ArcaMax

DEAR HARRIETTE: My son's 16th birthday is coming up and he asked if he could gather a small group of friends in the park in our neighborhood to celebrate. He spent a lot of time planning something that would be safe. This includes having no food so that people would keep their masks on 100% of the time, presetting 6-foot markers in a circle so ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I've been living in my rental home for three years now. My landlords don't allow any pets whatsoever. I have asked about all types of pets: bunnies, cats, dogs, birds. The only pet that they allowed me to have is a fish.

Last week, I went out and rescued a dog from the pound. I caved in. He is very well trained, does not chew or...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I've been trying to buy a house for the past year. I feel like every time I find something that I want and that will work, something goes wrong. I have all of my money and credit in order and am ready to pull the trigger, but there's a problem with either the property company, the lender, the Realtors, the sellers or the house, ...Read more

DEAR READERS: Happy Thanksgiving! I want to wish each and every one of you a happy, healthy season of love and connection to family. This is the time of year when so many people are focused on family, yet it is different this year. Indeed, 2020 has proven different in myriad ways.

We have been living under the invisible veil of COVID-19 for ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I bought some expensive shoes, and my husband found out and told me to take them back to the store. Bills are tight, and he was counting on using the money to buy our car new tires. I took them to the store, and they told me they don't give refunds. My husband was understanding and told me to keep the shoes, that I deserve them ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have had a crush on this guy for years. We became friends and started seeing each other, but after a while it just felt like he lost interest, and we fell off. We stopped talking and seeing each other. Since then I've remained single, and every few months we reconnect and talk for a while, but it's not long before we fall off ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I worked for several months on a project that culminated in a big public event. As the lead on this project, I brought in another company to coproduce with me. Together we did an excellent job -- by all accounts. When the event was over, the head of the company called my partner to say thank you but did not call me. I thought ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My daughter is a popular social media influencer. Since she has become more popular, she has been entertaining the idea of having plastic surgery to keep up a particular image that the media puts out there for society. I am totally against it. I think she became popular being who she is, and changing that is not going to make her...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My neighbor mentioned that she was going out of town on a work trip and asked me to watch out for her dog once in a while because he can get out of their back door, and her husband, who works from home, doesn't always notice. All week long, I've been occasionally looking over next door in the morning and evening.

Instead of a ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: There is a guy my age who lives in the same dorm as me. We sometimes study and hang out together on campus. He told me that he really likes me and wants to date me. Although I do like him and have a crush on him, I only ever viewed him as a friend because I know that he has a young child and has another baby on the way back home ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have a guy best friend who has a daughter. Since the birth of his daughter five years ago, his daughter's mother has never liked me. She thinks that he and I were involved, but that is not true. She has started arguments with him about me seeing his daughter and buying her things. I have never met the mother, but we have had a ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have been married for 10 years, and we have three kids. We were high school sweethearts and each other's first loves and never dated other people before we were married. I would say we are happily married. My husband works late often and takes a lot of work trips.

Maybe I ignored all the signs, because he has been seeing ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I had a weird experience the other day. My girlfriends and I were all out for lunch, and we had a really great server. He was polite, made jokes and light conversation and kept our water and wine glasses full. The only weird part was that each time he left our table, he stood nearby. He would stand near the empty table next to us...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have a lot of things going on in my personal life trying to balance my business, my stepsons, work and school. I work every other weekend, getting up early to do stepmom duties and then having to open a shop. I keep my stepsons with me most of the time and have to home-school them. I try to keep them active and learning by ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My son's school is currently virtual. They have introduced what they call a recess room where all students from the school can interact in a Zoom room and play games and activities during the day. I have noticed that my son has clicked with one female student in particular. She looks somewhat older, but she is a schoolmate. Now ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I got into a big argument with my sister the other day, and my daughter overheard. I was so mad at my sister that when I got off the phone I said out loud that when our father dies -- which is likely soon -- I don't think I will talk to her anymore. But as much as my sister and I don't get along, that is how much my daughter and ...Read more

DEAR READERS: Happy Veterans Day! I offer love and blessings to all veterans and veterans' families. We live in a country that has enjoyed relative safety from foreign violence on our shores for many years, in large part thanks to the strength, dedication, skill and sacrifice of our military. For those who have fought on our behalf, we give ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My best friend just decided to move to Colorado. She said that since she's working from home for the foreseeable future, she might as well go for something on her bucket list. I think she is so brave. She wants to be able to hike and be outdoors in nature and not worry about being cooped up in a tiny apartment in New York.

She ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I hear all the political talk back and forth about COVID-19, and it makes me sick. My mother came down with it, thanks to her caregiver -- after months of not being allowed to see any of her family. We are heartbroken. She is healing, but it is slow. She has started losing cognitive ability, we think because she has been cooped ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My best friend and her husband are separated. She said that she doesn't want to be with him anymore, so she left him and started dating someone else. Her husband and I have always been friends since we all went to high school together, and he recently began confiding in me since the separation. We are spending a lot of time ...Read more