Dear Karen, I am in love with a man I want to be with so badly. He’s the best guy I’ve ever been with (and I’ve known many). He’s not completely done with his divorce, and it’s pretty ugly between them right now. They’ve got kids they’re fighting over, and they...
married
He Needs The Map From You
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...
It's Good For Both of You
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...
Meeting Each Other's Physical Needs
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...
Rekindling Physical Passion
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...
Your Husband, Not Your Mother
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...
He's Out of Work, You're Out of Patience
Dear Karen, My partner has been unemployed for a few months now, and has basically moved in with me. I don’t feel financially strained to have him here, but I'm running out of patience. I don’t think he is working hard enough to get a job. I need him to support me...
Set Him Up To Succeed
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. ...
What’s Wrong With My Husband?
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...
Ways To Get What You Need
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...
Getting The Support You Need
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...
Does He Even Know What You Want?
Dear Karen, I am so frustrated I could scream! I feel like I have no support at home – I feel like I’m doing it all, and alone…and meanwhile my man gets everything he needs from me (and then some!). What gives? Am I just living with the world’s most selfish man? –...
Allowing Him To Provide and Protect
Dear Karen, How do you get past your husband’s "I don't have time for this" grumpies when he’s too busy and tired to talk, and you need/want him to listen or to get his input? What’s the best way to get his cooperation? – Anonymous Dear Anon, Excellent question; now...
What You See Is What You Get
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...
Stop Hurting Him With Your Concern
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:...
Managing and Eliminating Resentment
Dear Karen, My parner is such an idiot! I give and give and give, and he shows no appreciation for the sacrifices I’m making so that we can be together (we live about 2 hours apart, and I drive to his house every weekend). He just expects me to be there, at his...
Let’s Talk About Money
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...
It's Not Your Job to Get Him Out of His Depression
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...
You've Asked and He Won't Stop – Now What?
Karen, I am madly in love with my boyfriend, and I want to be married to him. Here’s my concern: I’ve asked him to stop doing something that bothers me, and he hasn’t done it yet. I’m feeling like I can’t trust him until he does what I’ve asked him to do. ...
How Do I Get Through To Him?
Dear Karen, Why is it that I just can’t get my husband to talk about the issues we’re dealing with? Every time I tell him we need to sit down and talk, he either starts joking (which infuriates me!), or he suddenly has to go take care of something he forgot about. ...