Archives

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My boyfriend and I spend a lot of time talking about how ready we are to take the “next step.” We have been together long enough to know we want to get married, and I know he ... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: When things slowed down because of the pandemic, my wife and I decided it was time to sell our upholstery business and retire. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the price we had ho... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My parents gave up a lot to put me through college and then law school. They did what they could to pay as I went along, so there would be next to no loans to repay, and their... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I know this sounds really weird, but my grandmother has a death photo of her grandmother. In it my dead great-great-grandmother is surrounded by her own children, grandchildre... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My son and daughter-in-law hosted their first big formal dinner party for important business connections. They wanted to impress, and they only have basic daily dishes and nea... more

DEAR READERS: Last year, most of us experienced a holiday season like no other.... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My dad has always been afraid of going to the dentist. He had a really bad experience when he was a kid and the dentist drilled around a deep cavity before fully numbing the a... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: It’s been nearly three months since we moved into our new house. My older son, who is seven, has adjusted perfectly, but my nearly three-year-old still keeps asking when we ar... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I just visited my daughter and her family for the first time since the beginning of last year. She was still on maternity leave at that point, and has since returned to fullti... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: Every time I come home, going back to when I was still in college, my mom gets excited to make me my favorite meals, especially her homemade mac and cheese. It is one of those... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I didn’t tell my parents when I broke up with the girl I had been seeing for nearly two years. It was a friendly breakup, but I knew my parents, especially my mom, really like... more

DEAR READERS: Many of us have close connections to people who’ve been in the military.... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: All or lives, whenever we have an argument, I am always the one who ends up apologizing to my younger sister. I think it comes from when we were kids and my mother always took... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I get on pretty well with my fiancée’s two kids. Her son is 12 and her daughter is 7. They’ve tested me in their own ways, as I would expect, especially after having dated oth... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: When my closest friend was turning 30, a bunch of us who have known her forever decided to celebrate in a big way. She’s been through some tough times with her health, and it ... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I live with my grandparents for now. My dad got transferred to his company’s London office, and when my younger brothers, my mom, and my dad all went over there, I wanted to s... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I have a health freak girlfriend, who is insisting we hand out the veggie chips and vegan snack packs she spent a bundle on to the neighborhood trick or treaters. I bought two... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I married into a family with a construction business. It was by working there that I met my husband, who had come onboard to work with his dad and uncle a year or two earlier.... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My boyfriend can be the hardest-working guy I know, but then he drives me crazy, because even though he used to work in construction and knows tons about how to build and fix ... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My granddaughter has been doing gymnastics since she was five years old. Since early middle school she has been focusing on power tumbling, and has gotten good enough to compe... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I’ve worked at a few different companies since I started in sales fulltime. Every other place I’ve been at has paid for business cards and at least some promotional items, lik... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My sister was with her latest ex-boyfriend for only a couple months. They never seemed a good fit, and nobody was surprised when they split. She has since found someone who sh... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My roommate is probably the most beautiful woman I know. She is also smart. But when she gets around men, she becomes something entirely different, it’s like she feels she has... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My wife is pregnant with our first child, and some of my friends laugh about my “feeling her pain,” including being nauseous most of the time. They think it’s a joke.... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: When my wife and I divorced almost seven years ago, my son and daughter were still in high school. It was a bad split, and it took a toll on both kids. We tried to keep the de... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: After my father-in-law and mother-in-law separated, he moved into a two-bedroom condo with a small storage room off the balcony. It is actually a very spacious apartment for j... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I work at a family-owned and operated company. This summer the boss’s daughter started working in my department. She had had an internship lined up in New York City, and that ... more

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My husband is good at making some repairs around the house, but there are some jobs he just wants to get done as quickly as possible, not necessarily the best way possible. Ov... more