Short Answers

By Jeff Johnson and Paula Forman

WHEN A DEAL ISN’T A DEAL

Dear Short Answers:
My wife and I have two children (4 and 6). The older child is starting first grade next week. We had decided years ago that we were only going to have two children and, as far as I’m concerned, that’s still the right decision. The problem is that my wife is starting to have second thoughts. She looks longingly at every baby we see and cries every day when she thinks about our daughter starting first grade. She says that she is just not ready to have her “baby years” be over. She has never come right out and told me that she wants another child – probably because she knows we made a deal. Do I just wait this out and hope she gets over it? Or do I bring up the subject and say “no way!”
Enough

Dear Enough:
Sometimes you just have to revisit these decisions. Maybe she wants another baby and maybe she just wants to talk about it. Keep an open mind. Shutting down discussion is never a good idea.

TOO MUCH INFORMATION

Dear Short Answers:
My boss talks too much. He tells me more than I want to hear about his marriage and his brother and his parents. I’m so bored I could throw up. How do I shut this down?
SJ

Dear SJ:
The polite thing to do is to try to explain that this kind of sharing is unprofessional. The easy thing to do is to keep checking your texts and email. He will get the message.

GROW UP, MOM!

Dear Short Answers:
My 18-year old daughter (who still lives at home) spends half the day in bed with her boyfriend. It drives me crazy but I’m afraid that if I say something she will move out and I will have no control over her.
Mom

Dear Mom:
You lost control when you abdicated your responsibilities as a mom! You know what’s right — and your house should be your rules. Letting her have her way is buying you nothing but further aggravation.

DOWN BOY

Dear Short Answers:
There is a person at work who has a very morbid sense of humor that I find really creepy. One thing he does is keep a big list on his wall of famous people who have committed suicide along with a picture of them and the way they did it – a gun, a rope, pills, etc. I don’t find this funny. I think it’s creepy and weird and beyond bad taste. I have complained to my boss but nothing happens. Am I within my rights to rip up this trash and throw it out when he’s not in his office?
Mad

Dear Mad:
Key word: HIS wall. No, you can’t rip it down. Call HR if it’s really bothering you.

LESS IS MORE

Dear Short Answers:
Do you think tank tops on men and tube tops on women should be banned in public restaurants? I lose my appetite when I look at male armpit hair and women’s stomachs hanging out.
Offended

Dear O:
Ditto female armpit hair and men’s stomachs — but we are opposed to laws that regulate matters of taste.

Life is complicated.  “Short Answers” isn’t.

 Send a question about whatever is bothering you to [email protected] or go to www.shortanswers.net and a psychologist and sociologist will answer.  A selection of the best questions will be printed every week in KonkLife.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]