Hi Karen, I’m going to my family’s home in Ohio for Christmas, and I am dreading it. I’ll be around a bunch of nosy, judgmental family members that I don’t even like, and they’re going to get on my case about being unmarried. I hate it! It happens every year, and...
Dear Karen, I’m really getting back out there and dating, after a painful breakup. I have a question about something that comes up for me quite a bit; I believe that if a man really cares about you, he should intuitively know what you need. Do you agree with me on...
Dear Karen, I've started dating online again and I am astonished at literally the countless number of men's profiles who say "no drama please". What exactly do they mean by this? I feel as though either they are unrealistic about relationships or they don't...
Dear Karen, I’ve just started dating a man I’m very excited about. We don’t live near each other – we met skiing, and see each other when we’re both there on the weekends. We are getting pretty serious (at least, it feels like it, and I sure hope so!). Here’s my...
Dear Karen, I’ve been dating the most wonderful, kind, sweet, sincere man I’ve ever met. We’re getting close to being intimate – I know we’re ready for it on so many levels, but I have a huge problem: how do I bring up the topic of having safe sex without hurting his...
Dear Karen, My husband is a good guy; he really loves me, and he tries to me happy. I love him very much. Here’s my problem: I am not getting my needs met in the bedroom (this is so hard for me to talk about). He just doesn’t seem to “get” me and get what I...
Dear Karen, I want your opinion on something: I’ve been married for 22 years. We get along fine, our kids are happy and well-adjusted, and we have no real issues in our life together. Here’s the deal – I just don’t have any interest in having s-e-x, and I haven’t...
Dear Karen, Please help me figure out how to talk with my husband about the fact that he’s become kind of a “shlump” – he’s gained weight, he doesn’t really care how he dresses, and he’s not that interested in sex these days. He was pretty hot when we first got...
Dear Karen, I need to know what to do about this issue: I don’t want to have to have sex with my husband. We didn’t start out like this; we were very active, and both loved it. I know one thing that has happened is that, since the birth of our child, and what...
Dear Karen, My husband is not being very understanding about something, and I need your advice. He is angry with me because of the way my mother is, which is, in HIS opinion, very meddlesome. How is that my fault? I love my mother, and we’re very close. She cares...
Dear Karen, It’s that time of year again – my husband will invariably get me something I don’t want for Christmas, and ignore what I’ve told him I do want. Again. It wasn’t always like this…for the first few years, he tried to listen and to give me what I wanted. ...
Hi, Karen, I hope you can help me with this, because I’m at my wits’ end. If I have to trip over the over-full trash one more time, I’ll scream! What is wrong with my husband that he doesn’t do this one frickin’ simple job, when it needs to be done? Why do I have...
Dear Karen, An issue arises between my man and me every Christmas. I come from a family that enjoys the holiday immensely – in all ways. Christmas is not something my man looks forward to with the same level of excitement that I do; each year, a couple of weeks...
Hello, Karen, I’ve been married for many years, and am not sure I’m willing to stay in the marriage any longer. I am married to a man who is not being very cooperative. The more I explain what it is he’s doing that upsets me, the more he seems to do it. The more I...
Dear Karen, I am very frustrated, and I hope you can help me. My husband has become a lazy S.O.B., and seems perfectly content to let me work like a dog. When he gets home from work, he spends all his time playing on his stupid Xbox, when it should be perfectly...
Dear Karen, I am really unhappy about something - I hope you can shed some light on why my husband is being such an idiot. He is a total workaholic, and can’t seem to carve out any time for me. I tell him how upset I get when he’s not around, and he just doesn’t...
Dear Karen, I’ve tried everything under the sun to get my husband to lose weight, because I want him to be around for a long time - and he’s got to be shortening his life with all the extra weight (not to mention I am just not that attracted to him). I’ve tried:...
Dear Karen, My husband and I can talk about anything - except money. No matter what I do or how good my intentions are at the start of the conversation, by the end we're arguing and the tension lasts for days after. There are a lot of money issues we need to discuss...
Dear Karen, I’ve been with my boyfriend for about 18 months now, and it’s been really great lately. In fact, I’ve decided recently that I want to marry him. My question to you is this: how do I get him to propose to me soon? I want to have us be in the same home,...
Dear Karen, “My husband is pretty depressed. I don’t know what to do about it. He doesn’t seem to respond to any of my efforts to get through to him, or to cheer him up. It is really getting ME down, and I am having a hard time with this. How do I help him get...