ask karenR



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I have gone from younggrandma to just yg. Now,
I am using my real name.
I don't think anyone who knows me will have trouble figuring out who that is!


I have been gone a while dealing with things in my own life. I am back now to help once again. Do not expect answers from me that just tell you what you want to hear. Life is to short for nonsense. :)
Website: advicenators forum
E-mail: karenrickel@gmail.com
Gender: Female
Location: KANSAS
Occupation: Homemaker,EMT, ER worker, Medical assistant
Member Since: March 4, 2005
Answers: 10132
Last Update: July 29, 2022
Visitors: 576486


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hey.. i have a VERRRY bad situation. My mom and dad are getting a divorce and i dont know what to do! Is it my fault? What can i do (if possible) to get them back together? i love my mom and my dad but when they yell and scream its hard for me to love either one of them.... plz plz plz help!! Everytime i think about it it makes me cry!! (link)
No it isn't your fault.There is nothing you can do. They both love you and will hopefully help you throuogh it. :)


... i love my boyfriend and never want to leave him .... its just sometimes ... i dont and i want to kill myself because he never seems happy with me ... he get irritated and even slaps me sometimes. But i dont want to break up! Please help ... I dont know what else to do

~ Hurtin' on the outside (link)
If he's slapping you then you need to ditch this guy. I know you think you love him but you don't need an abuser. You also warn other girls away from him. Hes never happy because he's a controlling jerk. You get out as fast as you can before it gets worse. And it will eventually. You let him get away with that and he will continue. There are better guys out there, you go find one of them. If he hits you again...call the cops. Good luck :)


i asked if i guy liked me after the things he did and you tole me that i shouldnt go steal him from a friend....well she took him from me and i know wo wrongs dont make a right but neither does one and she knew how much i liked him and she just didnt care so what should i do? (link)
Well, that makes it diffrent then. If he was yours in the first place then by all means get him back if at all possible. Just make sure he's going to stay. You don't want to go through all that again. Good luck!


sorry is this is long but I really need help so please don't skip over it
Ok my parents have been divorced my whole life I don't even know who my dad is. Well my mom has serious problems with finding guys. They usually beat her or cheat on her. I've had about a dozen stepfathers and all of them treat her like shit and she doesn't deserve that. Well my newest stepfather Richie has been with my mother for 2 years now and she is really happy with him. I've never seen my mom this happy before. He is soo nice to her. But the thing is he has a son (my stepbrother) who is constantly hitting me and raping me. I tried talking to my mom about it and she said that she would talk to my stepdad and my stepbrother. She did and then it stopped for a little while but then he did it again and it was even worse than it was before. He had a couple of his friends over and they thought that it would be fun to beat and rape his 14 year old step sister. I talked to my stepdad and he told me to stop making things up. He told my mother that I was making things up and they sent me to a shrink. Needless to say my stepbrother continued to do these things to me. I confronted my mother again and she told me to talk to my stepdad. I did and he told me that I was lying and that even if I wasn't I needed to get over it because we are a happy family and we all have to make sacrifices I told him that that was wrong and he hit me! Now he's been hitting me too when my mom isn't around. I don't know what to do. She is soo happy and she deserves to be. I don't want to ruin this for her. My question is should I just deal with this so that she can be happy or is there anyway that I can get help without ruining this for her? (link)
You don't deal with it by putting up with it. You need to tell a teacher. You need out of the situation. Your mother deserves better than this bunch too. She also needs to believe and help her daughter. If she won't get you out of the situation, you have no choice but to do it yourself. Now your pregnant. Do you want your baby in this enviroment? I don't think so. Tell a teacher or someone who will listen and get you out. Forget the step father, he's as bad as the son. Good luck.


hey my name is Ashley and i'm a feamle(of course) and i'm 14 yrs. old heres my question for anybody with good advice!!!

I like my best friends ex!!! Heres the scoop... they broke up because my best friend was confused and she cheated on him. Well now(two months later) she starts telling me she now knows what she was missing and she really did love him and she wants desperately to go with him again. Now i've been talking to him since they broke up because he needed a friend cuz he really liked her but she cheated on him.(yea i kno guys actually have feelings...well at least the good ones) and i'm starting to like him now i mean he's the perfect boyfriend he's cute, hilarious, loving, i don't know he's just soOoOo great!! the thing is that my best friend who i've been friends with for almost 11 yrs. still "loves" him i really really think she'll be so mad if he askes me out or if i ask him. I dont know what to do cuz i dont want her to be mad at me but i dont get very many guys nowadays and i really like him and he told me i was hot yesterday please help me!!

Luv,

~~~ASHLEY~~~

P.S. i rate high
(link)
She will no doubt be mad, but she shouldn't have cheated on him and let him go. Thats pretty hard to forgive. You can't just treat someone badly and then return and expect forgiveness when things don't go well in the relationship you dumped them for. Thats just crazy. I think if you and her ex like each other then you should go for it. She'll be mad but she'll get over it. :)


Me and my girlfriend are in a delema she is makeing a dission between me or another guy she says she is confused. and she says she loves me but my point of view is if she loves me as much as she says she does then i would this it would be no comp. I love her like no other. Im thinking she is playing both sides she wants me to be here if she picks the other guy and it goes wrong with them. my prob is what should i do if she picks him. I would hope she'd pick me though. (link)
If she is confused she must like both of you. She probably is playing both sides. If she picks him you just have to move on. You don't want someone who doesn't put you ahead of the rest. It will be hard but you'll get through it. :)


I'm 17 and I have started going out with someone a few days ago. I have liked him for awhile and before we started going out he was messing around with another girl but promised me he had called it off with her. I want to believe and I'm trying to trust him, but this weekend I went camping and I tried calling him to say hi but he wasn't home so I called his best friend wondering what he was doing but he wasn't with him. He finally called me back and said he had been driving around but he wouldn't tell me with who. I'm scared that he was with the other girl. And also at school I show affection to my b/f's but not alot to smother them. He doesn't show any affection at all except when we quickly kiss before I leave for class. I know we just started dating but he shows all this affection for me when were alone but none if someones around. What do I do? please help me.
~confused chica~ (link)
You have to trust him. You need to talk about your fears with him before they drive you bonkers. Better to know now how he feels about the other girl before you get even more involved. :)


My boyfriend (22) and I (20) have been together for over two years now and we've celebrated many holidays together. For my birthday, he got me a Dooney and Bourke purse and for Christmas, he bought me a Tiffany's bracelet! He has bought me many gifts that I have loved, and I thought this was great, because he knew my taste and what I would like!! I recently found out that his mom has been telling him what he should get me for these holidays. It kind of hurts my feelings because it makes me feel like he doesn't know me very well at all. He just goes to his mom to find out what he should get me. I have a feeling that someday, she's gonna pick out the ring he should propose to me with!! I hate this!! I want him to pick out this for me himself!! What should I do about this? (link)
Tell him that. Guy's just aren't real good at it! They don't seem to realize that girls really don't care what it is.Tell him you appreciate that he cares enough to want to get you something good, but you'd like it much better knowing he went to the trouble of looking for something himself. :)


Okay, my boyfriend and I have been together for 5 1/2 months now. Anyway, at the beginning ont the relationship we'd be so eager to talk to eachother, and talk on the phone every night, and ditch friends for eachother, etc.

Now, we don't talk on the phone for periods of time. (Right now it's been 11 days since I've talked to him on the phone) And we hang out amazingly less, and I don't feel the urge anymore to check the computer every 5 minutes to see if he's online. When I do get to talk to him, I feel so uninterested. I could honestly go days without talking to him, and it wouldn't bug my anymore. Sometimes I cry because I don't understand what's happening, and it really upsets me. Could it be that I'm just losing interest/we both are in eachother? :(

Tuesday night on AIM I told him that I felt I was losing interest in him, and he repsonded, "Geez, I like you a lot, I can't just stop." Then he put up an away message that said, "I fucking screwed up somehow." And signed off. We eventually resolved the problem, but I feel I lied. I told him I still did like him, and I was stupid to say that. But really, I feel EXACTLY like that. I'm not as interested. What's happening? Do I WANT to get over him or something..?

Thank you. (link)
It sounds like you've lost interest. He says he hasn't but he's not called in 11 days either. I think you probably need a break from each other. It isn't a fun thing to do but, you have to be honest with him about your feelings. :)


Okay heres the story, me and my 18 year old sister both have boyfriends out of state. However my sister has her boyfriend come up all the time and I just get so jealous becuase I can't see my boyfriend for another 3 months. I know its not that big of a deal but since I JUST stopped cutting less then a month ago the littlest things make me want to do it. I sit here as I'm writing this entry listening to my sister and her boyfriend fighting about how the hicci was to big and im so upset becuase I just want my guy here right this moment. I had my mom hide the scissors from me so that I wouldn't do anything becuase I honestly want to stop cutting and I have almsot made a month with out doing it I also promised my boyfriend that I wouldn't but its just getting so hard without seeing him I just need to be with him but I cant untill July becuase of school ... the only thing that keeps me from not breaking down at night since I cant lay in his arms is that he sings me to sleep on the phone every night ... I just need to prove to him and to myself that I can hold back, that I dont need to cut ... Hes all I have and if I cut I fear that I'll lose him even though we are in love ... does anyone have any suggestions to how to keep my mind off this awful habbit when I start to get deppressed about not being able to be with him ... oh and another thing that does not help my trying not to cut is I'm on medication for depression but my dad just kicked me out of the house so I dont have my medication which causes my depression to get really bad since my body is not used to not having my meds (link)
Tell you dad to give you your meds. Youo really need them. If he's a pain or something then call the cops and have an officer go get them for you. He won't get in trouble...nothing like that, but they can get you your meds. As for the boyfriend, just talk to him as much as possible. Try to keep busy so time will pass faster. :)


There's a boy at my theatre. We're both in the same play right now but since i'm in ACT I and he's in ACT II, we don't usually have the same rehearsals. I just started liking him even though I don't know him that well. He seems really sweet and he's cute too. I would really like to known him better but I don't know what I should do. Opening night is in a week and that doesn't give me much time to befriend him. Any advice on how to strike up a conversation or get him to notice me?

♥//&xo blair 13/f (link)
Go in when he has rehearsal and watch. Then tell him what a good job he did. That should start up a good conversation. Good luck :)


ok well i got a boyfriend and he goes to my school and hes like in madly love with me and i dont rele like him anymore bc i think i found someone else...i met him at this ichthus thingy church camp and he goes to a different school and i see him every sunday and i think ive fallen in love with him!! and he likes me and we talk on the fone and everything and me and my boyfriend dont talk on the fone its at school and online nowhere else...but i just dont know what to do i just dont really like brian anymore and if i break up with him he'll have all his friends askin me why i dumped him or he'll be mad at me and i just dont no what to tell him!! HOW SHOULD I BREAK UP WITH HIM WITHOUT HIM BEING MAD AT ME!! ughh its all crazy ...but the thing is...kevin (the boy i really like) is moving at the end of the year!!! ahhh im so confused should i stay with brian even tho i dont rele like him or go out with kevin bc he likes me and i like him and then he moves at the end of the year and stuff HELP ME PLEASE!! -ashlee- i will rate u all 10s if u help :( (link)
If you don't like him then you have to break up with him. You can't just keep him because the other guy is moving, that just isn't right.

Talk to him. He may or may not be mad. No way of knowing that for sure. He will be upset but there is no way to help that. He will get over it though it may be awhile before he can be friends again. :)


ok im goin out with a guy named david!! well we haven't been going out for a long time and i want to brake up with him!!! he is sooo nice and treats me like a princess!!!!! he's soo sweet but i dont know how to brake up with him!!!!!! i feel so guilty!! plz help me!!!!!!!! how should i brake up with him???!!! i rate high!!!
ineedhelp,
megan (link)
Unfortunatley he will be hurt no matter what you say. So, just tell him how you feel. There just isn't any easy way to break-up. :)


I like this guy at my school and he flirts with me and stuff but my friend likes him too so i asked for her and he said he likes her!!! so now i am depressd do u think it is true or he is just saying it??

-heartbroken (link)
I imagine it's true. Get to know him though because their relationship might not last forever. He may find he likes you better. :)


14/m
I'm in 8th grade and there r 6 weeks of school left. There is one girl I like and she knows I like her. But I have a feeling she doesn't like me. What can I do to build a relationship with her? How can I keep the relationship going? (link)
Be yourself. Talk to her, treat her nice.

To keep it going you basically do the same thing. Everyone has their bad moments but treat her nice and do a lot of talking. Be honest and don't let things go unsaid, because they build up and make things worse. Good luck. :)


OK,
So I really like this guy hes Funny,cute,nice but he says he likes me but really he likes me and another girl. I have gone out with him befor and everytime he has broken my heart I promised myself I would never fall for him again but I did...!I dont know what to do. The other girl he likes likes him bak and everytime they go out they go out 4 soooo long!!! I dont know what to do cause I love him so much and he likes another girl more then me and if he asks her out I will be heart broken I dont know what to do to get him attention and to get him to like me more...What should I DO!!??!!

Yours truley,

**confused** (link)
You go ask him before she does. Hope for the best. If they really like each other that much though, you may be better off not even going there. :)


there is this guy at school who likes me ALOT! and i kinda like him, but hes part of the popular group, and im not really.. im just part of the normal group. His friends asked him "why do you like her, she doesnt hang out with us, she doesnt deserve you" should i go out with him even though his friends said that, and people would make fun of me if i went out with him? PLEASE HELP! (link)
Why would any decent person make fun of you for going out with someone? You do what you want. His friends don't run his life I would hope. If they do you don't want him!

HE likes you. If you like him too that is the only thing that matters. The ONLY thing! :)


ok.. this guy at school likes me and i kinda like him. But he said he might ask me out. The only thing is that he has a reputation of being a jackass and doing stuff with girls. And i always see him like hugging other girls and stuff. SO even if i was going to go out with him i would be nervous bout it cuz all the stuff above makes it look like he might cheat on me. what should i do?! PLEase hELP! (link)
Go out with him at least once. Let it be known right up front that you aren't the type to go for that behavior right now. Ask him if he is as bad as his rep makes him out to be. See what he has to say. Could just be rumors. :)


hey i have a friend and him and his girlfriend broke up like 2 weeks ago and he still likes her so me and her hungout friday ane he got mad at us. But now i like her and like shes my bestfriends ex. What should i do?
P.S. were both 14 (link)
He still likes her but, the feeling must not be mutual if she likes you! You are doing nothing wrong, they are no longer together. He will be mad because he still has feelings for her. You need to see if you can't talk to him and make him understand your feelings. :)


ok, me and my boyfriend have been going out for a little over 3 months, but we havent made out yet. we hold hands and kiss, but not open mouth. we've said that we love each other, and idk. is there a problem with this? i mean we talked about it and said we're ready, but like we just cant find the right time cuz of school and stuff. (link)
Don't worry about doing other things, just enjoy each others company. The other stuff will come when the time is right. There is absolutley nothing wrong with waiting a while. :)




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