DEAR ABBY: My wife and I have been arguing about relationships after marriage. My daughter was married a while ago, and I have been told that now I must consider her in-laws as "family."
That's not the way I remember learning it. Yes, my daughter is now related to her husband's parents by marriage, but since when is there a "dotted line" connecting them to me? -- UNRELATED IN MICHIGAN
DEAR UNRELATED: The "dotted line" is the umbilical cord that connected your daughter to your wife and the heartstring that connects you to your daughter. So warm up and get with the program, or the person on the outside will be you.