DEAR ABBY: My parents have been divorced for years, so I go to my mum's for a week and to my dad and stepmum's the next. Recently I have been going to my dad's less often because he is giving me major anxiety. He keeps asking questions I don't want to answer because they either might be about my mum or are just not "appropriate."
Dad and his wife are "sticky beaks." They don't mind their own business. I just started high school, so I'm very stressed and have been crying a lot. Can you help me to get my life together? -- MAJORLY ANXIOUS IN AUSTRALIA
DEAR ANXIOUS: A new school can be intimidating for first-year students until they become used to the routine and more at ease with classmates. However, with time, you will settle in and it will no longer be stressful for you. In fact, it may offer opportunities to explore interests you were never exposed to in the lower grades.
As to your father and his wife, you do not have to report to them what your mother is doing or whom she is seeing (if anyone), or answer any questions that embarrass you. When they ask, ask them to please stop because the questions make you uncomfortable. If they persist, tell your mum and let her deal with them. She may be able to explain that what they're doing is driving you away, and if they don't stop, they will be seeing less and less of you.