Mixed signals complicate romance
Dear Abby: My whole life I dreamed about marrying a college football player and, for the past eight months, I have been in a serious relationship with one. Last week he called me and told me we should take a break.
Immediately afterward, I have met up with a close friend from high school, and I think I may be developing feelings for him. He doesn’t have the great looks my boyfriend has, but he is much kinder to me and he treats me right.
I’m stuck because my boyfriend called me last night saying he wants to talk over dinner, and I think he wants to get back together. Should I stick with my longtime, supergood-looking boyfriend, or leave him for the guy I know will treat me right?
Hard Choice in the West
Dear Hard Choice: You do not marry an occupation; you marry a person. A handsome partner who distances himself from you one week and wants to reconcile the next would make a terrible husband. Take it slow and stick with someone who will treat you right and you will have a far happier life. Trust me.
Dear Abby: I’m 24, married and have no children. I don’t consider myself to be nervous when I’m around children, but when they’re in my home or car, shouldn’t I be allowed to ask them to stop whatever they’re doing wrong without the mother getting upset?
My neighbor and I carpool twice a week to our dance workout classes. Her child was topsy-turvy all over the back seat with her shoes leaving marks on my back window. When I asked the child to please take her feet off the window, her mother, to my surprise, announced that next time she would drive her own car, that SHE was uncomfortable and “hoped my future children would be perfect”! She also remarked that I’m the same way in my home.
Abby, was I wrong not to let it go when I was uncomfortable in my car? Soiled in Santa Fe
Dear Soiled: No, you were not wrong. Children are required by law to wear seat belts when in a moving vehicle. In your car and your home, your rules should prevail. No one should create a mess, and if an accident does happen, the parent should clean it up. The woman overreacted. “Mother of the Year” she is not.