Parents wonder how to encourage actress daughter
Dear Unsure: Future holidays will never be tougher than this one.
This year especially, you should treat all of these family members as you always have -- with warmth and kindness. Yes, include a gift for her child (ask your son for ideas about what his stepchild might like to receive).
By next year, both domestic situations might have changed dramatically, and you might want to make a different choice.
Dear Amy: "Unsure" complained that her boyfriend refused to let her drink alcohol.
In your answer, you focused on the possibility that she had a drinking problem, but you never mentioned the problem with her boyfriend trying to control her! That was obviously the most urgent issue.
-- Disappointed
Dear Disappointed: I agree that his attempt to control her was unacceptable. But because she didn't note him trying to control her in other ways, I asked her to do a private inventory to see if perhaps her drinking really was a problem.
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(You can contact Amy Dickinson via email: askamy@amydickinson.com. Readers may send postal mail to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or "like" her on Facebook.)
