Dear Margo® from Creators Syndicate

What To Do When a Daughter Is Without the Compassion Gene for 09/04/2009

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I thought I'd write to you since I have nowhere to turn. I've been divorced for 14 years and had two children from that marriage. I am now married to my new husband and have a son with him. The problem is my daughter from my first marriage, who is mad at me because I refuse to attend parties and get-togethers that involve my ex-husband and his mother. The stress I experience in thei ...

Updated: Fri Sep 04, 2009

Marrying For Money Is a Tough Way To Earn a Living for 09/05/2009

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I am 27, and I married for love at 24. It didn't work out, so now I'm considering dating for money. I enjoy traveling, which is an expensive hobby, and my passion is animals. Without a degree (or the time and money to pursue a degree), I can only volunteer my time to causes that benefit animals. I'm dating a really great guy right now, but he has a lot of baggage — an ex-wife ...

Updated: Sat Sep 05, 2009

The Other Side of the Coin for 09/11/2009

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: OMG — I can't believe that you (or my wife) can't figure out why a man wouldn't want to have sex with his wife. There are so many reasons that have nothing to do with being indifferent or gay — medical, girlfriend, performance issues, etc. In my case, I can't stand my wife. A little history: We dated for a few years, and then it just seemed time to get married. We were b ...

Updated: Fri Sep 11, 2009

Love Thy Neighbor (or Brother) as Thyself -- Unless He Is Gay … for 09/12/2009

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I need advice about how to address my oldest brother's hurtful actions toward me and the paralysis it has caused my family. I am a 40-year-old gay man in the Bible Belt. Last December, I married my partner of five years in a legally recognized ceremony in New England. Knowing that many people would be unable to join us out of state, we arranged a reception at our home down south a m ...

Updated: Sat Sep 12, 2009

This Is Not "The One" for 09/18/2009

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I am a 30-year-old man with a college degree, a good job in these hard times and a girlfriend of six years who is starting her professional life soon. I love her, but now I am having doubts about our future. Part of the job training she's getting is halfway across the country, so we would have a long-distance relationship for the next year. Furthermore, while we have a strong bond, ...

Updated: Fri Sep 18, 2009

I Would Make This a Deal-Breaker for 09/19/2009

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I would like advice on how to be treated with respect by my husband in front of his son and male friends. He is very caring, loyal and considerate when we're with each other. However, whenever his 18-year-old son is with us, my husband always belittles me in some way. It unfolds the same way every time. I make a comment to join the conversation: He either dismisses me completely or ...

Updated: Sat Sep 19, 2009

Life Is Choices for 09/25/2009

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I have been with my husband for 12 years. We have two sons and a very young daughter. Before I got pregnant with my daughter, I started communicating with a man, "Sean," online. We talked because we were both unhappy with our marriages (or maybe just bored). After a few months of this, I found out I was pregnant with my husband's baby and stopped all communication with Sea ...

Updated: Fri Sep 25, 2009

Why Choose To Feel Rotten? for 09/26/2009

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: My father was unwilling to support and nurture his family and never gave my mother the love and care she deserved. When I was 13, she finally kicked him out. He moved across the country, and I haven't seen him since. I wasn't really upset, but rather relieved; we are so much better off without him.

I'm now 23 and recently married. I knew my father wouldn't come to the wedding ...

Updated: Sat Sep 26, 2009

Seriously Playing Games for 10/02/2009

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: My wife and I regularly play an online video game. Since I work full time and she doesn't, she plays more than I do. A few weeks ago, she asked me if I had a problem with her spending a lot of time playing the game with an online friend, who happens to be male. I said that as long as he was "just a friend," it was no problem. Over the past few weeks, however, I noticed beh ...

Updated: Fri Oct 02, 2009

Her Mother, the Dinosaur for 10/03/2009

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I'm a 22-year-old student who just moved back in with my mother to help ease the cost of medical school. I moved out of our house when I was 17, one day after my graduation from high school, and never wanted to come back. However, I find myself having to make certain sacrifices so I can become a doctor. The problem is that my mother has always treated my little brother and me differ ...

Updated: Sat Oct 03, 2009

A Troubled Person Must Want To "Fix" Himself for 10/09/2009

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I am a 28-year-old woman with a conundrum. I am married to a man I love very much, who says he loves me. However, things are unraveling fast for us. Before we got married, we spoke of all the things we would like to do together — travel, buy a house, make a life for ourselves. Yet, not long after we officially tied the knot, he lost interest in doing any of those things.

< ...

Updated: Fri Oct 09, 2009

When Mean-Spiritedness Becomes Cruelty for 10/10/2009

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I am 31, and my brother is 28. Our parents divorced five years ago. Our father is remarried to a woman with a 12-year-old daughter, "Leigh." She is not especially bright, but she isn't a hopeless nitwit. Our dad, however, is quite cruel to her. He calls her "Brain Damage" to her face (which Leigh thinks is a joke), writes e-mails to us about stupid things she doe ...

Updated: Sat Oct 10, 2009

Phone Sex in the Office! for 10/16/2009

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I have a contract position — very much needed after six months of unemployment. I'm doing a good job and get on well superficially with my supervisor. Here's the problem: I am required to sit next to a 40-something schmo in an office with very low cubicle walls. He has easily audible sexual conversations with his multiple girlfriends and either doesn't realize or doesn't care ...

Updated: Fri Oct 16, 2009

And We Have a Winner for the "Skunk Award" for 10/17/2009

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I am in desperate need of advice. My inability to let go of my husband's past is causing a rift in our marriage and a decline in my health. We've been married for a year and generally have a happy relationship. I know he loves me and would never be unfaithful … but here is my problem. I always believed you should wait until marriage for sex. Naturally, I was intimidated when my husb ...

Updated: Sat Oct 17, 2009

...And Maybe Cut Down on the Tequila for 10/23/2009

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: My husband and I (he's 50, I'm 41) have been together for five years. Everything looked like roses and sunshine till lately. The man is acting like he's single. For example, I was sick with a nasty case of stomach flu and could hardly lift my head. He had a choice of taking care of me or going to a party. You guessed it: He went partying, and it took four grown men to carry his tequ ...

Updated: Fri Oct 23, 2009

Backing Up and Coming Clean for 10/24/2009

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: In my senior year of college, I had an affair with my much older professor. It took a while to get over, but now I'm in grad school and he's still my adviser and friend. A few friends and my current boyfriend of 11 months know that there was some kind of attachment (I never said who), but as far as anyone is concerned, I've been single between my high-school boyfriend and this one.< ...

Updated: Sat Oct 24, 2009

This Was, Perhaps, an Ill-Considered Offer for 10/30/2009

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I honestly don't know where to turn. I can't share this information with family or friends, and my husband is so ashamed, he doesn't want me to tell anyone.

Now 52, he has been an alcoholic since he was 14. When he decided to quit drinking, he wanted to go out "with a bang." I was so proud of him for his decision that I told him whatever reward he wanted he could ha ...

Updated: Fri Oct 30, 2009

When Idiot Strangers Speak for 10/31/2009

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: Why do people feel the need to make comments about unusual numbers and sexes and looks of families? I am a mother of three daughters, one son and a stepdaughter. Invariably, when we're out, someone makes a comment. Before the birth of my son we would hear, "That's a lot of weddings" and "Are you going to keep going until you get a boy?" People would actually ask ...

Updated: Sat Oct 31, 2009

Please Google Karen Carpenter for 11/06/2009

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Dear Margo: I am very worried about my boyfriend. "Lake" is 21, 6 feet tall and 140 pounds. Lately he's begun eating less and less — like one salad per day along with coffee and diet soda. He told me he was "just trying to lose a few pounds," but I think this might be something more serious. He now insists that we walk if we're going somewhere, and he runs for at least ...

Updated: Fri Nov 06, 2009

He Wants You To What? for 11/07/2009

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Dear Margo: My husband of three years has suddenly become a real pervert. We dated for five years prior to marriage, and he was never this way. First, we are a May (me) December (him) relationship. He was always a gentleman, and there was nothing jaded about him. He is well educated and successful. Our sex life has been incredible. He's said he could only have dreamed of having this kind of sex ...

Updated: Sat Nov 07, 2009