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...
tension
Dating The Divorced Man
Dear Karen, I’ve been dating a wonderful man for over a year now…I just adore him. He’s (very) recently divorced and has two young kids he sees every other weekend and one night a week. His relationship with his ex is okay – not great, but not awful. My question is...
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. ...
Getting Through The Holiday Headaches
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...
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...
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...