DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend and I have been dating for more than a decade. We’re nearly 30 now. We are happy not being married, and we both agreed early in our relationship that we would not have kids.
All of a sudden, my boyfriend has decided he wants children. I said maybe in the future, but he feels we’re running out of time. I still don’t want kids, and it’s for selfish reasons. I enjoy traveling, having time to myself and just the two of us, peace and quiet, being able to do what I want when I want without having to worry about kids. Is that so wrong? Where do we go from here? – AT ODDS IN MONTANA
DEAR AT ODDS: After 10-plus years, “the future” has arrived. It appears you and your boyfriend have reached a large fork in the road. From here you either go your separate ways or agree to relationship counseling to see if there may be a way to bridge this gap.
DEAR ABBY: For the last 25 years, we have gone on several weekend getaways with another couple. They are now suggesting a one-week vacation together. The issue is, they constantly either talk to or text their children while we are with them. They call to tell them the weather, where we’re eating, get updates on their various sporting events, etc.
We also have children and grandchildren, but we wait until we return home to reconnect and hear about their weekend and tell about ours. We love our kids, but we don’t need to be constantly connected.