Dear Queenie,

My wife gets mad if someone, especially children, starts to eat before she has put all the food on the table.

Queenie, she said she was going to write to you about this, so here it is. What do you say?—Dinner-time Etty Ket

Dear Etty Ket,

I think it is not realistic to expect a hungry person, especially a child, not to eat if there is food right in front of them, except at a formal dinner party. Children should learn proper table manners, but keep it within reason.

Dear Queenie,

My wife is a very nice person, but I have heard bad things about her sister and I would like to know the truth about her, but my wife and her family never talk about her. I tried looking her up on the Internet and saw a lot of bad stuff, but you can’t believe everything you see there.

I’m afraid my wife will get mad at me if I try to talk to her about her sister.

Queenie, what can I do?—Curious husband

Dear Husband,

Tell your wife you were curious about her sister and found some bad things on the Internet and would like to know what is the truth about her. If you trust your wife, you can tell from her response what the truth is about her sister.

Dear Queenie,

I have three daughters. One of them is grown up and out on her own, one is in high school and one is in second grade.

I spend an occasional night with my boyfriend, leaving my youngest daughter with one of her sisters which she seems to enjoy, but I would like to spend a whole weekend with him or even go with him on a short vacation, but based on how things were for him growing up, he says I shouldn’t be away from my youngest daughter for that long.

Queenie, how can I convince him that it would be okay?—I need a break

Dear I need a break,

Explain to your boyfriend how different things are in your family from the way things were for him when he was a child.

Your boyfriend may have other reasons for not spending more time with you and you need to find out what those reasons are, because I think you need to know a lot more about him.

Dear Queenie,

I used to have lunch every day with a friend at work, but recently he has been ignoring me and talking to someone else who is known for having lots of “friends”. He says he wants us to still be friends, but he is destroying our friendship.

Queenie, how can I keep on being friends with him?—Worried friend

Dear Friend,

Is your friend aware of his new friend’s reputation? You can mention your concern for him, but then let it go. Apparently he is willing to take a chance on being hurt and if you press the matter you may be the one he ends things with. Maybe it is time you also looked for other friendships.