Q: We are expecting a lot of company for the upcoming holiday, and I have asked my son to bring my grandchild but leave his wife’s children at home. There’s just not enough room. Now he’s refusing to come, and I’m broken-hearted.
Q. I don’t hate my ex, and I’d like to get him a little something for Christmas. What’s good ex-etiquette?
Q. My husband’s kids come back to our home with all sorts of stories about their mother and what they do at her house. I feel like I have no privacy. I have told the kids on multiple occasions that what goes on at our house is our business, and I don’t care what goes on at their mother’s home, but they continue to talk about it over there.
Q.My husband recently died. We were married for almost 50 years. He was married prior to our life together and he always told me they divorced because she did not want children.
Q. I have been dating my boyfriend for 6 months. We do not live together but see each other or talk almost every day. His ex died three years ago. They had a daughter, who is 6, who lives with my boyfriend. The problem is my boyfriend has a very large tattoo of both his ex and his daughter’s names on his chest right above his heart.
Q. I read your column, and I find it fascinating that you think that people who have volatile backgrounds can get along.
Q. Halloween is always a problem. I want the kids to be with me and their dad wants them to be with him. I keep trying to tell him that the kids want to trick-or-treat with their friends, not in a neighborhood 30 minutes away, but he says they have friends near him, too. It’s so frustrating! Their dad never listens to me. What’s good ex-etiquette?
Q. My bonus daughter and I get along very well and many people who meet us just assume I am her mother. I believe I should always support her mother, so I am quick to correct the assumption.
Q. I don’t trust my child’s father. He says one thing and does another—all the time.
Q. My ex and I have been separated for 6 months. Yesterday my ex refused to drop our kids off at my home because my girlfriend’s car was in the driveway.