ArcaMax

Dear Readers: Before we rush into a brand-new year, I want to pause and say thank you. Thank you for reading, for writing in and for trusting me with the parts of your life you don't always share at the dinner table. Thank you for letting this corner of the page be a place where we can talk about the messy, meaningful work of being human. I ...Read more

Dear Annie: Every December, my life starts to feel like one of those "year in review" videos -- only mine looks more like the blooper reel.

Back in January, I sat at my kitchen table with a brand-new planner, a cinnamon latte and all the determination in the world. I even wrote, "This Is Jenna's Year" in big blue letters on the first page. I ...Read more

Dear Annie: I think my partner is slipping away from me, and I do not know how to reach for her without breaking both our hearts.

My wife, "Laura," is 68. We have been together for 40 years. She has always been the organized one. When the kids were young, she could tell you where every permission slip, tax form and missing sock lived in our ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am starting to feel like my whole life is lived through a screen, and I am ashamed to admit how much control my phone seems to have over me.

I am 42 and married, with two kids in middle school. On paper, things are fine. In reality, I spend more time scrolling than actually living my life. I pick up my phone "just to check one ...Read more

Dear Annie: My son lives at home, but he has no interest in talking to me. He doesn't eat meals with me and my husband. He just stays in his room and comes downstairs to cook his own food, which is invariably a pan-fried sandwich, possibly with air-fried breaded chicken, followed by crisps and a packet of biscuits. It's a shame. I'd love to have...Read more

Dear Annie: My sister-in-law has disliked me for as long as I can remember. I've never fully understood why, but over the years she's made her feelings clear in a hundred small ways -- cold shoulders at family gatherings, pointed comments and a general effort to keep me at arm's length. I've always tried to rise above it for the sake of the ...Read more

Dear Readers: I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Christmas is a very busy time of year filled with strong emotions both happy and sad. The joy and the arguments can each feel louder.

Some of you woke up to wrapping paper everywhere, excited kids, pets eating the bows and a sink full of sticky mugs. You're ...Read more

These are responses from the largest population represented in the survey, single parents whose children were at home. Confession: The issues in this section are intricate (and numerous) because of my own years as a single mom. They are irreplaceable in my memory, a learning experience never to be forgotten. (Sigh.) Onward:

--Are you more ...Read more

Dear Readers: Wishing you and all a very happy holiday season. Please enjoy the following poem.

"A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore.

"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house / Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; / The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, / In hopes that St. Nicholas soon...Read more

Dear Annie: I am the default holiday host for my extended family. My parents are divorced and both come, my sister arrives late and stressed with her kids, my brother shows up with whatever new girlfriend he is serious about, and my mother uses the whole day to quietly criticize everyone's life choices, starting with mine.

By the time we sit ...Read more