How Not To Settle: Figuring out what you want, and whether you can get it

Dear Duana, I’m dating Viv, a woman who is never satisfied with what I can give….I love her, but I’m unhappy and I don’t think this will change. Am I being too picky and tossing away my best shot at love if I leave, or is staying settling? Should I find someone I mesh with better? Dear Charles, Dating is the time to pick the one who makes your heart sing, not the one who’s got you singin’ the blues. Although it’s tempting to advise dropping this relationship like a dinnertime telemarketer, *you* are the expert on you and your needs. Let’s leverage that expertise to help you answer your own questions so you can get a relationship that is more joy than job—whether with Viv or someone else….

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Not MY Child: How to teach your kids to resist sexual peer pressure

Wise Readers, What if there were a way to inoculate your kids against sexual peer pressure (or smoking)? There is. It’s easy. And it’s free. Read on!

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Stolen Kisses: Why we don't want to be asked first, but you'd better ask our kids

Wise Readers, Last week, I asked you: Do you want to be asked before someone kisses you in a new relationship? How about an established relationship? What if the questions referred to your own teenage child? Why the heck would I want to know?! Because surprisingly, there’s not much scientific enquiry about kissing. Just a lot of assumptions. And your Survey responses, plus other relationship research, helps take what we know about Kissing—our own, our kids’—to the next level.

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"Run. Like Pantyhose in a Briar Patch": Reader Responses to ex-flame Pop Quiz

Dear Denise, The man you’ve recently begun dating told you he can’t take you anywhere his former girlfriend—whom he broke up with two years ago— might be, in case it hurts her feelings. And he doesn’t want to hear otherwise. This, he says, is just how it is. All of which gives you the feeling he’s still attached to his ex…What were our Wise Readers’ opinions on this? And what does the science say? Read on!

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Pop Quiz! What's the length of time you would avoid taking a new lover to places where a former flame might be?

What is the length of time you would avoid taking a new lover to places where a former flame might be? The Situation: A man has told his new girlfriend that he cannot take her anyplace his ex-gf might be present…to protect the ex’s feelings. How long ago did they break up? Two years.

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