DEAR HARRIETTE: My husband has had false teeth for more than 20 years, so he is accustomed to them. When he drinks heavily, though, he often takes them out of his mouth and puts them who knows where, only to be searching madly for them the next day. I find this infuriating and irresponsible. One time it took him a few days to find his teeth, so he had to go to work and interact with people looking absolutely crazy.
Anyhow, he repeated this awful behavior the other day. I attempted to intervene by suggesting that he put his teeth in his tooth cup. He sneered at me and kept on drinking. I’m sick of this. I hate when he gets that drunk, of course. But what’s worse is having to be enlisted in the search for his teeth the next day. How can I get him to wake up and see that what he’s doing isn’t working? -- Lost His Teeth
DEAR LOST HIS TEETH: Stop enabling your husband. As frustrating and embarrassing as it may be for him to be without his teeth in the light of day, especially if he has to interact with others, that is his problem, not yours. Tell him that he is on his own in the search department. Remind him of why his teeth are missing, even though he will hate hearing it, and make it clear that you are no longer willing to participate in the aftermath of his drunken evenings.