ArcaMax

Dear Annie: I'm a 42-year-old mom of two. I've been remarried for three years, and I'm trying hard to do the blended family thing with grace. My husband has a 16-year-old daughter, "Mia," who lives with us half the time. Most days are fine, but there's one issue that has turned our home into a low-grade reality show.

Mia has started recording...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend of several years, "Guy," often asks me to take a trip with him. I have researched accommodations at the suggested destinations, only to have him say they are too pricey. Thus, we never go anywhere, although he could easily afford it.

Now his brother (whom I've never met) has suggested a family cruise and suggested that ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My 9-year-old daughter has dyslexia; it has been difficult for her academically. Every night, she cries when she has to do her reading homework because she keeps getting words mixed up. I've tried to get her extra help by taking her to a dyslexia learning center, but she cries when she has to go there as well. She tells me it ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: How do you go about declining when someone who just isn't your type asks you out or asks for your phone number?

I have been nice and said things like, "I'm not dating right now," or even, "I really only want to date someone of my faith."

Some men just don't seem to get the hint. How do you politely say, "It's you, personally...Read more

Dear Annie: I genuinely like my job and most of the people I work with. We are a small office, so we see a lot of each other, share the same kitchen and bump into one another all day long. Normally that is fine, but lately one co-worker has turned cold and flu season into his own personal hobby.

I will call him "Carl." Carl has a special ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband developed an addiction to slot machines, but I didn't realize it. He would leave the house in the early morning before I woke up. Abby, he gambled away every single asset we had accumulated during our 58 years of marriage -- somewhere around $600,000! I found out after he asked his grown children for "grocery money."

We ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married for 21 years, and our intimate life has always been great. Lately, though, over the past couple of months, he's become interested in role-playing. He loves to play the husband with a mistress, saying things like, "Don't let my wife catch us," or "I hope your husband doesn't come home and find us."...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I are approaching our 40th anniversary. Friends and family have already begun to mention the upcoming milestone. While I politely acknowledge the event, I hide my indifference. You see, my wife has always been a serial cheater. It's a secret I have kept from everyone, especially our children.

Because she has always been a...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My mother passed away earlier this year, and I'm still sad. She lived as long as she could with a smile on her face most times. I recently looked at photos of her over the past couple of years, and it broke my heart; she was so frail. We always thought she held on just to be able to be with us, her children and families and ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I attended a music festival, where I wore pasties instead of a top. While there, I actually ran into a group of co-workers, who all had a good laugh at seeing me in such a state of undress.

When I return to work, should I address the incident in any way, or should I pretend it never happened? Do I just laugh it off? I am ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm wrapping up a HORRIBLE, out-of-the-blue abandonment divorce from my soon-to-be ex-husband.

In 2023, I came home from teaching kindergarten to find out my ex took the majority of our furniture and moved out of state. He blocked me and erased me as if I didn't exist. It took several months to locate him with a private detective....Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have grown children, grandchildren and a great-grandchild. I don't know if they think I am senile, but they seem to think I must cater to their every whim. Most of them are self-centered, thinking only of themselves. They borrow money from me, and sometimes I let them know it is a loan. Other times I give it to them and tell them ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: A friend of mine constantly preaches to us about the importance of showing support to each other through good times, bad times, startup businesses, financial hardship, graduations, milestones and everything else under the sun. Over the years, though, it seems to be getting harder for her to practice what she preaches.

Recently, ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am a female student, and I have a situation where a male classmate inappropriately chimes in on personal conversations. For example, I was asking my friends about a type of bra, and later that day, this classmate followed me to my car and gave me a tutorial about bras.

The crazy thing is he didn't seem to notice that I was ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've been married for 27 years, and by most measures we have a good, steady life. We're healthy, financially secure and get along well. There's no infidelity or drama.

The problem is there's no romance or passion either. I've started to feel deeply lonely in my marriage.

My husband is kind and dependable but distant. He's gone ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been happily married for 30 years. Unfortunately, my wife's family (two older sisters and her mother, who is 97) have rejected not only me, but now my wife. While our relationship with my mother-in-law is cordial, our relationship with her sisters is poor.

Recently, her sisters put their mother into an elder care facility ...Read more