Dear Queenie,
My sister wants to bring her husband and her boyfriend to all our holiday parties and both her husband and her boyfriend seem to be okay with this arrangement.
My husband and I don’t want to go because we don’t want our kids to think this is a proper arrangement. My mother hosts all these parties and she says if they are okay with it she doesn’t mind.
Queenie, what do you think?—Holiday Etty Ket
Dear Etty Ket,
If your children are young enough to accept the extra guest as just a “good friend” of their aunt and uncle, do not make an issue of this unusual arrangement even if you yourselves do not like your sister’s “third wheel.”
However, if the children are old enough to understand that there is some kind of romantic involvement there, either make other plans for the holidays or make sure to explain to them that you do not approve, but do not want to boycott the rest of the family because of it.
