DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: At a Christmas party last year, I reconnected with an old friend from middle and high school. We used to be so tight back then, but we lost touch a year or two into college. She and her new husband moved back to town last fall, and she is trying to reestablish herself here.

It’s not that she is a bad person, but she still does some things I now consider pretty juvenile, even though I went along with them when I was a teenager. She was never a queen bee, or anything like that, but she used to make fun of people and comment about them behind their backs. I now understand she was expressing her own insecurities, which was OK at the time, but now when she still does it, it seems strange, sad, and mean-spirited.

I don’t mind spending a little time with my old friend, but I don’t see us getting close like we used to be. Since that seems to be her goal, wouldn’t it just be kinder in the long run if I broke off the friendship now? Otherwise it feels to me like I’d just be stringing her along. --- CONFUSED OLD FRIEND

DEAR CONFUSED OLD FRIEND: Growing apart is often a big part of growing up. Perhaps your old friend’s reliance on you will lighten once she gets more resettled into the community. For now, it’s probably easier for her to reach out to previously established connections until she meets new people and makes friends through work or other interests.

In the meantime, so long as you’re willing to spend a little time with her now and then, I don’t see anything wrong with your lending her your support. Pick and choose your get-togethers so that you have a strong say in how often and under what circumstances you meet. She may take your cues and keep the relationship on the more casual side.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My daughter and new son-in-law both work fulltime and haven’t started a family yet, although many of their friends who have been married for a few years have. They are talking about starting a family in the next year or two, but they seem to spend a lot of money on unnecessary or unnecessarily expensive things.

Both of them work hard, but neither of them works in a field that promises a big income, and they have admitted they have next to no savings. They also have said that when they do have a family, one of them will stay home to raise their children.

I worry that they are living in a financial fantasyland, and whenever I try to advise them to be more frugal, they say that they may as well spend while they have it, and then will deal with less income when the time comes.

Is this any way to prepare for a future together, and with a family? --- FRUGAL MOM

DEAR FRUGAL MOM: This may be one of those cases where all you can do is what you’ve already done, offer your suggestions. Now it’s time to step back and let them learn from their mistakes — or prove your worries wrong by managing well on their own.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: Even though our state’s stay-at-home order was lifted weeks ago, my mother refuses to go anywhere besides the food store and the pharmacy. She won’t even come to our house to spend time with me, my wife, our baby, and our toddler. My wife and I are still working from home, so it isn’t like we’re exposed to many more people than she is when she does her grocery shopping.

I can tell the isolation has been getting to her, and I would have thought having the chance to get out and be with her grandkids would be something she’d jump at. What would you suggest that might tempt her out of her house? --- WORRIED ABOUT MY MOM

DEAR WORRIED ABOUT MY MOM: Given everything going on these days, it’s not surprising your mom is hesitant to leave what she may consider her only safe haven.

If she won’t come to your house, is she perhaps open to having you and your family stop by her place? With the warmer weather and longer days, maybe she’d be more tempted to do something along the lines of a backyard picnic, where safe distances would be easier to maintain; and if it helps further, you might offer for you and your wife to wear masks.

If she gets comfortable being around people she’s close to first, it might make it a little easier for her to begin venturing out to other familiar settings.