DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My girlfriend and I are travelling to spend Thanksgiving with her very large family. I like them, and I think they like me, but if the same thing happens this year as happened last year, I am going to be left behind with “the guys” while “the girls” all do their Black Friday thing immediately after we finish the big meal.

I have no problem spending time with her dad, brothers, and nephews, but I think it’s wrong to skip out on a family gathering to save an extra 20% at Target on Thanksgiving Day, and I’ve told my girlfriend that. Am I the crazy one here? --- ALL FOR KEEPING THANKSGIVING THANKSGIVING

DEAR ALL FOR KEEPING: I’m with you in your belief that Black Friday should stick to Friday, but it seems we’re in the minority.

Since you’ve already shared your thoughts with your girlfriend, and you’ll be her family’s guest, you pretty much need to go with the flow and follow their traditions, and enjoy the opportunity to get to know the other important men in your girlfriend’s life.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: Even before our daughter was born, my wife was an early bird. I’ve always been a night owl. For years this has been a challenge for us, especially on weekends, when she’s up and ready to go way before I am, and she’s calling it a night when I’m just getting started.

Now that we have a kid it seems to be worse. Even when we get a sitter on a Saturday, we end up making it an early night because my wife loses steam by 10 or 11 p.m., when I’m just hitting my pace.

I don’t want to go out without her a lot, but I miss having a nightlife, and I know she’s sometimes frustrated because she has to wait around for me to be ready to get going on Saturdays and Sundays. What’s a good compromise? --- NIGHT OWL

DEAR NIGHT OWL: Since you’re both dedicated to your ends of the day, a little effort and compromise will be required to find common ground.

You might want to try switching off on doing things early in the day one weekend, and late at night the next.

Beyond that, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy separate, guilt-free peak hours the rest of the time. Your wife can relish a little early morning quiet (until it’s time to be Mommy), and you can get out with buddies who are more on your schedule.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I am nearly 29 years old, but I look 20, and people often treat me like a kid.

I work in the career guidance office of a university, and part of my job is to make presentations to groups of soon-to-be graduating students on topics like dressing for success and tips for interviewing.

It’s demoralizing to me to be treated with disrespect and sometimes outright rudeness during my presentations by people who think I’m younger than them and don’t know what I’m talking about. I’ve been successfully out in the workforce for years now and I take pains to dress professionally and project what I consider is a professional image, but nothing seems to work. What more can I do? --- BABY-FACED COUNSELOR

DEAR BABY-FACED COUNSELOR: If you haven’t already, it’s time you reach out to either your boss or a more experienced coworker to see if they have some tips for taming an unruly audience. Perhaps they could either observe one of your presentations, or you could sit in on one of theirs.

You also need to accept your listeners believing they already know what you’re trying to tell them ─ whether they do or not. Being a know-it-all is a perennial occupational hazard for college students.

Finally, give yourself credit for reaching those in your audience who know how to behave like grown-ups and who are actually hoping to benefit from the information you’re sharing. Like the loudmouths, they’re out there too.