Dear Eric: I have been in a second marriage for 15 years. For the past few years, I have been concerned that my second husband’s story about his first wife may be untrue.
Category: Advice
Asking Eric: Should I ask my neighbor for gas money?
Dear Carpooling: At the risk of overanalyzing, I wonder if there’s a part of you that thinks it’s uncharitable to ask for reimbursement from a friend.
Asking Eric: My favorite local pub serves inedible fries
Dear Eric: How should I let the owner know his soggy fries are running me off?
Asking Eric: Children must know that unwanted touching is not allowed
Dear Eric: I opened up the door to the boys’ room and was shocked and horrified. My younger boy was bound with his hands behind him and duct tape over his mouth.
Asking Eric: Coworker shares too much
Dear Eric: I love my job but there is another employee there who likes to confide their life stories with me. It makes me upset and uncomfortable. I am a very compassionate person, but these stories are sad and depressing, which upsets my workday.
Asking Eric: Family spilled wine on the tablecloth and cake on the rug
Dear Eric: Recently, it was “assumed” by my husband’s family that we would host a gathering for some out-of-town relatives. We have a better house for entertaining.
Asking Eric: Friend’s cheating ex-husband moving in down the block
Dear Grandparent: Not every neighbor needs to be your friend. But since you have a relationship with the kids and with their mom, you might talk to your friend about the new arrangement and ask her how you can best be supportive.
Asking Eric: Daughter-in-law won’t make dinner
Dear Eric: There is a part of me that feels it is the wife’s duty to make dinner, just as it is the husband’s duty to mow the lawn and take out the trash and that she is staying on this diet because it absolves her from having to plan meals and fix dinner.
Asking Eric: Should I tell her family she cheated on me?
Dear Picture: If you don’t move on, you’re going to be actively inviting the kind of chaos and unhappiness into your life that you sought to escape by leaving your marriage.
Asking Eric: My sister-in-law cannot seem to get my name right
Dear Eric: My sister-in-law continues to address cards to me as “Mary Jones.” She has to know that is not my name, I include my “Smith” name on the return address of every card I send.