Dear Queenie,

  I have a relative who always expects to get a perfect gift but never likes the ones we give her. I want to celebrate special occasions like birthdays and Christmas by giving a gift, but she makes it not fun.

  Queenie, what do you suggest?—Un-appreciated gift-giver

Dear Gift-giver,

  Gift certificates from her favourite stores, or just cash or a cheque. That way she can only complain to herself. If she complains about receiving money instead of a specific gift you might want to stop giving her anything – and in that event, if she still complains, tell her she has only herself to blame, and why.

Dear Queenie,

  My husband and I have been together since high school. He cheated on me several times while we were dating and even while we were engaged. Now I found out he has even cheated on me since we got married.

  He keep promising it won’t happen again, but it always does.

  Queenie, does a cheater ever stop cheating?—Fed-up wife

Dear Wife,

  Maybe when women no longer find him attractive and/or when he becomes unable to “perform” – if then, because he may go on trying.

Dear Queenie,

  My children are teenagers and think they should be allowed to have all the same things their friends have and to do all the same things their friends do.

  Queenie, how do I explain to them that this is not possible?—Harassed mom

Dear Mom,

  If there are things your children have and/or do that their friends do not have/do, be sure to point these things out to them.

  Then explain to them that all families are different, and in your family this is how things are.

Dear Queenie,

  There is a group of us who meet for dinner once a week. My boyfriend got friendly with one of the other women in the group and she started making flirty jokes with him and he started answering the same way.

  I knew nothing was really going on between them, because they would refer to something that happened when him and me were together, like “last night was just wonderful!” when he had been with me the whole night.

  However, I got sick of this joking and after a couple of weeks I told my boyfriend how rude I thought it was and if I heard any of it again I would be done with him. He acted surprised and said nothing was happening between them and he would stop, He apologised said if I had said something to him sooner he would have stopped then.

  Queenie, was I wrong to speak my mind?—Offended girlfriend

Dear Girlfriend,

  You were not wrong to find this rude, to be offended by it and to speak up.

  However, you should have spoken up the first time it happened instead of letting it fester until you were so angry you would threaten to break up with your boyfriend.

  He has said nothing but joking happened, which you knew anyway, has apologised for offending you with the joking and said he would stop it, so forgive him, as long as the offensive joking stops.