Dear Steve and Shirley,
I am writing to get your opinion on a big issue I'm having with my boyfriend. We've been together for three years, and I haven't spent any holidays with him and his family. He spends my birthdays with me, but he's usually with his family when it's his birthday.
I know that if a man treats his mother nicely, it's a sign of how he'll treat his woman—but not in this case. I practically had to beg him to meet his mom and sister. My therapist isn’t fond of my boyfriend, and she thinks I can do better. But I'm in love with him and can't just toss him away.
This Christmas, we exchanged gifts early, and he flew three hours away to be with his family. We are both 42 years old, so I hoped he'd grown up since last year and didn’t have to be up under his mother for Christmas. I thought at the very least he’d invite me to go with him—but he didn’t. I ended up going to my parents' house, along with my married brother and his family, and my married baby sister and her husband.
My man and I barely got to spend New Year’s Eve together because his flight was delayed for three hours. We celebrated my birthday on January third, and at dinner, he slid me his phone so I could take a picture of us. While I had his phone, his sister sent him a photo that popped up on the screen. It was a picture of him, his sister, his mama, and a pretty woman.
He said the woman is his mom's hairstylist. That may be true, but why did they all have on matching pajamas? I asked if she was a relative. He laughed and said no, they're not related.
I then decided that he must be dating her. He said I'm making a big deal over matching pajamas they decided to wear for Christmas. He keeps joking about it, but I need answers.
Am I being a fool?