� S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S � PAGE 23Saturday, November 21, 2009
Dear Abby: I am an 11-year-
old girl who loves going shopping
and doing various stuff with my
mom. But when we go to the mall
or stop for lunch and she hears a
song she likes, she'll start sing-
ing to it. And if we're standing
up, she even dances to
it a little.
I have tried telling
her to stop because
she's embarrassing
me, but all she says
is, "No one is looking,
honey." She also does it
at home in front of my
friends when I play my
iPod. Any suggestions?
-- Blushing in
San Francisco
Dear Blushing:
Your problem is one
that has been shared by genera-
tions of young people. You have
reached an age when image is
becoming important to you, and
you're afraid that your mother's
behavior will reflect badly on
you. It won't. Rather than be em-
barrassed, please consider how
lucky you are to have an upbeat,
music-loving mother with a sense
of rhythm and some knowledge of
the lyrics. (If she has forgotten, be
a sweetheart and offer to teach
her.)
I have it on good
authority that an "old
dog" can learn new
tricks.
Dear Abby: After
30 years of marriage I
still don't know how to
tell my wife she can't
cook. I came home to-
night to find an expen-
sive piece of meat I had
been looking forward
to eating reduced to
shoe leather.
In our golden years, we will be
able to afford to splurge on expen-
sive cuts of meat, etc., only rarely.
It is disappointing to have to toss
it into the garbage.
I never encouraged my wife to
cook, and usually the pressure of
work distracts her. But she has
been "surprising" me more often
with "delicacies" on her days off.
I dread retirement. How can
I nicely ask her not to go to the
trouble of preparing these disas-
trous dishes?
-- Wants To Be Tactful
Dear Wants: Who has been
doing the cooking in your house-
hold all these years -- or have
the two of you been eating out?
Because you can't bring yourself
to tell your wife her cooking skills
need improvement, allow me to
offer an alternative.
Sign the two of you up for night-
time cooking classes so she can
brush up on her culinary skills
and, if necessary, you can take
over the role of family chef after
you retire. Bon appetit!
Letters for this column -- with your
name and phone number -- should
be addressed to Dear Abby, P.O. Box
69440, Los Angeles CA 90069. Readers
can write to Abby on the Internet at
http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby
Universal Press Syndicate
Daughter detests mother's jig
Dear Abby

Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 15Page 16Page 17Page 18Page 19Page 20Page 21Page 22Page 23Page 24Page 25Page 26Page 27Page 28Page 29Page 30Page 31Page 32 Produced by PageSuite