DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: A friend of ours a few blocks over had their lawnmower stolen from their fenced in backyard not quite three weeks ago.

Last week I saw what I’m certain is the missing mower in the yard of a house at the back of my cul-de-sac.

I don’t know the people who live in the house, and although my sons go to school with their kids, they aren’t friends with them, but know who they are and that they have not the best reputation at school.

I don’t want to call the police and stir up a lot of trouble for my boys in their own neighborhood, or at school, but I also don’t want my friends to have to spend the money it will cost them to replace a mower that may not really be lost.

My son said we should just go into the people’s yard and take the mower back to my friends, but I don’t think that’s right. Do you? --- FOUND THE STOLEN MOWER

DEAR FOUND THE STOLEN MOWER: Absolutely not. You don’t say why you’re convinced the mower you saw on your neighbor’s property belongs to your friends. Isn’t it possible it’s very similar, or even the same model as the missing one, but the rightful property of the family on your street?

Your suspicions don’t give you or your son the right or the obligation to take any further action in this situation beyond letting your friends know what you saw. Then it’s up to them to pursue what they believe is the correct course.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: All my life, my mother has kept a sparkling house. She follows behind me and my dad to pick up water glasses in the living room before we have a chance to finish drinking from them. The same is true of dishes, magazines, anything she thinks is out of place.

Before we can do anything, even on weekends, we have to wait for my mother to clean the kitchen, the powder room, the living room, and the mudroom.

When I was playing soccer and then tennis, she would be late for games/matches because she can’t/won’t leave the house until she gets through her whole daily ritual.

It continues to frustrate everyone else in the family because she still does this routine every single day, no matter what else is going on.

I don’t know if she’s OCD or anything like that. My dad and I have always guessed she is just stubborn and maybe a little selfish.

Which do you think it is? --- STUCK IN HER RUT

DEAR STUCK IN HER RUT: It’s possible your mother does have something going on that compels her to give perpetual priority to her housework routine.

It’s also possible she feels this is her job, and just as you wouldn’t cut out of school or a regular workday before your work was done, neither can she. But her lack of flexibility is concerning.

I’m figuring since this has been a cause of friction for as long as you can remember, someone’s spoken to your mother about how her seemingly compulsive dedication to housework impacts the rest of the family. If you haven’t, I think it’s well past time to do so.

Having an open and honest conversation will give your mother a chance to justify or defend her usual practices, and the rest of the family to make your case for wanting her more engaged in the people and other activities in her life beyond her housework.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: Our granddaughter is a beautiful young woman. Unlike her sisters and some of her closest frieds, she has never been into funky hairstyles or even much makeup.

We had no idea she had ear gauges until we saw her at her bridal shower. It came as quite a surprise! Her then husband-to-be, a good-looking guy, also has them, great big ones, only he had his holes plugged.

Funny enough, up until this point, our granddaughter didn’t have so much as a pierced ear, or pierced anything for that matter, and I remember her saying one of her friends was spending a fortune on what she thought was a hideous sleeve tattoo.

Over the years I have gotten used to people having all sorts of piercings and tattoos. Last year my wife and I even got our first tattoos (our children’s and grandchildren’s initials) and have considered getting ones in honor of our parents.

I admire how some body art can enhance and be an expression of individuality, but I do not see earlobe stretching as one of those enhancements. It just plain looks weird, weirder when nothing is in the holes!

Have I crossed some invisible line and become an old fuddy-duddy, as my dad used to call stuffy old guys? --- DON’T GET THE GAUGES

DEAR DON’T GET THE GAUGES: I don’t think you’re necessarily a fuddy-duddy. On the contrary, you sound like you’re generally open to various forms of body art, and even sport some of your own.

As to your feelings on the subject of ear stretching, you’re entitled to your own opinions, which might be subject to change over time.

In this instance, it may’ve been the unexpectedness of seeing ear gauges on your granddaughter that played into your being turned off by them.