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I’m 19 and still live with my parents because I made the financially-sound decision to take my basic college courses at a community college instead of going away to a university. I am still taking a full course-load and also working part-time. I’m also dating a guy my dad loves and wants me to marry. My mom, who is really hormonal/monopausal and controlling and also somewhat ’empty nesting’ even though we are all still in the house, thinks my boyfriend is okay. Unfortunately, every time I want to go away with my boyfriend — even just on day trips — it’s always a big deal. At the same time, my brother, who…

It’s time again for Shortcuts. 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, being as clear and frank as possible is simply the best way to go.

You posted my letter in January, about whether I should contact my ex’s kids about a couple of items of theirs still in my possession. I have followed your secondary advice and the advice of some of the commenters, which was to do nothing. The book and the pants are still in my car, after almost four months, and it seems like it would be weird to send them now, but I also haven’t managed to make that decision final and get rid of them. Anyway, I actually have a follow-up question: I haven’t heard from my ex at all, and after four months I’m pretty confident that I won’t. I’m really…

A few months ago I Googled a guy I had awesome sex with 10 years ago. His Linkedin profile came up an I added him to my network, not thinking anything beyond his accepting the invite to connect would happen. He did accept, and after several emails catching each other up, he asked to share a picture so I sent him a few innocent pictures and he did the same. We kept emailing for a few more days. Then one day I took the initiative and sent him an innocent text message. We then texted until 4 AM, remembering the short-lived summer fling we had a decade ago. Ever since, we have…

When I was young (starting around the time I was five) my mother was emotionally unavailable to me and particularly to my sister, to the point that she severely neglected my sister when she was in diapers and left her alone in her crib day in and day out while she slept (not because she was depressed, as she would later claim, but because she had been out until dawn drinking and sleeping around behind my poor father’s back). Eventually, she got pregnant by another man and had to tone down her wild ways while she incubated my second sister, whom my dad has always treated as his own (and who is…

For the past year I have had a casual fling with a guy from work. We began flirting, things escalated, and we ended up sleeping together. Things have never been awkward at work. We rarely see each other outside of work unless it’s a night out. So there are no dates, etc. My feelings for him have gotten really strong, and I’ve wanted things to progress. I’ve heard stories of him being a bit of a “manslag,” but none of this puts me off him. I won’t even go on a date with another guy because I feel so strongly about him. I have asked him how he feels, and he said…

I’m currently finishing college, but my story dates back to the very beginning of high school when I was in the same class as two boys — twin brothers. They were very shy guys with close to no female friends. However, because I’m kind of tomboy-ish and easy-going, I hit it off with them and we became close friends. I would go to their house to study and play games, etc., along with other guys. Soon, I began liking one of them. Let’s call him Adam. Months went by and most of my friends suspected Adam liked me back, but we always interacted in this more-than-friends but not boyfriend-girlfriend kind of grey zone….