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“We were invited to a friend’s surprise birthday party at an upscale restaurant. After the meal we were presented with a bill for my husband and me.”

I’ve been with my boyfriend just under two years. He is divorced with an 11-year-old son. We moved in together a few months ago. Prior to that, he lived with his parents, and I had my own place, never married and no children. When my boyfriend still lived at home, he had his son every other weekend and one night during the week, as per the divorce agreement, and we would all do everything with his parents — watch TV, eat, vacation, church, etc. I thought that, once we moved in together, that he, his son and I would create memories of our own together, hopefully with his seeing me in a…

My husband and I had a very small wedding budget of $1500 but, since we have a 9-month-old baby who is our priority, we hoped to spend even less. My dress was $90 and I wore shoes I already had. We had a free park wedding and a small reception with appetizers, not held near any meal time. We also planned to host a night-before BBQ. Everyone came to our wedding from out of state and several family members stayed in our home. Three days before the wedding, his entire family of twenty-two people took over our place and helped themselves to our food, including all of our clearly-marked wedding reception food…

I recently left my on-again/off-again boyfriend of five years. When we first started dating, much of our bonding occurred over Sailor Jerry’s and lots of marijuana. Now I am pregnant with our first child together and have decided to give up drinking for obvious reasons. I also quit smoking pot shortly into the first trimester for worry on how it would affect the developing baby and also the fact that I felt guilty about spending that money on such a frivolous habit when we should be saving for a baby on the way. My problem is this: My boyfriend said he would quit smoking and drinking, but so far it has all…

Two to three months ago a dear friend of mine who had recently become engaged asked me if I would be one of her bridesmaids. I was totally thrown off that I had “made the cut,” since the other bridesmaids are her childhood friends and her MOH is her sister. I told her I was beyond honored. The other day I asked for an update on bridesmaid dresses to which I received no reply. A few days after that she responded that my question had thrown her for a loop. She was terribly sorry if she had made me think her decisions on the wedding party were final and said that, when…

My boyfriend and I have been dating since March. His son, Larry, is 10 and lives about four hours away. His son stayed with his dad at my house Saturday (not the first time) and, since my girls were staying with their dad, Larry slept in my daughter’s room. My daughter had about $25 in bills and a bunch of change saved up to buy something, and now it’s gone. My daughter was upset, crying last night. My boyfriend said his son probably took it because he has taken money from his mom’s purse before, almost $100.00! I’m upset and feel I cannot trust this child in my home. My boyfriend says…

Most of the letters I receive from people asking for advice feature so many red flags I’m surprised the LWs can see anything else, let alone miss the red flags entirely. Of course, most likely, they aren’t so much missing them as they are ignoring them. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Years ago, I ignored the prominent red flag in the form of a new boyfriend who couldn’t stop bad-mouthing his most recent ex-girlfriend. Any kind of seeming obsession over an ex is a bad sign, even (especially, really) when the obsession is from a negative perspective. I ignored that red flag for months, even when the boyfriend called me by…

I am currently going through a divorce, and my soon to be ex-brother-in-law is getting married for the second time. He has invited my children, both teenagers, to the wedding, but has not included me. The invitation was addressed to them only. Their father cannot take them for me, due to being incarcerated. My question is: Do I take them, even though the invitation was not addressed to me also? Since I was excluded, should I even think about letting them go without me, or even at all? — Not Invited to BIL’s Wedding