Dear Readers - A cry for help for 2012! This single mother needs to boost her courage to carry on alone, plus community support, and fresh ideas to make her life more positive.

I've fudged some details so she's not identifiable, but to make it easier to give her ways and places to seek help, I note that she lives in a city north of Toronto, Ontario:

I'm a single mother raising three children and have a hard time making ends meet. My children sometimes have to go to school in their sleeping attire because I couldn't get their clothes cleaned in time.

They sometimes get bullied at school because they wear the same thing more than once in a week, but it's my fault, not theirs.

It's difficult for me to make enough money to care for us ever since I injured myself at work. I'm now making minimum wage in a lesser-paid job.

Other kids in our community have so much more and I feel my three children are missing out on their childhood because I can't afford to enroll them in extracurricular activities. All I want is for them to have a good life and not end up like me. I feel so alone in this.

Is there anyone else out there like me who knows what I'm going through?

Struggling

There are many hard-working single parents wanting the best for their children like yourself, and I'm hoping they'll respond with helpful suggestions.

Here is mine: Recognize the inner strengths you DO have - working at whatever jobs you can get, and making a home for your kids. Children who know they're loved and are given ready encouragement are already emotionally well off.

Also, they'll do better if your worries and fears are kept private, so that they see their community as positively as possible, rather than through negative comparisons.

Go to the school and insist that the bullying be handled and resolved by the teachers, principal, etc... and that there's a school policy in place. Your children have as much right to feel safe as any other kids.

My husband of 20 years was always very easy-going.

We're a second marriage and he's now 72, retired and enjoying the pursuit of interests like music and photography. He loves the outdoors, his grandkids, reading, and some socializing.

Yet lately, despite all his free time, he's become increasingly grumpy. If I have to change a plan we made, he thinks it's a big deal. He's impatient with my conversation, unlike before.

Is it the normal aging process that's making him impatient and grumpy? Or is he showing signs of pulling away from me (we're also not making love as often as a few years ago)?

Worried

It's not about you. Whenever a partner's behaviour and reactions become markedly different from their past nature, you both need to investigate to see if any health factors are involved.

(I say "both" partners, because often the specific person is embarrassed by the changes, and will try to brush them off, or else is afraid of finding out there's something's wrong internally).

Example: Men lose testosterone over the years just as women lose estrogen, and this can cause lessened libido and resulting edginess. If this is proved to be so (through a simple test) there are testosterone treatments, which can be discussed with his doctor.

Be your husband's ally in trying to find a cause.... or in trying to understand how you both can cope better with the situation.

My boyfriend and I are both part-time students. We get along very well except regarding our shared laptop. He thinks he's in charge, yet I bought it originally, and only had to start sharing it when he moved in. We can't afford to buy another one; all our savings are going toward a vacation.

I need the laptop more than he does because I have a huge Facebook network, which is very important to me. But he's always grabbing it, just to watch football games, as well as for school. How can I take back control without sounding selfish (as he says)?

Frustrated

His entertainment is watching football, yours is Facebook. Stop judging his use, and figure out a reasonable, agreed schedule for sharing.

When you moved him in, "control" had to go out the door. You've both opted for the vacation based on ability to share this equally important tool. Now do it.