Dear Queenie,
My children and I live with my boyfriend for financial reasons. When we have a disagreement he stops speaking to me or helping around the house and he stops paying any attention to my children.
I have suggested that we get counselling, but he refuses to go.
Queenie, how do I make my children understand why he treats them that way and why we stay with him?—Unhappy girlfriend
Dear Girlfriend,
There are many reasons people live together and financial neediness is one of them. You do not need to explain this to your children. Keep asking your boyfriend to go with you for counselling, but if he still refuses, go by yourself. It will help you find better ways to communicate with him and to protect your children from the way he treats them.
