6 h. ago I’m smitten, but does my boyfriend’s dysfunctional family bode ill for our future? | Annalisa Barbieri

How we’re parented deeply affects us but it doesn’t determine how we are as parents ourselves. It sounds as if your boyfriend understands thisEvery week Annalisa Barbieri addresses a problem sent in by a readerI have been dating my boyfriend (we are both in our 20s) for almost a year. I’m absolutely smitten. He makes me feel a better person, and I believe we are really good together.Sadly, he doesn’t have a very good relationship with his family. I haven’t really seen this play out because I’ve not seen them together that often, but he’s told me about his childhood and that he discusses his family in his regular therapy sessions. Continue reading...

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6 h. ago I’m smitten, but does my boyfriend’s dysfunctional family bode ill for our future? | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

How we’re parented deeply affects us but it doesn’t determine how we are as parents ourselves. It sounds as if your boyfriend understands thisEvery week Annalisa Barbieri addresses a problem sent in by a readerI have been dating my boyfriend (we are both in our 20s) for almost a year. I’m absolutely smitten. He makes me feel a better person, and I believe we are really good together.Sadly, he doesn’t have a very good relationship with his family. I haven’t really seen this play out because I’ve not seen them together that often, but he’s told me about his childhood and that he discusses his family in his regular therapy sessions. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago My mum won’t let me have a smartphone. Is she being unfair? | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

There are genuine concerns about young people using social media, but the main thing is that you talk to your parents about it• Every week Annalisa Barbieri addresses a problem sent in by a readerMy mum has always been protective, and I fear it is destroying my social life because I haven’t grown up with much access to social media. I don’t mean to say it’s OK to be exposed to social media at a young age, but it needs to be controlled in a certain way.Because I had a flip phone until the middle of secondary school, I haven’t had a TikTok or Snapchat streak with anyone because I never learned how it works. I know this might sound like me complaining over nothing, but it sometimes feels like my mum is purposely doing this to damage me. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago I worry that I don’t ‘get’ romance and am disappointing my husband

You’ve been married for 50 years and you’re in love, so maybe you just speak a different ‘love language’• Every week Annalisa Barbieri addresses a problem sent in by a readerI have been married to my husband for more than 50 years. We married as teenagers and are now in our 70s. We love each other, and are in love.The problem is I don’t appear to have a romantic bone in my body. My husband is romantic, and I either never notice or I think, “What’s the point?” I do try, but it always seems perfunctory, and I know he is disappointed when I don’t “get it”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago I worry that I don’t ‘get’ romance and am disappointing my husband | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

You’ve been married for 50 years and you’re in love, so maybe you just speak a different ‘love language’• Every week Annalisa Barbieri addresses a problem sent in by a readerI have been married to my husband for more than 50 years. We married as teenagers and are now in our 70s. We love each other, and are in love.The problem is I don’t appear to have a romantic bone in my body. My husband is romantic, and I either never notice or I think, “What’s the point?” I do try, but it always seems perfunctory, and I know he is disappointed when I don’t “get it”. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Dating apps left me suicidal. How can I find love before it’s too late?

Focus on yourself and your own self-worth, and you never know what may follow. • Every week Annalisa Barbieri addresses a relationship problem sent in by a readerI’m a 40-year-old man who has used dating apps for eight years and met about 100 different women, not counting the ones with whom I just chatted. That’s a lot of first dates, quite a few second dates and a few short relationships. Nothing stuck.No one seems to want a relationship. Everyone is broken, including me. Some women turn me down, allegedly, because I ask to split the bill on the second date, having paid on the first. Some turn me down because I want kids and they don’t. Some tell me I’m a nice man, after which I don’t hear from them again. I’ve never ghosted anyone, but I’ve turned down some good people too. I was trying to do the right thing by my head and my heart. It appears everyone is looking for chemistry and not finding it. Continue reading...

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