Dear Readers: I am on vacation, but I have left behind some of my favorite columns. — Ann Landers
Dear Ann Landers: Yesterday I looked out of my kitchen window and could have sworn I saw an old cow across the way, munching grass between two houses. I was just about to shout to my husband and tell him a cow had wandered out of the pasture and to go put her back in.
Thank heavens I was interrupted by a phone call.
After a second look out the window, I discovered the “cow” was my mother-in-law wearing saddle pants.
Three weeks ago, I was frightened by the sight of a tramp hanging around the machine shed. It was dusk, and I quickly locked all the doors. A few minutes later, I saw my husband walking toward the tramp. When they embraced, I nearly fainted. The “tramp” was his mother.
To put it bluntly, Ann, the woman looks so down at the heels that it makes me sick. She also scares the daylights out of me. My mother-in-law is 74 years old, has plenty of money and is in good health. What can I do about this revolting situation? — Fargo, N.D.
Dear Fargo: Nothing. At her age, she is not likely to change. So grin and bear it, honey. I hope your eyesight remains good. And thank heavens you aren’t trigger-happy.
Dear Ann Landers: I am a 16-year-old girl whose 15-year-old brother is driving not only ME nuts, but the whole family as well. All he thinks about is his hair.
There is only one full bathroom in this house. We all have to wait to get in because “Eric” is either shampooing his golden locks or using the blow dryer.
Eric helps himself to all my hair spray, rollers, pins, shampoo, conditioner — whatever he can lay his hands on. This kid is in front of the mirror about 80 percent of the time. Last summer, he wouldn’t go swimming because he was afraid of getting his hair wet and not having a blow dryer handy. When it rains, he puts on a plastic hood and looks like a dunce.
Any suggestions on how to cure this loon of what appears to be an obsession with his hair? — Sis
Dear Sis: He’s 15? Time is your best ally. In the meantime, the family should insist he blow-dry elsewhere and free up the bathroom. And you should make him buy his own beauty supplies.
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Write to Ann Landers, P.O. Box 11562, Chicago, Ill. 60611-0562.
