Dear Queenie,

My mother wants me to always tell her when I am going away for any reason – work, vacation, whatever. I’m almost 60 and they don’t need to always know where I am. When do I get to live my own life? I have a note in my wallet that says who to notify in case of an emergency and that should be enough.

Queenie, when should parents let their children live their own lives?—Fed-up daughter

Dear Daughter,

Parents do not stop worrying about their children when the children become adults. They always want to know their offspring are well and safe, especially when they are far away. Is it so hard to give them a call or send an email once in a while to let them know you are okay?

Dear Queenie,

I am a single woman with a young son and I would like to have a man in my life, but when I meet a man I don’t know how to let him know about my son and when I start going out with a man I don’t intend to bring him into my son’s life until we have been going together for at least a year and not unless we are getting serious about each other. Meanwhile, I’m not sure what to do.

Queenie, what can you suggest?—Lonely single mom

Dear Lonely single mom,

It is a good idea not to bring various men into your son’s life, but do not be in a hurry to find someone to get serious about.

Get involved in community activities such as volunteer work, church, civic organisations where you can make friends and meet interesting men. As you get to know people it will come up naturally that you have a young child, and if/when you get serious about someone it will be time to introduce him and your son to each other.

Dear Queenie,

My elderly parents do not get along well with each other. My father yells at my mother a lot and sometimes he even hits her. My mother is starting to forget things and makes a lot of mistakes. She blames my father for it and he yells at her for it, but she still cooks for him and helps him get dressed and get around.

She says she’s sick of him and he says he can’t stand looking at her, but it seems like they can’t get along without each other.

Queenie, what do you advise?—Worried sons and daughters

Dear Sons and Daughters,

Arrange to go with each of your parents when they go for their next physical check-up and talk to the doctor about the problem. Keep a close eye on their situation and try to get them out of the house separately as often as possible. Beyond that, there is not much you can do if they will not admit that they have problems.

Dear Queenie,

My boss is always nagging at one of my co-workers without reason. I would like to stand up for him, but I don’t want put my own (good!) relationship with my boss at risk.

Queenie, what should I do?—Worried co-worker

Dear Worried co-worker,

If your place of work has a Human Resources Department, this issue should be brought to their attention. If there is no HR Department, but your boss has a supervisor over him, perhaps that person could help resolve this issue. Other than that, there is not much you can do without, as you say, putting your own relationship with your boss at risk.

Basically, it is up to your co-worker to deal with his problem, if it bothers him as much as it bothers you. Is it possible there is a reason for this situation that you don’t know about, such as a personal relationship?