Dear Queenie,
Soon my husband and I will be leaving our teenage son alone overnight for the first time ever. Our neighbors will keep an eye on him but we have been wondering whether we should let his girlfriend’s parents, who we have never met, know that he will be alone in the house.
Queenie, should we give them a call?—Concerned parents

Dear Parents,
Yes, give the girlfriend’s parents a call, introduce yourselves, suggest that you would like to meet them sometime soon, and explain what the situation will be with your son. If you were in their place, wouldn’t you want to know?

Dear Queenie,

  My boyfriend wants me to move in with him. I would like to do it, but his house has pictures everywhere of his wife, who died many years ago.

  I know he feels great sorrow over that loss, especially because she was sick for some time before she died and he was away on business when she finally passed away, so I have never said anything about this before, but it would be just too much for me to have to live with.

  Queenie, what do you suggest?—Undecided

Dear Undecided,

  Tell him the pictures are a problem for you, and apparently they indicate he has a problem as well and perhaps would benefit from professional counselling to deal with the problem – and with all the pictures.

  It might also be a good idea for the two of you to find a new place to live together, because even without all the pictures on display his house must be full of memories of his late wife, which would make things uncomfortable for both of you.

Dear Queenie,
I’m a woman in my 50s, no brothers or sisters, and my mother passed away a few years ago. My father is in good health, but he is getting old and his mind is starting to slip and he depends entirely on me. He calls me several times a day, even while I’m at work, and he wants me to come see him every day. He doesn’t have many friends because he is very critical, so he is lonely and depends on me for everything.
Queenie, this is getting to be too much for me and my family to handle. What can we do?—Fed-up daughter

Dear Daughter,
Your father probably realises his mind is starting to slip and is afraid of what will happen to him as it gets worse. Do what you can for him – and go with him to his next appointment with his doctor and ask for advice and information about what resources there are in your community to help deal with your father’s problems as he gets older.

Dear Queenie,

  I work for a small family-owned business where one person is supposed to clean things up every day after we close for business.

  Recently that person got a promotion, but they’re still supposed to do the cleaning, but they’re not doing it. The talk around the place is that they didn’t get a big enough raise with their promotion so they’re slacking off on the cleaning and no one else will do it because it’s still supposed to be their job.

  When customers come in sometimes they comment about the condition the place is in but still no one does anything about it. I can’t go to the person who is supposed to do the cleaning because they are now in charge of my part of the business, which makes them my boss.

  Queenie, what can I do?—Offended employee

Dear Offended employee,

  The person who is supposed to do the cleaning must have a boss. Do not complain about the person who is supposed to do the cleaning, just mention to their boss that customers have commented about the condition of the premises and suggest that maybe they need to get additional help for the cleaning.

  If nothing happens after that, you could ignore the situation, help with the cleaning, or start looking for another job – which might be a good idea, because if things get bad enough the business will surely suffer and you might find yourself without a job.