Dear Queenie,

  I got divorced about a year ago and I can’t decide what to do about all our family pictures with my ex in them. I don’t want to throw them out because he is my children’s father and they might want the pictures someday, but I don’t like having to look at them all the time, and if I start seeing someone new he probably wouldn’t like seeing pictures with my ex in them.

  Queenie, what do you suggest I do with them?—Moving on

Dear Moving on,

  If your children want to have the pictures on display, put them up in the children’s room(s). Otherwise, put them in an album and store it away in case your children want the pictures sometime in the future.

Dear Queenie,

  Whenever there is an occasion for giving a gift, my brother gives me something that is not my size or just not the kind of thing I like. He usually buys them on sale, so I can’t just return them for credit or exchange them for something I like better.

  Queenie, is there some way I can let him know I would prefer it if he would just give me a gift certificate, or at least something that could be exchanged for something I like better?—Cheapskate’s sister

Dear Sister,

  You could suggest a gift certificate, but of course then the price would be right there in front of you and the cheapskate might be embarrassed. Try to accept your brother for what he is and to be grateful for whatever effort he put into getting a gift for you – after all, “it’s the thought that counts”.

  You can always pass his gifts on to someone else who can use them, or donate them to a community service organisation that will do so.

Dear Queenie,

  My husband has grown a long thick beard and I just can’t stand it because he doesn’t keep it neat. He says he gets a lot of compliments on it from his co-workers, but I don’t care what they say, I just don’t like it, I think he should shave it or at least trim it shorter.

  Queenie, shouldn’t he care more about what I think about it than some women he works with?—Fed-up wife

Dear Wife,

  Of course, he should – unless perhaps the “women he works with” are his supervisor and/or other superiors in the hierarchy where your husband works, in which case I cannot blame him for wanting to please them. And possibly, if those women are not his “superiors” they are just paying him compliments to get on his good side.

  If your husband gets his hair cut by a barber, perhaps the barber can give him some suggestions on caring for his beard to make it more attractive.

Dear Queenie,

  I’m planning my wedding and I have asked my best friend to be my maid of honor and her daughter, who is my god-daughter, to be the flower girl.

  My mother and her family are very prejudiced and they don’t like my friend and her daughter because the little girl is biracial. My mother says she won’t come to the wedding if my friend and her daughter are in the wedding party. And my fiancé and I are paying for the whole affair, so it’s not as if my mother has anything to say about the arrangements.

  My father and my brothers and sisters do not agree with her. They think her attitude is terrible.

  Queenie, what should I do about all this?—Bride-to-be

Dear Bride-to-be,

  I agree with your father and your siblings – your mother’s attitude is terrible. You can try to talk it over with her reasonably, but I hope you will not give in to her racist bigotry.