Dear LFTP: how to host visiting parents
- When distant parents visit their adult children, to what extent should they be treated as guests?
A listener asks: when parents who live many miles away visit their adult children, to what extent should they be treated as guests - especially when the kids help themselves and never offer? The hosts lean informal: parents are family, not guests, and would be expected to know where the fridge is. One host counters with the prodigal son's father throwing the robe around the returning son, arguing for extravagant welcome; another replies the parable is being force-fit ('an acre set') and the real issue may be generational - the parents wanting to feel known. Consensus: be hospitable, don't treat informality as a slight - and speak up if you're hungry.
More on Family
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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: the single man and the holiday cliques
- Would it be wrong for the lonely single man to start declining holiday invitations?
The first Dear LFTP letter: a single man, happy with his life and plenty of friends and family, dreads the holidays — at Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings of 15 to 25 people,…
From No. 603 · Found Out
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Dear LFTP: the grandma, 'Libby,' and the weight comment
- Was I wrong to mention my concern about Libby's weight?
Mike reads the letter: she moved 2,000 miles to be near her daughter's family; granddaughter 'Libby' was diagnosed with a medical condition and put on weight.
From No. 602 · Relationship Counseling
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Dear LFTP: the Mimi letter ('Call Me Hoopi')
- Is it wrong for a grandmother to be upset when her grandson's other grandmother claims the same nickname?
Mike reads the Dear LFTP letter: a grandmother whose two-year-old grandson calls her Mimi — but the other grandmother claimed Mimi for herself, and the daughter-in-law is annoyed and doesn't want 'mom mom' either.