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My older sister, “Janine,” and I are eight years apart, and because of our age difference our parents raised us pretty differently and disciplined us in different ways. Janine got married to her now-husband about two years ago. My parents gave her $10,000 for her wedding, saying “anything over 10k you’re paying for yourself, and anything left over you can keep for honeymoon, down payment on a house, etc.” Now I am getting married, and my parents haven’t offered us a penny. We already booked a photographer (paid for by ourselves), and lodging (we’re getting married out of state), and they are only offering to pay for their own room. I don’t…

My boyfriend, “Carl,” (age 47) and I (age 32) have been together for nearly five years. We met at work, and for the first three years we had to keep our relationship private among our colleagues because I was in a position where I was not allowed to date co-workers. But our relationship has not been private to our families and close friends, and for the past two years I have worked somewhere new, so the privacy hasn’t been an issue. I only mention this because we barely see each other — maybe once a month — and I understood it more when we worked together while now I don’t as much….

New readers, welcome to Dear Wendy, a relationship advice blog. Read some of the most popular Dear Wendy posts here. If you don’t find the info you need in this column, please visit the Dear Wendy archives or the forums (you can even start your own thread), do a search in the search bar, or submit a question for advice at wendy(AT)dearwendy.com. I have been with my boyfriend, “Chris,” for a little over two years. I’ve always felt some distance between us because there are parts of his personal life I’m not involved in and, since I’m not an intrusive person, I don’t like to push him to tell me. At first,…

New readers, welcome to Dear Wendy, a relationship advice blog. Read some of the most popular Dear Wendy posts here. If you don’t find the info you need in this column, please visit the Dear Wendy archives or the forums (you can even start your own thread), do a search in the search bar, or submit a question for advice at wendy(AT)dearwendy.com. I went out with a nice man, “Eric,” about 16 months ago. We met online and had two awesome dates. He was tall, handsome, and fun, and he had a good sense of humor. Even though he was fifty, I was immediately attracted to him, and he also found me…

Years ago I created a “love child” with a man I completely adored. No need to get into the semantics of it all, but I was on birth control and still ended up pregnant. I did the only thing I could think of at that time when I found out about my pregnancy…I took off halfway across the country and never told him about the pregnancy. I know it was very selfish and stupid, but at 19 years old, I wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. And he had said in previous conversations that he could never handle a child, hence the reason for my abrupt departure from him. Throughout…

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 “Torn Apart,” who felt her parents weren’t being supportive about her husband’s girlfriend having twins for her husband and her and were, in turn, treating her husband with hostility. She was especially concerned about her husband not being allowed on the title of the house her parents co-signed for. “Now I’m terrified about what could happen when I’m gone, and I’m getting papers drafted by a lawyer for my parents and husband to sign that will guarantee that…

I am a father of three and have been with my partner, “Marie,” for over ten years. Everything was good for the first seven or eight years, and then things started to slow down in the bedroom. She was having hormone issues, so I gave her space and wasn’t pushy. Last week she told me she was thinking of getting her own place and wanted to know my opinion. I told her to make me a list of pros and cons, and we’d go from there. I love Marie lots and have no pros for her moving out, but I have a laundry list of cons. From her own list, I gathered…

My husband and I have been married for 15 years. He recently started a new job as a flooring manager, and one of his responsibilities is ordering supplies either over the phone or in emails with multiple companies and sometimes different sales representatives. I noticed that he kept mentioning one particular female sales rep whom he said he had to speak or email with several times a week. I didn’t have an issue until one night he mentioned her name in his sleep and started giggling. Then she sent him a friend invite on Facebook. Later my husband and I were sitting on the sofa as he started showing me a video…

I was part of a Facebook group, related to a cruise I took with my husband and children. It was a fun and active group that I really enjoyed. On a few occasions, I exchanged DMs with other members of the group, relating to cruise activities. During the cruise I introduced myself and my husband to the group admins. Shortly after returning, I updated my profile picture. This led to a male group admin, “John,” DMing me to tell me he liked my new picture. I thanked him and let it go, but a few days later he asked a question via DM and we started chatting. I wanted to believe it…

New readers, welcome to Dear Wendy, a relationship advice blog. Read some of the most popular Dear Wendy posts here. If you don’t find the info you need in this column, please visit the Dear Wendy archives or the forums (you can even start your own thread), do a search in the search bar, or submit a question for advice at wendy(AT)dearwendy.com. I met my current boyfriend in November, and in December I became pregnant even after taking Plan B. I found out on January 10th that I’m pregnant, and I have not felt happy since, to say the least. My boyfriend, however, was ecstatic, and he has shared his happiness with…