Columns & Editorials

Parents of school-aged youngsters may wonder how often children between the ages of six and 11 need to bathe.

Is Buying A Home Always the Right Move?

WITH LUKE CLAYTON

My spouse and I have very different spending habits, and it’s creating tension. Is there a way to handle money as a team when you see things so differently?

I remember the first time it happened, the confusion that set into my mother’s mind like a relentless fog. When I look back all these years later, I try and pinpoint if that truly was the first time, the first incident, like I can’t go on if I can’t put my finger on that first pulse of dementia. It doesn’t really matter. It was the morning my first column was to be published in the newspaper, February 22, 2018. I recall I was in my bedroom, using my Swiffer mop on the ancient wood floors. My phone rang. I walked across the room and answered. It was my mother telling me my father had collapsed in their dining room floor. He wasn’t answering her. She didn’t know what to do, so she called me. “Mom, did you call 911?” She said, “Oh, is that what you think I should do? Can you do it for me?” After much panic, and the nightmare that never leaves my brain where she began calling his name and asking him to wake up, she says she is calling 911. As I race to the hospital closest to them, hoping to beat the ambulance, I wondered aloud that her response was certainly odd. He would die that day. Left to her own devices without a partner to pick up the slack of masking her scary new reality, the confusion would be all too apparent, all too soon. This begs the question – when do we worry?

Time for New Year’s Financial Resolutions

Weddings are well-known as costly affairs, even for couples who opt for more laid back ceremonies and receptions as opposed to lavish gatherings. Each year, The Knot Real Weddings Study uncovers the latest wedding trends, including those related to fashion, food and, of course, finances. The most recent study found that the average cost of a wedding in 2023 was $35,000. That marks a considerable increase over just a year earlier, when couples spent an average of $30,000 on their weddings. That significant spike in just a 12-month period undoubtedly reflects the effects of inflation, which led to a notable increase in the costs of many products and services since 2022. If wedding costs are indeed surprising couples as they start to plan their big day, they can consider an approach that many before them have increasingly turned to: wedding planners. According to The Knot, 37 percent of couples hired a wedding planner in 2023, an increase of 7 percent over 2019, when the pandemic had yet to be declared and inflation had not led to such significant price increases. Wedding planners can help couples navigate some costly waters so they can avoid starting their life together with substantial wedding-related debt.

I feel so out of place at work. My coworkers are all best friends, and I’m always on the outside looking in. Should I just accept it, or is there a way to fit in without trying too hard?

Dear Generous or Doormat, Oh honey, you are definitely not alone on this one. Nothing quite tests a friendship like money, does it? It sounds like your friend has turned “borrowing” into a bit of a habit, and now you’re wondering if you’re a good friend or a soft target. I’d say a little of both, and that’s why we’ve got some work to do!

I have a problem child. I would say he was a problem dog, but he requires so much more than my children did growing up that it’s only fair I get to claim him as a child. He needs more attention, more supervision, more tolerance, and more medical care. He needs more me. His name is Poe.

Though people attempting to lose weight may love a quick fix or magic pill that could shed excess pounds, successful efforts that produce long-term weight loss generally take considerable time and effort. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people who lose weight at a gradual, steady pace tend to keep the weight off. The CDC advises individuals to aspire to lose one to two pounds each week.

I just found out that I have a child I never knew about. They are all grown up, and I’m not sure how to proceed. I would appreciate any advice.

SHOOTING DEER with a camera