Relationships

Relationships

In a TikTok with more than 248K likes as of this writing, creator Davide De Pierro discusses how one of his dating rules is that his female partner shouldn't make new male friends. She's allowed to have male friends... as long as they met before the relationship started. Making new ones while committed? Not allowed. Many of us know the feeling: a friend drifting away because their partner isn't comfortable, or trying to chat with someone platonically, only to be reminded, "I'm taken."

At his parents' house, there are family pictures everywhere, and I saw that Marie and I look very, very similar. Not just the physical features (though we have a lot of physical similarities, too. In the photos in their house, I could see more clearly that Marie's skin tone, hair color, and many of her facial features look a lot like mine), but also the mannerisms. The way she's acting in those photos reminded me a lot of myself.

When couples come to us for therapy, they usually want the same thing: fewer fights, less hurt, more harmony. They imagine that the healthiest relationships are the ones with the least conflict. But that's not how love actually works. The goal isn't the absence of conflict (rupture)-it's how we use the conflict to repair-create and sustain meaningful connection. In our book, Love. Crash. Rebuild, we teach every couple two unexpectedly simple rules.

Have you ever frustratingly mumbled to your partner that it "must be nice to have a partner who walks the dog" in hopes of them walking the dog more often? Or have you ever sighed that you'll "just do the errands alone" even though you don't want to? Turns out, you may be dry begging, a tool that people use in relationships of all sorts to get their needs met.

We're laying low...We're enjoying our time, just relaxing.

This took a turn! I thought you were going to say you didn't want to miss the time with your family. But you're actually concerned about germs. And you apparently believe special virus strains attach themselves to people who have fallen on hard times. I'll tell you where I agree with you: You should not, under any circumstances, show up to volunteer anywhere that requires you to interact with people who need help. They will feel your disgust, and they don't need that.

Keith Urban has already moved on from estranged wife Nicole Kidman, who begrudgingly filed for divorce late last month after 19 years of marriage. A source told Us Weekly that the Grammy winner, 58, is not dating one person but is open and has moved on from the marriage with Nicole. The Aussie stars who tied the knot in 2006 and share daughters Sunday, 17, and Faith, 14 began living apart at the beginning of the summer,

Not getting the support you crave from your mother has to be heart-wrenching. While I do not have a recommendation on how to resolve that, I can suggest that you surround yourself with other people who can serve as cheerleaders. Who is close to you who is proud of your current choice? Who naturally encourages you when you are feeling low and celebrates your small victories? Be sure to stay in touch with those people.

"Not really. I think the things that you don't like you just have to either compromise on and realize that, like, no guys are perfect, so are you willing to sacrifice? No guys are perfect, so what are you willing to compromise on?"

My husband of more than 20 years gives me slipper socks with grippy soles. I hate them! We live in a hot climate, so I have little use for them. They filled up my sock drawer and retraumatized me every time I touched them. I threw them away and they came back. He gave me five more pairs at Christmas. They can't be worn with shoes or out in public.

Eight years ago, I was in £35,000 of debt, or around $44,800 USD. I had toddler-aged twins and had just gotten remarried. We were struggling to afford rent and had to meticulously budget for food. I'd decided not to return to my job as a personal assistant, as the pay was less than the cost of childcare. I looked into starting my own business and decided to set up a wedding planning company on a whim.

We have had phone sex and cam sex, and have exchanged lots of sexy pictures, texts, and videos. We have explored topics such as dominance and submission, and we talk about fantasies that might not be to most people's taste. We have gotten to a point where he can make me orgasm without me touching myself. And we have lots of common interests beyond sex and connect on those topics.

We come into the world screaming and vulnerableentirely dependent on adult caregivers to keep us safe and teach us how to connect with others. The nature of these earliest relationships influences how we behave towards others and see the world long after we've grownbut in more complex and nuanced ways than researchers previously thought, according to the results of a large, decades-long study examining how the quality of children's interactions with parents and close peers went on to influence their relationships in adulthood.

I'm a 36-year-old woman and we've been together for four years. During this time his stability has provided me with a base to grow and expand in the most wonderful ways. Now I feel suffocated. He is a wonderful person but has no interest in ever leaving his home town to try something new (I'm an immigrant). His only interests are pubs and football and when we go abroad he wants to spend most of his time in the pub, which infuriates me.

It's embarrassing to say, but I might as well lead with the truth: I'm 76 and still horny as hell. I'm tall, with the kind of posture that used to turn heads but now just reminds me to stretch. My hair's gone white, my skin's mapped with wrinkles, and even with hearing aids, I miss half of what people say. But desiredesire's still loud.

I lean on them and rely on their excellent advice and strong shoulders. Our 55th wedding anniversary is several days before Christmas. Because of the type of dementia my husband has, he cannot speak or understand speech. Reading and writing skills are diminished. A celebration would be difficult to impossible for guests and family members because of his type of dementia. I thought a dinner cruise would be a wonderful compromise.

This is the same thing I think when people say they want to suppress an inappropriate crush: Give it up. It won't work. Just let yourself keep your feelings. They're not harming anyone. Instead, let's focus on your actions and making sure they're aligned with 1) being the kind of person you want to be, and 2) being strategic about setting your husband up to have some measure of peace when his mom is gone.

When discussing bills, one roommate said she didn't watch TV so she wasn't going to contribute to the cable bill. A lot of people just stream/download now, so we didn't question it. But now, when we're watching TV, she comes and sits to watch it too! The first time, one roommate told her it was cable, not a streaming service, so it wasn't fair for her to watch it with us.

It bothers you, Miss Manners is guessing, because these outings are a chance for the neighborhood ladies to bond and connect. If members of the group are going to invite just anyone, who will be next? Husbands? Dates?! Of course, as these intruders happen to be pleasant and engaging, you could look at this as an opportunity to make new friends. Or you could be miffed because what you really want to do is gossip about the new mail person and exchange neighborhood secrets.

We all know someone who seems to "forget" how to do something they've done a hundred times before: a partner who can't figure out the laundry settings, a colleague who somehow never learns the new scheduling system, a friend who always "means to" organize the gathering but never quite does. The term " weaponized incompetence" has emerged to describe this pattern: when someone exaggerates or performs helplessness to avoid responsibility and, consciously or not, shifts the burden onto someone else.

Children can be, and usually are, demanding. A parent may recall their fussy child's tantrums over a particular meal or toy, remembering the challenge of getting it just right. Children expect, and rightfully so, their parents to know what's good for them, even when they don't know themselves. Ultimately, it's the parent's responsibility to calm, which all of us accept as the natural state of things.

I once completely lost my voice, on a flight from New York to London, and spent the next week having to communicate through gestures and mime. Without a voice, it became difficult for me to express what I thought or felt or needed. For humans, the voice acts as a fundamental tool for communicating a spectrum of meaning, emotion, and intention to others.

Usually people approach couples therapy as a last resort to salvage their relationship that has been deteriorating for 2 to 3 years, according to research. 1 Yet, many leave without tangible results. While the therapist you've chosen might not be a good fit, there might also be things that aren't about the therapist, their treatment approach, or their experience, so you can influence them to make therapy more successful and efficient.

One of our neighbors is complaining that the smoke from the fire is bothering her she has pulmonary problems and says she can't breathe or even keep her windows open for fresh air. She has asked us to stop using it. She says if we don't, it will affect our friendship. We have cleaned our fireplace regularly and placed a new, larger flue on the chimney, but it didn't help. No other neighbors have complained.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: When my mother passed away some years ago, my brother and his wife placed a stuffed black cat toy in her casket. My mother had owned several black cats. Months later, I was opening a Christmas gift from my brother. It turned out to be a stuffed black cat. He said, Do you know where that came from? Of course I knew! My mouth dropped open. Miss Manners, was this absolutely the worst Christmas gift ever, or am I missing something?

Sometimes I wear fluffy cat ears and crawl under Zach's desk while he's writing his thesis. He'll stroke me and say, Do you like that? Do you need anything? It's a way for me to feel safe and turn off my brain for a little while. We live with Zach's grandparents as their carers, and once I forgot to take the ears off.