It is 1993, and she is the 39-year-old only daughter of her parents’ long and loving marriage. Her mother has suffered a stroke, so Braitman has flown from California to New York to be with her. She finds her mom awake, but groggy, and hopped up on meds. After an embrace, her mother asks, “So, how’s your boyfriend?”

My 46-year-old, divorced son is working full time and lives within walking distance of me in his own apartment. To compare, his 50-year-old, divorced sister who works full-time also lives within walking distance in her own apartment. She is independent and lives responsibly.

Re: Traveling Dad:

Two weeks is a long time, but gone doesn’t always have to be gone. Can he Skype a couple of times a week? Pre-record favorite bedtime stories that can be played while he’s away? That would lessen the bedtime burden and make the kids feel more connected to Dad while he’s away.

Hi, Carolyn:

When we first got married, my husband was really supportive of my career. When we had a baby with serious medical problems, he took paternity leave to stay home with her for the two days a week I work.

Hi, Carolyn:

What makes a relationship emotional infidelity vs. just a really close friendship with someone of the opposite sex? I know my husband would never cheat in the physical sense, but he doesn’t seem to acknowledge that there’s other behavior that crosses a line . . .

When my husband and I were first talking about having children, my husband suggested my mother’s name and his mother’s name (“Elaine Nicole”) or our fathers’ names (“Timothy James”).

Now we are having a little girl, and my mother-in-law has not stopped making comments to my husband and me about how her name has been given as the middle name and my mother’s as the first.

Hi, Carolyn:

My girlfriend and I have been together for five years. Shortly after we met, I met her best friend, Dan, who had just started a relationship with Rachel.

My wife and I split up for a couple of reasons — including that she’s likely bipolar but refuses treatment.

Slowly over the years of working together to raise our children, we seem to have developed a friendly relationship. I love being with her when she is on the up side; when she is down, I stay clear.

This new hire works hard and is pleasant except for two things. The first is that she calls people (including customers!) “sweetheart” every other word. I’ve started not paying attention to her when she starts out like that, and then I say I was not aware she was talking to me.

Reader: I’m a new manager and am finding the process challenging. While I supervise a team, I did not hire them, and I don’t have the ability to fire them. We all report to the same supervisor; however, I’m the “team lead,” so I direct most of the projects. My issue is I don’t feel respected by the project assistant. She’s a great worker and very intelligent; however, she’s in her early 20s. I get the impression that she often second-guesses my direction or decisions. While I appreciate all feedback from team members, her communication style is very up-front and borderline rude. I didn’t speak to supervisors that way when I was her age. I also feel that she tries to tell me how to do my job. It’s evident she thinks she could do a better job than I can. What statements can I make when she’s out of line? I’ve stopped responding to e-mails in which I feel I have to justify any decision to her.

Karla: As I see it, you have two options: Stay or go. But first, I’m trying to get my head around why your one remaining reference has opted out of helping you. Referral fatigue? Inability to give a more-than-tepid endorsement? I can’t help thinking there’s an important nugget there.

• My boss is a bully who treats me worse than others. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m even good at my job anymore. I cry pretty frequently (not at the office) about the constant criticism and the ridiculous deadlines.

We are a small satellite office, and we have a very nice dinner with spouses and significant others. We are a fun, diverse group, except for the bigot with substandard work, talk of collecting Nazi memorabilia and pictures of the husband’s swastika tattoo. I have been able to shut down her chatting with me (I don’t work directly with her), but the rest of the guys work with her and do not feel comfortable being rude to her.

I am always stressed out about my job, even on nights and weekends. I’m already dreading Monday, and Friday isn’t even over! I’ve had jobs with poor work/life boundaries that gave me reason to stress in off hours, but this job shouldn’t be doing that. I’ve tried mantras, meditating, exercise, and they rarely work for long. I know the problem is mostly in my head, but I still feel helpless at controlling it. Any tips?

I’ve been at a new job for a while now and have a problem. Three others in my group have been here much longer and know a lot of things that are not written down anywhere. Call it institutional knowledge. Often this is info I need to do my job, so I ask one of them. Frequently they give me wrong or incomplete info so that I look like a fool. Have you any suggestions?

A colleague and I have fallen in love after working closely together for about a year. We have a tremendous amount in common , and furthermore, he is one of the best human beings I have ever met. Unfortunately, our boss has forbidden us from dating because he feels it would be bad for office morale. (Dating colleagues isn’t against company policy, as long as there is no supervisory relationship between the parties.) One or both of us leaving the company would be possible but not easy — we work in a highly technical specialty, so there aren’t a lot of jobs.

That hasn’t always been the case. She thought elementary school was wonderful. Her teachers were excellent, and she loved them as much as they loved her.

She has always been at grade level, her reading is where it should be, her comprehension is terrific and she can connect the text to just about anything. But her word recognition isn’t as good as her comprehension. Is this a flag for a learning disability? Or is she just developing at her own pace?

Check out a transcript of a recent live Q&A hosted by Kelly.

“That must be the most fun job.”

True confession time. It is.

I learn something new every day. (Did you know more tornadoes strike the United States than any other nation on Earth?)

“Have you heard about the viral video Kony 2012? If not, your teenager has.”

Indeed the only reason I knew about Invisible Children and Joseph Kony was that one of my 16-year-old sons had told me the night before, “You have to watch this; it’s all anyone is talking about.”

Not because it’s divisive.

Not because it’s offensive.

Because it’s redundant.

All mothers work and work darned hard.

Cherie: A black Carrie Bradshaw living in D.C. minus Mr. Big, plus two adorable dogs. Happy hours and dog parks. Flats while I walk and change into (cute but affordable) heels when I get where I’m going. I actually cook, so there are no sweaters in my oven.

Micah: Running, biking, rock climbing, mountaineering, swimming, weight lifting, the list goes on.