Tag: birthday
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.
When Exchanging Gifts Feels Awkward

During the pandemic, even exchanging gifts with friends can feel strange when everything else seems to be topsy-turvy.
Is it okay to retract an invitation to a friend?
Retracting an invitation is never easy but friendships and circumstances change–especially in middle school.
Not speaking: Should I wish her a happy birthday?
After two friends have a disagreement, one wonders if she should still send the other birthday greetings.
Parenting and friendship: Teaching kids to do the right thing
A mom worries that her daughter isn’t doing the right thing by disappointing a friend on her birthday.
Walking on eggshells
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 […]
When close friends become far-away friends
What do you do when close friends become far-away friends?
Friendship: The importance of showing up
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 […]
A friend you can count on…well, sometimes
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 […]
Exurb Magazine: 5 Questions with The Friendship Doctor
The Friendship Doctor was recently interviewed by Victoria Clayton-Alexander, editor of Exurb Magazine.
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