Dear LFTP: the overweight five-year-old relative
- A relative's five-year-old is twenty to thirty pounds overweight and the parents do not seem to see it as an issue -- what should the extended family do?
Speaker-0 (Mike) reads a letter signed 'Someone in Chicago': a relative's five-year-old son is twenty or thirty pounds overweight and the extended family does not know how to raise it with the parents without offending them. Speaker-2 says bluntly to stay out of it -- 'get your nose out of their business... They know' -- intervening only if the parents are genuinely failing the child; speaker-0 (Mike) agrees, joking most kids fill out by fifteen ('Look at Dan. He's, like, six foot five'). The 99.3 KTIA radio audience is signed off mid-segment, then the Secular answer is read: ask what the boy's pediatrician has said, since the American Medical Association has declared obesity a disease, and include the boy in physical activities.
More on Boundaries
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Dear LFTP: the mother-in-law moved in
- My mother-in-law moved in seven months ago and it’s been difficult — how can we sort this out?
The last letter comes from a wife whose mother-in-law moved in seven months ago with no boundaries, rising bills, unpaid prescriptions, and open disrespect.
From No. 604 · Rearview Mirror
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Dear LFTP: Ralph calls three or four times a week
- How can I get my retired friend Ralph to call less frequently without being rude?
The letter: 'Ralph,' a longtime best friend, retired and is bored, so he calls three or four times a week 'even when there's nothing new to talk about,' rehashing the same things; subtle hints haven't worked; letting it go to voicemail just earns a callback request.
From No. 602 · Relationship Counseling
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Dear LFTP: the senior-living handshake letter, and the close
- How can a senior-living resident politely decline the dining-room manager's handshakes?
Mike reads the second Dear LFTP letter: a senior-living resident whose dining-room manager (Manny) shakes hands at residents' tables, and who dodges with wet or greasy hands — how to decline politely?
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Dear LFTP: the fiance who games until 5AM
- What should the letter-writer do about her fiance's all-night gaming habit?
Mike reads a Dear LFTP letter from a woman engaged five years to Dustin, who games from 10PM to 5AM, skips chores, and gives her no attention; talking has not helped since 'he grew up gaming.'
From No. 598 · Emphasis | Accountability, Worship and Praying with Strangers