonders whether, and how, to intervene.
By Philip Galanes
While dividing up her late mother’s belongings, a woman claimed an extremely valuable artwork for herself, purposely hiding its worth from her fellow heirs.
By Philip Galanes
In the course of offering financial advice, a mother shared a personal story about her marriage with her adult daughter, who later forwarded the entire exchange to her father.
By Philip Galanes
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A reader is hurt by her stepson’s efforts to keep her away from his fiancée’s family, including a future in-law who dismissed her as “not blood.”
By Philip Galanes
A reader eager to have a child before she turns 40 doesn’t know what to make of a new love interest’s silence when conversation turns to the future.
By Philip Galanes
After her son-in-law refused her offer to pay someone to accompany her 9-year-old granddaughter from the bus stop, a worried reader wonders what she can do.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is visited daily by a cat that seems desperate to get out of the cold. The problem? It already has an owner, albeit a neglectful one.
By Philip Galanes
A reader bristles that the burden of bridging a gap with her partner’s parents seems to have fallen mostly on her.
By Philip Galanes
A reader wonders what he can do to repair his relationship with his mother in the face of her prejudice.
By Philip Galanes
A reader feels overwhelmed by the extravagant Christmas gifts she receives from an aunt living overseas.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is frustrated by her children’s gravitation toward the toy guns a family brings to play with.
By Philip Galanes
A reader’s five adult children can’t seem to agree on an equitable arrangement for sharing her and her husband’s unused vacation home during the holidays.
By Philip Galanes
A reader bristles at the reluctance of her male relatives and neighborhood husbands to volunteer for cleanup duty after meals she hosts at her home.
By Philip Galanes
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When her parents receive a windfall after a lifetime of economical living, a reader tries to steer them toward financial restraint — and away from a private jet.
By Philip Galanes
A reader wonders if his online-only relationship with a woman who lives abroad is complicating his search for a partner in morning-breath range.
By Philip Galanes
Without consulting them, a reader’s son agreed to a plan to have his parents split the costs of a lavish wedding with his future in-laws.
By Philip Galanes
A reader wonders whether to explain the history of a bitter family rift to a great-niece who she suspects does not know the whole story.
By Philip Galanes
A couple who enjoy hosting parties don’t know what to make of invitees who request exceptions to their no-kids-allowed rule.
By Philip Galanes
A reader wonders whether it’s appropriate to tell a friend that she finds her “syrupy” vocal affect off-putting.
By Philip Galanes
A widower thinks that reading his wife’s diary will help with his grief, but the cousin she entrusted it to says he isn’t ready to see it.
By Philip Galanes
A reader develops fresh reservations about his mother-in-law’s plan to build her “forever home” in their backyard after she asks him to sign an unusual document.
By Philip Galanes
A reader wonders whether she should pursue a romantic relationship with a musician with whom her ex has a working relationship.
By Philip Galanes
A reader wonders how to negotiate the sensitive subject of her husband’s outdated will, which she worries could leave her and her child without a place to live.
By Philip Galanes
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A reader wants to get away with her boyfriend, but most of his vacation time is spent on costly vacations with his wealthy parents — trips she can’t afford to go on herself.
By Philip Galanes
A reader wading back into the dating pool is angered to have been duped by her ex, who chatted with her using a false identity for weeks.
By Philip Galanes
A mother is baffled by her son and new daughter-in-law’s living arrangements, and wonders whether she should intercede.
By Philip Galanes
A parent whose daughter is taking advantage of programs to relieve teachers’ student loans chafes at her brother’s complaints about what he calls a “government handout.”
By Philip Galanes
A reader is stunned by a grandson’s request for the cash value of a trip he’s unable to attend.
By Philip Galanes
A reader worries about a summer romance that may alter her social life when she returns to college.
By Philip Galanes
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