DEAR ABBY: My daughter and her partner have two children, an 8-month-old and a 3-year-old. Whenever they get home, if a child is sleeping in the car seat, one of them will stay in the vehicle until the child wakes up. They don’t want to bring the child inside the house because the child will wake up.
They live in Los Angeles, the weather is nice and they spend the time listening to music with earphones. Abby, they may end up staying in the car for two to three hours, waiting. I say this is wrong, but I don’t seem able to convince my daughter or her partner. – GRANDMA IN TEXAS
DEAR GRANDMA: It is possible that your daughter and her partner regard the time they spend in the car as a rest period for themselves as well as the child. As parents of young children, they may need the break. Accept this as their parenting style and stay out of it, because they are hurting no one.
DEAR ABBY: Thirty years ago, my wife and I moved from New York City to Albuquerque. I have four brothers. One has visited once, another has visited three times, but two brothers have never come out to see us. We have gone back East for weddings, funerals and reunions.
When I ask these two brothers why they don’t visit, they say going to New Mexico is not on their bucket list or that their wives don’t like to fly. I feel hurt and abandoned. Should I not care or just not deal with them? – WAITING FOR 30 YEARS