DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My girlfriend lives with her old college roommate. They have been living together for almost six years, including their time at school.

Even though they get along okay, they seem to spend a lot of their time fighting over stupid things, mostly because the roommate needs to go the opposite way in every single opinion from my girlfriend. Like one time they got into this big thing over which pizza is the best. Another time, my girlfriend’s roommate didn’t talk to her for a week because she found out my girlfriend voted for a Republican in a local election. She even gets crazy about what brand of toilet paper is better than the others, if you can believe it.

Sometimes the roommate tries to get me into her fights with my girlfriend. Then she gets mad at me because I say I am staying out of it, and she tells my girlfriend what a wuss I am.

I love my girlfriend, and plan to stick around so long as everything is working okay, but how can she put up with a roommate who lives to disagree with her on everything? --- WON’T TAKE THE BAIT

DEAR WON’T TAKE THE BAIT: Good for you for resisting falling into your girlfriend’s roomie’s trap. Hopefully, you’ll stick to that wise practice and let them resolve their disputes on their own.

Some people feel a constant need to offer their opinion no matter what, and it seems your girlfriend is living with just such a person. It could be a desire for attention, a need to have an opinion on everything, an innate sense of competition, or any number of other causes.

Whatever inspires the roommate to behave as she does, it appears your girlfriend’s able to deal with it. She may even value this trait of contrariness, and finds enjoyment in engaging in the debates.

Six years is enough time to know if you like living with someone or not, and that they’re still sharing a home leads me to believe they’ve found their own comfort zone, contentious as it may seem to you.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: It makes me laugh every time I see or hear the suggestion for the mothers of newborns to sleep when their babies sleep. Just how is that supposed to work for me with my 1-month-old daughter when I already have a 2-year-old son who seems to need me ALL THE TIME, and who I don’t seem to have any time for, and a husband who works nights?

My mother-in-law lives a few miles away, and she is happy to help, but only when she knows her son is going to be home, which means I feel like I have to entertain her more like a guest than have someone who can help me.

I am turning into a real b#tch, and I can’t stand it. I was never like this before, and I don’t want to be like this now.

I need to get some sleep, but I feel bad about asking my husband to do much more, and I get the feeling from his mom that she thinks she’s already doing a lot when she comes by to visit.

Would it be wrong to ask them for more back-up so I can get some rest? --- JUST NEED SLEEP

DEAR JUST NEED SLEEP: I know it’s hard to be where you are now. Please don’t be shy about tapping into the other adults in your life to help give you the opportunity to get back on your feet and feeling more like yourself.

I don’t think it’s at all unreasonable for you to be completely honest with your husband and mother-in-law about how you need some downtime. Getting enough sleep is important not only for you, but for the rest of the family as well.

It might be a good idea to share with your husband and mother-in-law a few specific ways they can best help.

For instance, perhaps your mother-in-law can cover the early part of a few nights here and there while your husband’s at work so you’re able to catch some shuteye ahead of your own overnight shift.

Or, if your mother-in-law persists in still stopping by exclusively when her son’s home, don’t feel like you have to host her. Rather, on the days she comes to call, you could turn both little ones over to her and your husband for a few hours so you can do what you need to recharge your batteries even a little bit.

If you’re nursing your newborn, obviously, that has to be worked into your relief plan, but just having a couple hours to rest between nursing sessions may give you a small and necessary respite.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My husband won’t say anything to his parents, but he is deeply hurt and offended by his parents making his younger sister the executor of their wills. His dad called him to tell him that was their decision, but not why.

My husband is a paralegal in a corporate law office, and has much more legal knowledge than his sister. She and her husband own a car detailing company. They’re doing OK in it, and just built a big new house in a nice area. So obviously, they know some of what they’re doing businesswise.

But why would they pick my sister-in-law, who has no legal experience, to do such an important job? God willing, it’s one that won’t be called on to be done for many, many years, but it clearly bothers and confuses my husband. --- WHY NOT THEIR SON

DEAR WHY NOT THEIR SON: Although they haven’t shared it with your husband yet, your in-laws no doubt have their reasons for appointing your sister-in-law and not your husband as executor of their wills.

It’s possible they may feel your sister-in-law has a schedule that that better enables her to take on another responsibility — and make no mistake, being the executor of a will can be a time-consuming and demanding responsibility.

It’s also possible they didn’t want to put your husband on the spot, simply because he has a legal background. Think of the CPA in a family who’s constantly getting hit up for financial advice, or the cousin in the medical field everyone calls for a free diagnosis.

The only way your husband’s going to discover his parents’ motive for choosing his sister instead of him is to politely and calmly ask them directly.

If they prefer not to say, that’s their prerogative, and the best your husband can do in any case is to respect his parents’ wishes and let his sister know he’s around to help if she needs it when the time comes.