Dear Carolyn: My 15-year-old niece recently had her hair professionally dyed red. My sister — the child’s mother — facilitated this, but the niece used money she earned with a part-time job. When my mother…

Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: I think my boyfriend and I are breaking up. It’s happening gradually, in small steps. Like we had a fight about bills, so now he buys his own…

Dear Carolyn: I have a friend I would like to call a dear friend, but I don’t think I can. Occasionally she just disappears from my life. Sometimes for a couple of years, sometimes for…

Dear Carolyn: I was contacted via a DNA site by a grown daughter. I had earlier suspicions. I sent her a warm letter welcoming her into my life. I told all my siblings immediately but…

Dear Carolyn: My new daughter-in-law and I have very different tastes in art, music, literature, etc. She is also pretty insecure and not yet very comfortable around me, despite my efforts to draw her out…

Adapted from an online discussion Dear Carolyn: I am 31 and doing well in a middle management career I enjoy. My college friend has spent the decade post-graduation struggling from job to job with complaints…

Hi, Carolyn: My 20-something son’s fiancee regularly holds whispered conversations with him when others are around: at the dinner table, in the car or while several people are watching TV or a movie. My son…

Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: My aunt died a couple of weeks ago. It was a bit of a surprise to the family. We knew something was up, because she wasn’t as responsive…

Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: Is it ever acceptable to ask for a plus-one to a wedding? I just got a destination-wedding invite for next summer from a close college friend. I anticipated…

Adapted from an online discussion. Hi Carolyn: I got sober a couple of years ago because of a medication I was taking. I had to take it for three months, and in that time I…