Dear Queenie,

  I always remember my niece and nephew on their birthday and Christmas by sending them a card with a check enclosed, but they never bother to thank me for the gift. I wouldn’t know if they had received it if I didn’t see on my bank statement that they had cashed the check.

  I don’t expect them to send me a written thank you note, but an email or a phone call or text message would nice.

  Queenie, am I asking too much?—Disappointed aunt

Dear Aunt,

  No, you are not asking too much. The children’s parents are not teaching them basic good manners – the magic words “please” and “thank you”.

  If this happened to me, I would continue sending the cards, but skip the check – and explain why to the parents, if necessary.

Dear Queenie,

  I’ve been having some problems that I took the advice you always give and went to get some professional counselling for, but I heard my husband laughing about the problems and the fact that I need counselling and now I’m afraid to continue with it.

  Queenie, what should I do?—Troubled wife

Dear Wife,

  People often laugh about things they do not understand. However, are you sure that is what your husband was laughing at?

  Ask him to go with you for one of your counselling sessions and ask the counsellor to explain to him just how serious your problems are, and why.

Dear Queenie,

  My husband uses a lot of dirty language – swear words and foul ones – in every conversation. It’s not when he’s angry or anything, it’s just his normal way of speaking.

  Now we have a baby boy and I’m afraid he will learn to talk the same way. I have asked my husband over and over to cut down on the foul talk, but he hasn’t done anything about it.

  Queenie, what more can I do?—Offended wife

Dear Wife,

  This is a real problem. People who talk that way have poor language skills and habits, and teaching them to do better is very difficult.

  When your son starts talking and uses a foul word (which he will not even know what it means) you will have to explain to him that even though Daddy talks that way, he is not allowed to say that word.

  And I wish you good luck with the language lessons.

Dear Queenie,

  Someone I know mentioned that her daughter is pregnant, but never said anything about who the father is. If her daughter was married I could take it for granted, although even then I might be wrong, but she isn’t.

  Queenie, would I be out of line to ask?—Just curious

Dear Just curious,

  The grandmother-to-be may not know who the father is, or there may be some reason for keeping it quiet – like if the guy is married to someone else than her daughter. To avoid starting any trouble, you will just have to stay curious.