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I met a guy through a chat line and he immediately pursued me in a nice way. We talked on the phone for about five weeks or so and all was good. He sent me cute texts and we had a lot of fun. He lives out of town, but we finally decided to meet and he flew in to where I live. We had a great four days, and then he went home. After he went home, I noticed that he had cooled off. No cute texts, and phone calls were sporadic. If I tried to call, he would keep the call short and there was no pillow talk like before….

My boyfriend and I have been together for five years. We have a child together and he has a child from a previous relationship whom we have custody of together. A few months ago he purchased an engagement ring for me. I didn’t see it, much less know about it, until we got into a heated argument and he blurted out that he had spent a few thousand dollars on what I would call “the perfect ring!” I didn’t talk to him about it or even think about it. I didn’t want to ruin whatever he had planned. About a week ago we were on a family outing. During the outing we…

A year ago I started dating my co-worker. Everything was great for a while, but as time went on, of course, I grew to want a commitment. He is pursuing medical school, and, since he has decided to apply broadly, each time the topic of a relationship is brought up he says he can’t see down that path right now, that timing is wrong, and that he needs to gather what he’s trying to achieve as far as getting into med school. So as silly as it sounds, I always ask if that means he can never see a future with me. He has always answered that he can’t really answer that…

Trigger Warning: the following column contains sensitive content that may be upsetting to some readers. Upon receiving the following letter Saturday morning, I emailed the LW immediately with my response, but I’m publishing the letter and my answer in their entirety here today in the event that the information included may prove helpful to other women now or in the future. Last night I went to a party with my boyfriend and a few of his friends. When we got there, all of his friends were already drunk and they immediately began hitting on me in front of my boyfriend. I brushed it off, but they continued to make jokes about how…

Since tomorrow’s a holiday, I’m going to take the day off from posting, so we’re doing Shortcuts today. For every question I’ll give my advice in just a few sentences because sometimes the answer to a person’s question is so obvious and the need to hear it so great that being as clear and frank as possible is simply the best way to go.

It’s time again for “Dear Wendy Updates,” a feature where people I’ve given advice to in the past let us know whether they followed the advice and how they’re doing now. Today we hear from “Seeking Tough Love” who wrote in back in May of 2012 wondering if she should give her abusive ex-boyfriend another chance and whether she should consider moving in with him in October. She updated once before, saying she’d gotten back together and broken up with her boyfriend once again. Still, she kept wondering if he could change and whether they could be happy together in the long run. Her last update was almost two years ago. Keep…

I’m pregnant with my first baby and my mother and I are having a bit of friction lately as my due date approaches. I had expressed to her that my partner and I didn’t intend to baptize our daughter as we don’t follow the Christian faith and don’t intend to bring her to church as part of her upbringing (unless, when she is old enough to make the choice, she decides to go and then we would support her choice). At this point, our discussion has turned into an argument. I explained that we weren’t any more likely to baptize our daughter than we are to marry in a church — it’s…

I have been with my boyfriend for about six months now and we have practically been living together for four months. We’ve decided to move in together in August once both of our leases are up. A few weeks ago he told me that one of his ex-girlfriends from when he was in the Air Force a few years ago messaged him, and she’s getting a divorce and told him he should “hit her up some time.” It is very clear on Instagram that we are in a relationship, so I’m confused as to why she would do that to begin with. He said he wanted me to know that it happened…

I am pregnant by my ex and I have started seeing someone else. My ex wants nothing to do with me since he left me for my best friend. I am afraid that my new boyfriend won’t be able to handle my being pregnant by my ex. He already thinks of my one son as his own and says he wants to start a family of his own with me. How do I handle this? I’m so scared and confused. I don’t want to keep the baby from his father or grandmother, but they don’t want anything to do with me. Please help. — Pregnant by Ex