DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: The house I grew up in was surrounded by a lot of trees. Even with all the curtains fully opened, the house always felt dark and chilly, which wasn’t a bad thing in the hot months, but never felt good to me when it was cold outside.

I remember often feeling bluesy, and looking back I can see how not enough natural light probably was felt by the rest of my family too, especially as seen in my mother’s bouts of mild depression.

So, for all my adult life, living in a bright and sunny home has been a big deal. The house I raised my daughters in was filled with natural light. I believe it’s best for your mood, especially based on observations of how my own emotional state is boosted by it.

My younger daughter and her husband just bought their first home. It is a center townhome, which faces north and south, so they get some nice northern exposure light, and a brief blast of southern light once a day. But instead of making the most of those light features, my daughter and her husband have put up plantation blinds, which they keep closed 24/7.

When I visit I tease them that they must be vampires. But beyond the joking, I have some deeper concerns.

If all goes well, they will have their first child later this summer, and I think it will be a shame if my grandchild grows up in a home as dark as the one I grew up in.

My daughter is usually open to listening to my suggestions, but since they are just starting out as homeowners, do you think I should say something to her about how much a too dark house can affect your mood, or do I just let them figure it out by themselves? --- PERSONALLY NEED THE LIGHT

DEAR PERSONALLY NEED THE LIGHT: There may be a reason your daughter and son-in-law choose to keep their windows fully covered. For instance, they could feel it’s more private or secure, or it provides the atmosphere they enjoy. Whatever the reason, it’s how they’ve decided to set up their home, and it makes sense to me that you respect their preferences.

If at some point in the future, you notice changes to your daughter’s or her husband’s mood, you might consider relating something of your personal experiences with the benefit of natural light in a home. But for now, I think the best course is to let them enjoy their new home as they’ve established it.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I knew since I was a kid my parents didn’t have a good marriage. I would see how my friends’ parents acted to each other compared to how my parents treated each other, and it made me sad for a very long time.

As I got older, I began to feel a little angry at my mother and father for not doing what I knew would be best for each of them by divorcing, or at least separating.

My parents were married when they were really young. Their marriage was arranged by their parents shortly after both families came to the U.S. from India.

Divorce is still not a thing for most Hindus, and my parents have kept true to their religion. That made it difficult for them to seriously consider divorce, especially since no one among their Indian friends and families is divorced.

After I graduated college and moved out of the house for good shortly after that, my mother called me to say she and my father were taking steps toward a legal separation.

Now they have begun divorce proceedings, which makes absolute sense to me. However, even though we all seem to know this is the right thing to do, each of my parents continues to try and pull me to their side, which I don’t get, since we all already agree they should not be together any longer.

When I visit my mother, she tries to get me to agree with her that my father is a terrible person, and that she is right to divorce him. She will then give me “messages” to carry to my father the next time I see him, and they are not generally the kinds of things I want to say to him, since it’s all about why she hates him. The same happens with my father when we are together.

I feel like I am caught in the middle of two 12-year-olds ending their first dating experience.

I am an only child, and I believe my parents are thinking what they are doing is justifying their divorce to me. I tell them I understand why they are better apart than together, but they appear to want to keep up their battle through me.

Why can’t they just end things and keep me out of it? --- LEAVE ME OUT OF IT

DEAR LEAVE ME OUT OF IT: I agree that it’s likely your parents feel the need to justify their dissolution of what’s long been an unhappy marriage to the only other person they see as directly affected by the split.

Because of their religion’s traditional view of divorce, I also believe both of your parents could be seeking additional support from you if they’re unsure how their divorce will be received by their faith community.

Hopefully, once everything is finalized, their attempts to use you as a messenger of vitriol will lessen, or better yet, end altogether.

However, since old habits die hard, this may be an overly optimistic expectation.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: One of my friends in elementary school started calling me “the Prankster” because of the hilarious tricks I used to play on even our favorite teachers and girls I had a crush on. The name sort of stuck, and by high school, my friends were calling me “TP” for short, which you have to admit is funny, especially since pranks are what they count on me to pull at all sorts of times and places.

I started seeing someone I hooked up with a few times when we were both on our year abroad in Italy. After we got back, we lost touch, but then she moved not too far from me, and we reconnected.

Compared to the other girls I’ve been with, she is what my dad calls a “quality woman.” He said he doesn’t get what she sees in me. (My dad’s a funny man too.)

I thought she was good with my pranking people, but she told me she doesn’t think some of what I do is very funny, and some of it is outright cruel.

I never think of myself or what I do for a little fun is cruel. Even when I went back in my mind over some of my pranks, they seem more like just a fun thing to do, with no one getting hurt.

I really like this girl, and I want this to work. But I don’t know if I like her enough to change who I am. I figure if she doesn’t get me, we’re not going to work.

How do I get her to understand I never mean to be mean, and pulling pranks is a big part of who I am, and what people have come to expect from me? --- NATURALLY A PRANKSTER

DEAR NATURALLY A PRANKSTER: You don’t give any examples of what you consider a benign prank, so it’s not possible to get a feel for what mischief’s potentially caused through your attempts to be funny.

That someone you admire finds your behavior out of line is possibly a good indication that perhaps you do go too far at least sometimes, and/or that you and your girlfriend have very different ideas of what constitutes humor. In my experience such disconnects lay the groundwork for a major divide between two people.

It sounds to me like your future as a couple depends on either your conforming to your girlfriend’s standards of humor, or her coming around to accept yours.

If neither of you is willing to meet in the middle, it doesn’t bode well for the longevity of your relationship.