DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is there something wrong with a married woman taking a vacation from everything, including her husband?
I have a very stressful work and graduate-school schedule, and am about ready to burst if I don’t have a little two- or three-day retreat, just for myself, away from my household responsibilities. If this is OK, how do I go about telling my husband my plans without hurting his feelings?
GENTLE READER: Even if etiquette allowed us to admit having had enough of our nearest and dearest, human feelings would not. It inevitably leads the dearest to wonder whether two or three days are sufficient to dispel any negative emotions.
This is no time, in other words, for candor. It would be tactful to find someone you can stomach spending time with -- a sister, a parent, a best friend -- and present the trip as mother-daughter bonding, or whatever. Miss Manners hopes she does not need to explain that the list of acceptable companions is only very slightly larger than that given above.