Two Day Magazine

Dear Natalie,

I am a 20 year old gay guy who came out to my parents when I was a teen. I have a supportive family and they have stood by me. I know I am one of the lucky ones. I just started dating this great guy about 3 months ago. He is 21 years old and we both go to the same university. While I have no problem with my sexuality, he is still in the closet, as he comes from a very Christian, conservative family. I want him to meet my parents and I want to meet his family, but he is shying away from doing either. I told him my family already knows that I am gay and that they will love him. (He is so sweet!) But, he said he isn’t ready to come out, yet, and he is feeling pressure. It isn’t so much meeting my family that is the issue, he just feels that if he meets my family, we will have to meet his family and he is really scared. I feel for him, but I think he needs a little “push.” What do you think? Should I back off or make him come out to his family?

Thanks,

I’m Here I’m Queer, Get Used to It

Dear Natalie,

This question came from twitter: My ex and I brkn up fw months now. We have a child 2geva n we're trying to get on with our spr8 lives. But ppl tln her my twts!upseting her

Here is the translation: My ex and I have been broken up for a few months now. We have a child together and we are trying to get on with our separate lives. But, people have been telling her my tweets and it is upsetting her. What do I do?

Thanks,

Sir Tweets A Lot

Dear Natalie,

My husband and I recently decided to separate after 4 years of marriage. Luckily, we never had children, so that makes it less messy, but we are both dog lovers and we have three dogs. Our split is fairly amicable, but we are fighting over who gets to keep the dogs. I think I should have them, because one of them was mine before we even got together, and the other two we rescued from an animal shelter to keep her company. Both of us are stubborn (one of our many issues with each other) and I am not sure what to do?

Sincerely,

Loves Dogs

Dear Natalie,

I was dating this girl for a while when I decided that things were moving too fast, so I told her we needed to break up. She was really upset with me, I know she really liked me. So, it’s been about two months since we split and I have been thinking about her a lot. I think I want her back. To make matters worse, I saw her out the other day with a new “friend” and I think she may have started dating again. What do I do? I miss her. I think I made a mistake.

Thanks,

Wants to Make Up

Dear Natalie,

I am losing my mind. I have a roommate who has a boyfriend and they have sex practically every night in her bed! I even think they have had sex in MY bed more than once, and even though they wait until they think I am asleep, I AM NOT and I HEAR EVERYTHING. I am not a prude, but come on! It’s disgusting! I don’t want to be in the middle of their sex-capades and I think it is soooooo rude! What do I do? I am embarrassed to bring up the situation but she wants to room with me again next fall and I don’t know what to say! Help!

Sincerely,
I Have a Bad Roomie

My Mother’s Day was very special this year. I was able to be with not only my mother, but with my grandmother, my aunt, my cousin and my uncle’s mother. So, I sat down with all of them around the table, and asked them for their advice on dating and love. Here are some pearls of wisdom from--who better? Moms!

Dear Natalie,

My mother recently got divorced and has started dating again. She and I have always been really close and I want her to be happy. Her dating doesn’t bother me except for the fact that she has decided to date women. My mom and dad were married for over 20 years and now all of the sudden, she wants a girlfriend? I am really upset over this. She is seeing one woman in particular, who is nice, but I don’t want to get to know her. My younger brother is dealing with it much better than me, and he tells me I need to chill out and be supportive, but how can I? I feel totally betrayed by my mom. What do I do?

Thanks,
WTF

Dear Natalie.

I am an out and proud lesbian. I dated a girl for five months and she decided to move on without much of an explanation shortly over a month ago. From what I gathered it seemed like too much too soon, but her current involvement seems to be moving at rabbit speed. I didn't have many warning signs prior to our split and it ended very abruptly. I received the classic "feelings change, people fall out of love" excuse. My story in full will only complicate matters, so here's my question. If this is a pattern I've seen in her past relationships, and even after claiming bouts of hatred towards me, she still name drops, we're still talking, and are working towards a friendship -- how guarded must I stand to not be the 'fall back' girl if this relationship doesn't withstand the test of time either? And, what if I don't so much mind being the 'fall back' girl because I wasn't the one to fall out of love with her?

Fondly,

Glutton For Punishment.

Dear Natalie,

I recently got married and we have been living together for a few months now. It was a quick engagement and I haven’t known him too long. Well, I found something out the other day that I am really concerned about and I don’t know what to do. I got our cable bill and it was off the charts! I started looking through it to see what caused the jump in price and I noticed charge after charge after charge for porn. Like, a TON of it. My husband is a business owner and has a lot of freedom with his schedule. I am usually gone during the day and didn’t realize what he was doing while I was out. I confronted him about the bill and he even admitted that he’s been doing this for a while and is basically addicted. It has effected our sex life, because I don’t feel that I am enough. What do I do?

Thanks,

Cable Bill

Dear Natalie,

I just started dating this really great guy a few months ago. We have a great sex life and he is really attentive and tells me all the time how wonderful I am and how perfect I am for him. But, there is one thing that he does that really bugs me. He is always checking out other women when we go out. For example, we were out at the movies last weekend, and this attractive red head walked by and I caught him looking at her. I got upset and he apologized and just said he didn’t mean to upset me, but it did! What’s wrong with me? Am I not giving him what he wants? What do I do?

Thanks,

Ella

Dear Natalie,

My boyfriend and I have been dating for about a year and a half. I just got offered this brilliant new job offer in San Diego. (We currently live in Seattle.) I don’t know what to do. I love being with my boyfriend and I love our life together, but this job is a really big deal and could set me on the track that I want my career to be on. What do I do?

Thanks,
Can’t Decide

Dear Natalie,

Can you explain why some women are turned on by spanking and others repulsed?

Thank you,
Renee

Dear Natalie,

I am 19 years old and recently lost my virginity. It was ok the first time, but it wasn’t great. I expected that. However, my boyfriend and I have had sex a few times since then, and to be honest, I don’t like it. It doesn’t feel any better than it did the first time I did it. Now, every time he wants to have sex, I shy away from it. He doesn’t seem to know what to do with me, either, and I feel sad and annoyed when we are in bed. What do I do? Will I ever enjoy sex?

Sincerely,

No Fun in Bed

Dear Natalie,

This is my first year at college and I have been dating my boyfriend since sophomore year of high school. We don’t go to the same college and we see each other every weekend. He is always talking about how he wants to transfer to where I am at and how he wants to get an apartment together. I feel so smothered by him. I haven’t been able to have the “college” experience like my other friends have been having all year; they have been going out and dating and having a lot of fun with different people. My family is convinced that we are going to get engaged soon. What do I do? I want to date other people but I don’t want to hurt him.

-Frustrated Freshman

Dear Natalie,

I just started dating this guy (he’s a lawyer) and we were having sex the other night, when in the middle of it, his blackberry started to ring. Well, instead of just ignoring it (like most people in the middle of sex would do) he ANSWERED it. Seriously. I was so pissed. Then, he proceeded to have a 5 minute conversation with whoever he was talking to, got back into bed, turned to me and said “Sorry, babe, work is crazy right now.” Well, needless to say, the mood was killed. It’s been three days and he keeps calling me to go out again but I don’t know what to do. My gut tells me to ignore him, but  am I overreacting?

-No Cell Phones Allowed