Mother shouldn’t give up on abusive teen; help is out there

bullied?

At 13, it’s too soon to throw up your hands and give up. Because therapy and medication haven’t helped your son, I would have to ask what kind of therapist has been seeing him. When treatment doesn’t work, a patient may need a more comprehensive assessment — a second opinion or even a third. My suggestion would be to take him to a teaching hospital. And while you’re there, please consider asking about some support for yourself.

Dear Abby: I’m in my late 30s and moved away from my parents when I was 17. My husband doesn’t make a lot of money, but he gives me his whole paycheck for the household expenses every week. Because we live paycheck to paycheck, we rarely have much money left at the end of the month.

The issue is my parents. They are retired now and received a nice inheritance when my grandparents passed. They used the money to pay off every debt they had, and now they won’t stop telling me how to save money or how to spend it. Now that they’re financially stable, they seem to have forgotten they lived paycheck to paycheck when they were my age. I rarely speak to them anymore because of it.

How can I get them to back off without starting a war?

Dear Paycheck: Has it not occurred to you that they’re dispensing financial advice because they hope to help you avoid some of the mistakes THEY made before they received that windfall?

Listen politely, thank them, discuss it with your husband, and decide if some of it applies to you. Keep what you can use and discard the rest.