Author Jeanne Phillips, the daughter of the original advice columnist Dear Abby, poses for a photo in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 5, 2007.DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are having a disagreement about one of our three daughters. Our 8-year-old is very hairy. It is noticeable, and she doesn’t like wearing shorts, skirts or dresses because of it. Her classmates tease her about it. I want to teach her how to shave her legs or show her how to use hair remover. Her father is angry that I want to “do this” to his little girl. I was a hairy child as well, and I was teased about my hairy legs and my unibrow, which my parents wouldn’t let me shave or pluck. I remember how painful it was, how upset it made me and how different I felt from my classmates because of it. I told myself as a child that when I grew up, I’d never let my daughter go through the same torment. Should we wait a few more years, or should I buy the products I need and teach her what she’ll be doing for the rest of her life? — HAIRY SITUATION
DEAR H.S.: Your husband may mean well, but he may not realize what being the object of ridicule can do to a little girl’s self-esteem. You’re her mother, and you know what to do — so do it. Sometimes girls have to stick together, and this is one of them.
DEAR ABBY: After 26 years of marriage, I recently left my husband. We live only a few blocks from each other, so we run into each other often at the store, the gas station, everywhere.
My problem is more about running into some of the women he cheated on me with. One of them always ends up at the same shopping center or restaurant where I happen to be. She thinks I don’t know who she is.
At first I didn’t want to say anything to her, but now it has really gotten to me. What can I tell her the next time she meets up with me? I want to keep myself from yelling at her. Please help me. — CAN’T FIND THE WORDS IN HOUSTON