Couple with bright future get on each other’s nerves

DEAR ABBY: I know every relationship is different, but how do you know when to stop trying and let go? My boyfriend and I have been dating for a year and a half. Lately all we seem to do is fight or upset each other. I don’t want to call it quits, but I’m tired of being angry or sad all the time.

We have been trying to fix our relationship for a while now, but nothing seems to stick. We haven’t been able to get professional help due to our financial situation and COVID, but I don’t know what else to do.

We have so much potential for having an amazing life and family in the future that I don’t want to give up on what could be just because we can’t get along right now. Is love enough to help us through this rough patch? Or am I just fooling myself into thinking we can survive together? -LOST IN LOVE IN KANSAS

DEAR LOST: Many couples -- married and not -- have been having relationship problems related to the pandemic and the social isolation it has brought. Add financial issues into the mix, and the result has been anxiety, depression and disrupted relationships.

These are difficult times, and I hope you and your boyfriend can weather the storm by giving each other the gift of patience and understanding. The answer to your dilemma may be as simple as returning to normal once the pandemic gets under control.

DEAR ABBY: I am a 68-year-old man. Yesterday, my girlfriend and I were in a small gift shop. A young couple was there with a 6-monthold baby in a stroller. I bent down, smiled, winked, waved at the baby and said, “Hi there!” I then told the mother that her baby was beautiful and that I love little kids.

My girlfriend said I was being creepy. I was shocked. I said that she knew I liked kids, and she said yes, she knew that, but that I was still being creepy.

Abby, I have two wonderful, successful adult daughters and always enjoyed having their friends over to our house, which was the place to be back then. I am still stunned at the accusation, but I now wonder. Was I out of line and being “creepy”? -- STUNNED IN WASHINGTON

DEAR STUNNED: There’s a double standard for men interacting with children that women don’t face. But admiring someone’s baby and telling the mother her child is beautiful isn’t “creepy.” Neither is mentioning that you love kids. Countless people say the same thing in passing, and there’s nothing untoward about it.