ArcaMax

Dear Annie: I have grown children from my first marriage. I now have a 7-year-old son from my second marriage, and we are home-schooling him.

My older children, who all attended public school, aren't terribly keen on this. One of them, "Jenny," criticizes home-schooling and then gets into what she considers insufficient socialization. She ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband's parents are in their mid-70s. They are both in good health and financially stable. The problem is, my mother-in-law has a bit of hypochondria along with some anxiety. She has self-diagnosed herself with many "syndromes" (such as fibromyalgia, restless leg, irritable bowel), and she refuses to exercise. Her syndromes, ...Read more

Dear Annie: We are the future. It may sound cheesy, but that's the motto I live by, and it's one of the reasons I believe so strongly in the need to prevent and reduce tobacco use among teens and kids. My passion for tobacco-use prevention started when I saw the harm that tobacco use caused my older sister. She started smoking at age 13 and ...Read more

Dear Annie: I grew up in an extremely dysfunctional family. I have an older sibling who has hated the rest of us for the past 45 years. Family gatherings are extremely uncomfortable events. Inappropriate barbs lead to physical fights, young children cry while the adults pretend nothing is amiss, family members spy on one another, there is lots...Read more

Dear Annie: I have been friends with "Missy" for a long time. She hates her husband's sister and hasn't allowed them to speak to each other for years. The sister is not allowed to come anywhere near Missy's house. Last year, things got worse.

Missy has five grown children. Four of them remain in touch with "Aunt Martha." As a result, three ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a sophomore in high school. I never had much social stability as a child because my family moved around a lot and I was often in a different school every semester. I've always been that pretty girl who becomes an outcast as soon as she speaks or says something stupid.

I thought high school would be different, but it's not. As ...Read more

Dear Annie: My 17-year-old son has his beginner's driver permit and thinks he knows it all. If I mention something he did wrong behind the wheel, I'm being "mean." I can't seem to get through to him the dangers that can happen in a split second. Can you please run the essay ''Please, God, I'm Only 17'' again? Maybe it will open his eyes. -- ...Read more

Dear Annie: My sister, "Suzie," has always been a bit of a flower child, and my parents think it's funny. Suzie dropped out of high school to pursue her "career" in something -- art, music, dance, yoga, whatever. I usually gave her a place to stay when she got evicted and didn't want our parents to know, which was pretty often.

Suzie and her ...Read more

Dear Annie: I work for a small family-owned company, and there are fewer than 10 employees. There is no office cleaning service. For years, one of the employees has been compensated for cleaning the building after hours. This person was recently promoted, but continues to be in charge of the cleaning. That's the problem. For months now, the ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have been married to "Dennis" for eight years. Early on, Dennis couldn't do enough for me. Now, if my car won't start, he yells at me and says to call a tow truck. If I ask him to spend time with me, he always has other things to do. On the rare occasion when we attend a social event together, he abandons me so he can "work the ...Read more

Dear Annie: I wanted to share a bit of what it's like to be the family member of a person who drinks too much. I know. I had more than 40 years of experience by the time I finally sought answers. I studied brain- and addiction-related research to assess my loved one's drinking patterns in order to protect myself from secondhand drinking. ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a 44-year-old guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. I met "Lisa" two years ago. I was fresh out of a divorce. Lisa was in terrible shape. Her mother had just died, and shortly after, she lost her fiance in a traffic accident. Then she moved back home to take care of her ailing father.

It was love at first sight for me. But ...Read more

Dear Annie: My 17-year-old daughter, "Kylie," has had behavioral problems since she was 14. I am a single mother. I work full time and also have two sons, one of whom lives with his dad. Kylie was in a hospital for three months for various evaluations and recently lived in a residential home. She was released last October on the condition that...Read more

Dear Annie: I've always had a problem with my mother and sister. When I was a child, I often stayed with my grandfather. I loved this man fiercely. He died recently, and the last 10 years of his life were terrible. My mother and aunts rescinded his DNR and disregarded his wishes about life support, forcing him to remain in a partially ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've been a widow for 15 years. I moved to another state to be with my kids and met "Jerry." We've been dating for nine months.

Jerry has been divorced for two years and has two adult children. His ex-wife was his childhood sweetheart and the only woman he'd ever been with. The problem is, I have never been to Jerry's house. He ...Read more

Dear Annie: Recently, I invited my best friend, "Evan," and his family of four to join my family at a popular out-of-state theme park. Our children are similar ages, and we have always gotten along well even though we live in different states.

My wife and I are members of a vacation program and offered to use our hotel points to save Evan a ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have been dating my boyfriend for four years. We both have children from our previous relationships and share custody with our exes. Until recently, we had our kids on the same weekends. Then my boyfriend's ex decided that her children cannot be here when my 11-year-old son is staying over.

Because my son is the oldest, he tends...Read more

Dear Annie: My father, my brothers and I all served during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Only my father and I deployed to combat areas.

Dad retired five years ago and is showing drastic symptoms of PTSD. He is stockpiling food and medical supplies and keeps trying to get my wife and me to "prepare" for when "it all hits the fan." He spends hours a...Read more

Dear Annie: I am an elementary school teacher. This year I have two 7-year-old students with major behavior issues. Both of them have threatened to bring a gun to school and shoot me and their classmates. As shocking as it is to hear this from such young children, the response from the people in charge is worse.

I reported these threats ...Read more

Dear Annie: My wife and I have been married 42 years, and she plans to retire in a few months. I am unemployed, cannot find a job and consider myself retired already.

I do the grocery shopping and have dinner on the table by the time my wife returns from work, except two days a week when we go out to eat. However, my wife won't let me touch ...Read more