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I have been dating my boyfriend for about eight months now – and what an amazing eight months it has been. He is so sweet, all my friends love him, I love all of his friends, and we always have the best time together. He has become not just my intimate partner but also one of my closest companions. I go to him whenever I am feeling upset, and he is always there to comfort me. However, since my last boyfriend cheated on me, I have been a bit paranoid throughout this current relationship. I just recently checked my boyfriend’s browser history and discovered he has been using online chat rooms to…

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. My wife and I have been together for twenty years, married going on seventeen years. We have a good marriage and two beautiful kids. When began dating, she was always open about her sexual past as was I about mine. We work in an environment where she knew that is…

Because of childhood trauma and the resulting anxieties/depression, I was a late bloomer in dating. The good news is, I’ve been through therapy and a lot of soul-searching, and I feel like I’m ready to be in a committed relationship. The bad news is, I’m 37, and it seems that there just aren’t any eligible men over 35, even in NYC. “Eligible” to me means a man who shares common values, has good character, and, obviously, is available – in all senses of the word. But finding a man in his late 30s or 40s who has all these qualities is beginning to resemble a unicorn hunt. I meet lots of men…

My grandfather is 86 and lives alone in a 55+ community about a ninety-minute drive from my mother, his only child. I am about a four-hour drive away and I am the only grandchild. My grandfather does not speak to any of his sisters, so my mom, my stepfather, my husband, and I are it. My grandmother passed away about six years ago. My grandfather is slowing down quite a bit and has trouble getting around. He walks with a cane and, sometimes, a walker, and generally has trouble with his legs. My mother and I have talked to him repeatedly about giving up driving, but (unsurprisingly) he refuses. He says he’s…

From a Dear Prudence column published last month: I was ordained online and am officiating at the wedding of a daughter of a good friend this summer. While I know the daughter very well, I don’t know as much about her husband-to-be. In order to provide some anecdotes about him during the service, I Googled. I came across an article regarding his arrest for a truly concerning criminal accusation (it was definitely him, there was a picture). Because he is not on the sex offender registry, I do not believe he was convicted. I am no super-sleuth and this information is readily available, so I assume my friend’s daughter knows about it,…

I’ve been with my boyfriend for three years, and our relationship is so easy and fun. He’s my best friend. Most importantly, we agree on all the big things and plan on getting married, but I’m not in a rush. We’re in our late twenties and are looking to move in together at the end of the year. The issue is that his parents don’t know about me. My boyfriend wants to tell his parents, but he’s scared they won’t accept me and us as a couple. His family is Muslim and traditional, and they don’t know he doesn’t follow Islam strictly anymore. Telling them he’s seriously dating a white, non-Muslim woman…

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. 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 that being as clear and frank as possible is simply the best way to…

I have been in a same-sex relationship with a beautiful girl for the past seven months. She has one-year-old twins with her ex-boyfriend whom she was living with when we met and who was abusive to her while she was pregnant. He continued to be verbally abusive to her after the twins were born and used to call her stupid for wanting to date women. She got tired of name-calling and moved in with me. He didn’t know where she moved, so she felt safe. She never stopped letting him see his twins — she would take them to his place. After six months living with me, she moved from my home…

I have been a stay-at-home mom for a while, but for several reasons my husband and I have decided that I need to return to work. I have been offered a fantastic opportunity, but they need me to start ASAP. Unfortunately, the daycare we intend to use, as well as any other local daycare, does not have openings right now for our children and will not be able to get them in for two months. So, we have two options for interim childcare: my mother who lives nearby or hiring someone. My mother is willing to keep my kids at her house, but we have a few hang-ups. She is keeping my…