Tag: birthday

When Good Friends Forget Your Birthday

Published: October 11, 2021 | Last Updated: October 11, 2021 By | 1 Reply Continue Reading
When Good Friends Forget Your Birthday

A reader asks what to do when your friends forget your birthday; she feels hurt and resentful and wonders if she should say or do something.

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When Exchanging Gifts Feels Awkward

Published: December 27, 2020 | Last Updated: December 27, 2020 By | 3 Replies Continue Reading
When Exchanging Gifts Feels Awkward

During the pandemic, even exchanging gifts with friends can feel strange when everything else seems to be topsy-turvy. 

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Is it okay to retract an invitation to a friend?

Published: April 3, 2016 | Last Updated: April 3, 2016 By | 9 Replies Continue Reading

Retracting an invitation is never easy but friendships and circumstances change–especially in middle school.

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Not speaking: Should I wish her a happy birthday?

Published: June 15, 2015 | By | 11 Replies Continue Reading

After two friends have a disagreement, one wonders if she should still send the other birthday greetings.

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Parenting and friendship: Teaching kids to do the right thing

Published: July 22, 2014 | By | 3 Replies Continue Reading

A mom worries that her daughter isn’t doing the right thing by disappointing a friend on her birthday.

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Walking on eggshells

Published: March 1, 2011 | Last Updated: March 1, 2011 By | 6 Replies Continue Reading

QUESTION Hi Irene, I haven’t spoken to an old best friend for quite some time. I was the last one to initiate contact after the relationship had become uncomfortable. I decided to stop and see if she would contact me. It wasn’t that I didn’t get a response but I felt like the response was […]

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When close friends become far-away friends

Published: August 17, 2010 | Last Updated: June 15, 2015 By | 3 Replies Continue Reading

What do you do when close friends become far-away friends?

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Friendship: The importance of showing up

Published: March 29, 2010 | Last Updated: May 14, 2020 By | 1 Reply Continue Reading

QUESTION Dear Irene, I have been friends with Amy since high school, and we are now mothers in our 30s. I have a 10-year-old and another baby on the way. Last August, I got married and that’s when things went weird. My husband and I had a very small intimate wedding: only immediate family, and […]

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A friend you can count on…well, sometimes

Published: March 19, 2010 | Last Updated: March 19, 2010 By | 4 Replies Continue Reading

QUESTION Dear Irene: My friend sent me a message on Facebook (a personal message, not where it could be read by everyone). She said: Hey, your birthday is coming up Friday, what do you want to do? She said she wanted us to do something, just her and me. She said her boyfriend didn’t want […]

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Exurb Magazine: 5 Questions with The Friendship Doctor

Published: December 2, 2009 | Last Updated: January 17, 2023 By | Reply Continue Reading

The Friendship Doctor was recently interviewed by Victoria Clayton-Alexander, editor of Exurb Magazine.

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