Social Q’s

A reader’s brother-in-law is insisting that she accompany her children to his 1-year-old’s birthday party, even though attending would require her to miss an important funeral.

A reader who was made to choose a college based on price is struggling to understand her parents’ support of her younger sister at an expensive private school.

Stung by the revelation that her sister frequently took her clothing without permission in their youth, a reader is baffled by the disclosure: Was it expressly to hurt?

A reader’s uncle and aunt were touched when she sent them a Christmas card, but her sister thinks the gesture was a betrayal of their father’s memory.

A reader is anxious about the language barrier keeping her from bonding with her partner’s friends. A two-week group vacation has ramped up the urgency.

After 20 years in a house that was never meant to be a “forever home,” a reader thinks it’s time for a move, but her husband refuses to consider her wishes.

A reader is fuming after a friend lied about her efforts to get a wig made for a sick child, and thinks her other friends should know about the deception.

When a woman tries to remedy a relative’s unequal generosity to her children using her own estate, her daughter-in-law wonders whether her husband is being shortchanged.

A reader has been feeling left out by her husband’s siblings-only dinners — and never more so than when her brother-in-law crashed a recent get-together.

Although his wife has long maintained that she doesn’t want to know the identity of her birth father, a reader is tempted to find out on her behalf.

A reader is torn between attending a final dinner with his uncle, who has terminal cancer, and supporting his father, who wasn’t invited because of an old grudge.

A reader’s wife sees bigotry in their exclusion from group photos at a nephew’s wedding, but her husband is reluctant to write off his relatives for good.

A reader is angered by friends who list their homes with other real estate brokers — sometimes without giving his husband a chance to make his case.

A reader’s feelings are hurt after offering to fly to celebrate her sister’s 70th birthday only to be told not to bother, as “all her family” would be there.

Two years after one of her children received a generous birthday gift, a reader wonders whether to intervene on behalf of her overlooked child.

Four years after being laid off, a man in his 50s is still relying on his father, who just moved into an assisted living facility, for support and housing. Should his sister say something?

Put off by pitying displays of concern for her son’s paralysis, a reader wonders how to handle a well-meaning friend whose support misses the mark.

A reader had hoped that her grandmother’s ring would stay in the family, perhaps to pass on to her daughter, but her former sister-in-law has so far refused to give it back.

After supporting an old friend through years of incarceration with letters and shipments of books, a reader wants out, put off by the woman’s lies about her situation.

Reunited with her son after half a century, a reader feels slighted by her seat at a family wedding, where her son’s wife had already made her feel less than welcome.

Frustrated that she and her partner live too far away from his parents to reap the benefits of free grandparental supervision, a reader wonders how to broach her feelings of being cheated.

After offering his brother lodging for his course of radiation therapy, the man informed him — with one day’s notice — that the invitation was contingent on an apology for a long-forgotten letter.

A reader is distraught that a woman she’s estranged from has been added to her most treasured circle of friends. Is there anything she can do to reclaim the group chat?

Months after the bulk of their mother’s estate was divided and paid, a reader’s sister is seeking to keep a remaining balance of $150,000 as payment for her work as an executor.

A reader is left wondering how to patch things up with irked neighbors after an understandably preoccupied friend left the reader’s dog alone to bark all night.

After her son responded with interest to the idea of moving back home to raise a family, a mother is hurt to realize that he never intended to keep her around.

Years after traveling cross-country for her sister’s “fake wedding,” a reader feels slighted as both a guest and a taxpayer — and in no mood to have her over for the holidays.

Now that her children’s grandparents have a second home just a few minutes away, a reader finds herself struggling to keep up with (or politely deflect) their unplanned visits.

On the hook for the lion’s share of care for her homebound mother, a reader wonders how to get her out-of-state siblings to pick up the slack — or at least the phone.

Parents who installed a camera in the eye of their daughter’s stuffed bear ask how — and whether — to come clean about their surveillance now that she has left for college.

A mother feels an urge to send her sympathies to the family of her son’s classmate who recently died, but she worries it could be an upsetting overstep.

A reader feels conflicted about attending celebrations as a friend of the family when the woman who was her original connection won’t be there. Should she bow out?

A reader feels frustrated by her husband’s daily expectations of sex, which she worries may be a sign of something more troubling.

A couple is eager to be closer with their new friends, but they worry that insisting that guests arrange for child care will start the relationships off on the wrong foot.

A new wife is eager to join in the fun after her husband and brother-in-law wrap up their weekly jam sessions, but she’s reluctant to impose on her sister-in-law.

Unsatisfied with her middle-aged son’s meager displays of gratitude, a reader wonders whether to stop footing his bill for a yearly camping retreat.

A reader wonders how best to call out male friends and co-workers when they dismiss her assessments of her own health.

A retiree is mystified as to why his new wife is willing to pay for her share of groceries and utility bills, but refuses to chip in for property taxes and insurance premiums.

A reader is dreading his son’s engagement party, where he expects to encounter not only his estranged ex-wife, but a constellation of former in-laws.

A reader who is uncomfortable with expensive gifts doesn’t know how to respond to a $7,000 handbag she had begged her mother not to send.

A reader who works with children wonders when she and her boyfriend should reveal their new relationship to his family, including his child who is in her care.

After his mother agreed to host him and his wife for Christmas, a reader is hurt by her decision to spend the holiday itself with her daughter instead.

A thorny question of custody is complicated by the fact that the reader adopted the original dog, but her ex paid a majority of the $50,000 needed to clone it.

Fed up, a reader blocked the caller’s phone number. But should she leave room for the woman to forge a relationship with her granddaughter?

A stray comment on a dating app brought to light some hard feelings a reader once shared with a former friend. Should she confront her about it and talk to her stepbrother?

A reader is perturbed to have been presented with a tip screen while groggily paying for a cosmetic procedure performed by a doctor.

A reader asks whether she should be more blunt about her wish for birthday and anniversary presents from a man who isn’t the gift-giving type.

A reader doesn’t want to upset his father, who requested his presence, but the idea of taking a vacation to celebrate a woman he has cut out of his life makes him squirm.

A reader asks which details of her marriage — if any — she is obligated to share with her visiting mother-in-law.

A reader ponders her next move after being left out of vacation plans with four other women.

After ending a yearslong extramarital affair, a reader worries about a coming dinner party that will be attended by both the former lover and the reader’s spouse.

After getting an initial thumbs up that may have been in jest, a reader wonders how to make a sensitive request that is more likely to be taken seriously.

A reader is unsure how to respond to a child’s wish to go by a different name after learning that the child’s mother decided not to honor the request.

After her sister-in-law spent the money from the sale of her parents’ house on upgrades to her own, a reader bristles at being made to feel she must chip into costs for their care.

When an ex returns from out of the blue with the same drinking problem but a new desire to be in his daughter’s life, a reader is unsure how best to protect her child.

Mindful of costs, a reader wonders whether she and her husband are obligated to extend the same hospitality to their daughter’s best friend as to their son’s partner.

A reader asks whether she has to apologize after recounting a joke that used racist language in front of her son’s friend, who later said he had felt unsafe.

A reader’s adult stepchildren want nothing to do with her or their father after learning that the couple plan to leave their estates to each other. Should he reach out?

Put off by her fiancé’s request for a prenuptial agreement after years of paying her own way, a reader is finding that resentment is crowding out her excitement.

After witnessing her father at a motel with a woman who was not her mother, a young reader describes experiencing near-daily guilt about not having spoken up.