DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My little sister was with her first boyfriend for a long time, I think it was like three years, maybe four. They were a good couple, but he wanted to get married and move with my sister to Australia, where he had family connections and the offer of a fantastic job. My sister wasn’t ready to get married, and she is so tight with our family and her friends here that a separation from them would have been more than she thought she could handle.

So about two months ago she started seeing this new guy she met on Tinder. At first she was scared to try looking there, but enough of her friends talked her into it.

I only met the guy once, and he seemed okay, maybe a little quiet, but that was I figured because he didn’t know me and the rest of the family that was over when he came to pick my sister up for dinner.

This is only the second guy my sister has been with, and she told me the other day that he was asking her to do some weird stuff in bed that she just is no way near comfortable doing.

I put on my big sister pants and told her then either dump the guy or just say, “no” to anything that creeps her out.

She seems to like this guy, except for the weird sex stuff and said for all she knows a lot of guys are into this stuff and she would just run into it again if she started up with someone new.

I didn’t get around a whole lot before my husband and I met, but I was with a few guys, not one single one of which ever asked me to do anything in bed I was uncomfortable with.

I think this guy my sister is with is trouble waiting to happen.

How far do I push my worries with her, or do I just let her learn on her own? --- WORRIED FOR LITTLE SIS

DEAR WORRIED FOR LITTLE SIS: That your sister raised the subject with you implies to me she’s second-guessing her feelings towards at least the sexual portion of her new relationship.

I would continue to remind her about the importance of respecting herself and requiring the same from anyone she’s involved with.

Also, by continuing to let her know you’re there for her to talk to, you’re providing a safety net should things ever get to the point of her needing some help, guidance, or protection.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I can’t believe how my girlfriend puts up with the nutjob she shares her apartment with.

This woman will corner you and talk for hours about her insane conspiracy theories. At least they change up from time to time. Her latest started getting bad when King Charles got crowned. She is totally and completely convinced he had Princess Diana murdered so he could marry Camilla. I was a little kid when she died, and I remember it because when my mother heard Princess Diana wasn’t wearing a seatbelt she started using that as a way to make sure we all strapped in so we didn’t die like Princess Diana.

I am getting to the point where I don’t want to hang around my girlfriend’s place. That makes it harder for us to spend time together because I live in an even more complicated living situation.

How do I get this woman to stop running her mouth about things she knows absolutely nothing about? --- MAKE HER STOP

DEAR MAKE HER STOP: I know generally perfectly rational people who embrace their own perception of reality on certain topics. There’s the case of the bright, articulate young man, for instance, who would bet his life’s savings on the moon landing being a hoax.

Often little can be done to make a true believer doubt their faith. Perhaps, though, you might try beating the roommate at her own game as a way to temporarily shut down the rants by introducing subjects that she has no knowledge of, allowing you to have a turn at monopolizing the conversation the same way she does.

If the tactic works, she may grow tired of your tirades and find other ways to spend her time when you’re visiting your girlfriend’s apartment.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My husband grew up in a military family. Both his mom and dad were active duty until right before he started college. Because they moved every two to three years for the whole time he was growing up, he developed the habit of “traveling light,” as my father-in-law calls it.

I agree it’s good to not let our home get cluttered, but in my husband’s mind, if it isn’t used within a couple months of when we buy or are given something, then we don’t need it and out it goes.

He is always throwing things away that he feels we don’t need, without asking me if I agree. I believe this is how his parents treated him and his older brother when they were growing up, this idea of making executive decisions for other people.

That may have made sense when their parents were trying to keep their highly mobile lives organized, but we’re not moving anywhere anytime soon, and I have had to replace things he’s tossed because we do in point of fact need them, just not all the time.

I sometimes think he forgets that his parents, both officers, made enough money to go ahead and regularly replace things they left behind. We do not in any way have that kind of a budget.

How do I get my husband to understand sometimes you have something on hand for when it’s needed, and not just for everyday, all the time use? --- NEED A FEW EXTRA THINGS

DEAR NEED A FEW EXTRA THINGS: Like you, I have items around the house that get used infrequently, but do come in handy when I need them.

The danger of that kind of thinking is it’s easy to shove something to the back of a closet or cabinet and forget about it.

Perhaps you and your husband could come up with a mutually-agreed upon system of compromising on what stays and what goes. I’m thinking along the lines of working together for a quarterly, semi-annual, or other regularly scheduled review of what you’ve got on hand.

Because he’s possibly unaware of your thoughts on items he sees as being of no value, ensuring you’re part of the decision-making process not only reminds him he’s got someone else with a stake in household decisions, but it also gives you the chance to justify your rationale in holding onto some things.

By the way, hopefully rather than tossing everything in the trash, you and your husband are donating the stuff in good, usable condition to a local thrift shop or community service organization.