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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the whole kid thing lately, and I just feel really uncertain about it all. A big part of me is starting to think maybe I might be kind of ready to think about having a baby, but I’m just so unsure about the whole thing. I KNOW I want kids. I know I want a family, but then, when I think about it, I feel like it’s not the right time. However, then I wonder, is it ever the right time? So, some of my reservations are practical things, like how expensive daycare is, and if my job will let me only work four…

Two quickies in one today! I met my now-fiancé a year ago. He came from South Africa to work on a six-month program where I live. Within months we knew we wanted to marry each other. He was able to get his visa extended for another six months, but he had to go work in another state, which left us in a long-distance relationship for seven months. That was painful and hard, but we did it. He is now back in my town until this November, and then he will have to go back to South Africa because of the visa laws here. So we want to get married before November so…

Last Friday my husband and I and a group of his friends went for a weekend getaway. We were all having a good time and, as the night went on, people kept dropping out of the group, finally leaving just me, my husband, and one other male friend. We had all been drinking heavily that day and were staying at the same hotel. We ordered some food and went back to our (my husband’s and my) hotel room to eat. My husband ended up passing out as soon as he finished eating his food. I continued eating and talking to his friend. Within minutes of my husband passing out, his friend started…

I remarried two years ago after a messy divorce. My new husband is really good to me: loving, calm, decent and all I wanted. We do have a problem though. When he goes to any party hosted by his children (he has four grown children), he can’t take me because the ex-wife is there and the kids are afraid she’ll throw a tantrum. Recently, his daughter came here to issue some invitations for a birthday party, and all the invitations she left had the names of husbands and wives in the family except for ours, which only had my husband’s name on it. It’s now eighteen years since my husband separated from…

My husband and I will be married thirty years this fall. We are currently in our third house. Fifteen years ago we moved to Florida because we both “retired” due to health issues. We’re both legally blind and could no longer work at our respective jobs. But he hated the humidity and my mother was ill, so we moved back up North. Now my husband has been dealing with medical issues — one after another since we moved back. The house we live in is two-story and he is currently in a wheelchair for another eight months with three months down. I want to move to a one-floor home with less maintenance,…

From the forums: I thought my friend, who’s dating my guy friend, had an emotional affair with another man, but she just confided in me that it was a physical one, too. I actually introduced her to her boyfriend, but I’m closer to her. I don’t want to break her trust and I feel out of place telling her boyfriend about her cheating, so I don’t think I’ll be doing an intervention. However, I feel terrible knowing this bit of information. It looked like she regretted telling me about it, but I didn’t see much remorse in her confession and I’m not sure if the cheating is ongoing or if it was…

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 go. I’m 25 years old, my boyfriend is 30, and we’ve been together a year and a half. Most of that time has been very happy, but I made the mistake of telling him I had a threesome before I met him and ever since then he has been harassing me. He tells me that I “have” to do this with him…