Couple disagree on when to have kids

Dear Abby: My fiance, “Bradley,” is the man of my dreams. Our wedding is scheduled for next year. We both work hard and live comfortably. But we struggle now and then to make ends meet.

The issue: I am ready for a child. He wants to wait until we have been married for at least two years. He feels it would require a lot of financial and lifestyle sacrifice that he doesn’t want to make right now.

I understand where he’s coming from. But lately, I have this overpowering sense of readiness and yearning to become a mother. No matter what I do to suppress this instinct, I am more and more heartbroken every day knowing this reality is so far away.

How should I cope with this?

I am becoming more and more depressed. Should I confront my fiance?

Future Mommy In Rhode Island Dear Future Mommy: Couples counseling could be helpful. However, because you are becoming increasingly frustrated and depressed, also discuss these feelings with your physician. If you are worried about your biological clock, women have options today that weren’t available in years past, and you and Brad may want to explore them.

Dear Abby: I am a 69-year-old divorcee who was married for 48 years. After our divorce, I was finally persuaded to do some online dating, which has been quite an adventure! I am currently happy in an exclusive year-long relationship, but because I have been out of the dating world for almost half a century, I am confused by the new rules.

My boyfriend sometimes expects me to share the cost of what we do, whether it be restaurant, movies, golf, airline tickets, etc. My mother taught me that the gentleman always pays, so please give me current advice about present-day dating etiquette, if you would be so kind.

Current In Texas

Dear Current: What your mother taught you WAS true in her day. However, because women are now in the working world, have incomes of their own, and are on a more equal par with men, they now share some or all of those expenses. Much depends upon the financial disparity between the two. This is an important subject you should discuss with your gentleman friend to see if you can agree on an arrangement that’s comfortable for both of you.