Boundaries
299 conversations where the hosts get into boundaries.
299 conversations
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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
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Dear LFTP: the retired people-pleaser and her boundary-blurring friends
- How should a people-pleasing retired woman handle friends who ignore her 'I need advance notice' boundary?
Mike reads a letter from a single retired woman with a side business, frustrated by friends who invite her last-minute, get annoyed when she declines, and tie her up with 'utter nonsense' calls and texts despite her 'I need advance notice' replies.
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God
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Dear LFTP: the friend group's new wife
- How do we tell the husband that they are not invited, and who should deliver the message?
A host reads a second Dear LFTP letter: ten college-friend couples are planning a once-in-a-lifetime cruise, and nobody wants the remarried friend's demanding new wife on the ship.
From No. 592 · Because I Got High
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Dear LFTP #1: the boyfriend who wants to move in
- My boyfriend was evicted and wants to move in — should I let him?
Mike reads the first Dear LFTP letter: a listener's boyfriend was evicted and wants to move in with her; she sees red flags.
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Dear LFTP #2: friends who always bring extra people
- How do we stop friends from inviting extra people to our gatherings?
Mike reads the second letter: dear friends who socialize a lot keep inviting extra people to gatherings at the listener's lake house — including, once, a passed-out stranger ('my coyote fell asleep on the couch').
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Dear LFTP 1: the brother's wedding
- Should the writer attend her brother's wedding after his cruel email?
Mike reads the letter: the writer's widowed brother is remarrying; their 89-year-old mother lives in his added-on apartment; his cruel email attacked the writer's facial expressions and mannerisms — "I felt like he had stuck a knife through my heart."
From No. 590 · Theodore Franco
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Dear LFTP 1: the burned-out friend
- How do I approach a long friendship that has become one-sided and draining when the friend has anxiety, depression, OCD, narcissism, and a drinking problem?
Ben reads a letter from a listener burned out by a decade-long friendship with someone suffering anxiety, depression, OCD, narcissism, and a drinking problem who never asks how the listener is doing.
From No. 588 · hypokritēs
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Dear LFTP: secret texting with a friend's wife
- My boyfriend keeps a secret texting relationship with a married friend who asked him not to tell me. What should I do?
Mike reads a letter from a woman whose boyfriend maintains a private, secret texting relationship with a married friend who asked him not to tell her, even though the friend and her husband are in marriage counseling.
From No. 587 · Coffee After Sunday
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Dear LFTP: the stolen college fund and telling the 90-year-olds
- Should I tell my 90-year-old parents that their grandson stole my granddaughter's college fund?
Ben hands to Mike, who reads a grandmother's letter: her son helped himself to the college money the great-grandparents set aside for her granddaughter; she fears telling her parents, in their nineties, could shock them into a stroke.
From No. 586 · Nothing Personal
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Dear LFTP: Champ the untrained dog and holding boundaries with your son
- How do I handle my son bringing his untrained dog Champ on our weekend grandson visits?
Mike reads the second letter: the writer hosts weekend grandson visits where her son Dennis brings Champ, an untrained destructive puppy that runs wild, barks, and digs.
From No. 586 · Nothing Personal
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Dear LFTP: the plate of food that froze out a grandmother
- My daughter-in-law froze me out over a plate of food — what should I do?
Mike reads a letter from a grandmother frozen out by her son and daughter-in-law Corinne after she offered to pack a take-home plate for Corinne's chemo-recovering stepmother; the…
From No. 583 · My Girl Likes to Holy All the Time | Public Prayer & Worship Culture
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Dear LFTP: the widower and the winking married colleague
- I suspect a married colleague is interested in me — do you have any advice?
Mike reads a letter from a widower convinced a younger married colleague is signaling interest through winks; the hosts say he is 'not on the sales floor' — stay completely out,…
From No. 583 · My Girl Likes to Holy All the Time | Public Prayer & Worship Culture
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Dear LFTP: the stalker ex-girlfriend
- How do I get my stalker ex-girlfriend to leave me alone?
Mike reads a letter from a man whose ex-girlfriend keeps trying to get him back, even stalking him, after he blocked her number.
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Dear LFTP: the canned-ham friend
- Should I tell off my condescending friend, and is there a good deadly one-liner?
Mike reads the first Dear LFTP letter (the ASR renders the greeting 'Dear liar from the past'): a woman down 50 pounds whose friend makes condescending comments about her weight…
From No. 577 · The Spirit, the Goldfish and the Way
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Dear LFTP: apologize to Harry?
- Should a mother apologize to her daughter's boyfriend for yelling at him during a move six years ago?
Mike reads the first Dear LFTP letter: a mother who yelled at her daughter's boyfriend Harry during a miserable move six years ago is now being asked to apologize; Harry has improved as a father but still holds the grudge.
From No. 574 · Starring Ted Danson as Joab
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Dear LFTP: the contentious father
- How do I protect the relationships I have with the rest of my family if my father keeps acting like a jerk?
Mike reads a Dear LFTP letter from a 30-year-old whose contentious father refuses counseling, involves extended family, and claims the writer cut off contact.
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Dear LFTP: creepy Bob and the friend-group bar
- How should I handle friends who keep choosing the bar where the man who victimized me hangs out?
A widowed listener asks how to handle friends who keep choosing a restaurant where "Bob," the man who broke into her home twenty years ago, hangs out.
From No. 572 · Rippin’ Heaters
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Dear LFTP: the $900 couch letter
- My best friend and her son (about a thousand pounds combined) cracked my new $900 couch and want to bring more family over — what do I do?
Mike reads the second letter (same anchor/merge note): the writer bought a new house and a $900 couch; her best friend and the friend's son — 'about a thousand pounds' combined — audibly cracked it and now want to bring more family.
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Dear LFTP: the birthday bill
- Is it unreasonable to resent always paying the family birthday bills?
A woman asks if she is unreasonable for resenting the $500-$1,000 birthday bills she always covers for her younger sister, whose husband never helps.
From No. 563 · Raptors and Heifers
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Dear LFTP: the friend who never stops talking
- How do you handle a friend who never stops talking?
Mike reads the letter: a longtime friend hijacks every conversation, oblivious to verbal/body cues, and the writer leaves gatherings angry.
From No. 561 · The Answer is Liverpool
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Dear LFTP: mom who treats her daughter as confidante
- How should a high-school senior set boundaries with a mother who treats her as a confidante?
Mike (speaker-3) reads a Dear LFTP letter from a high-school senior whose mother confides adult problems in her — family tensions, church conflicts, workplace cheating — making their relationship one-sided and exhausting, while refusing therapy (seg-00440 to seg-00447).
From No. 559 · 3 Songwriters Walk Into a Show