Q. I don’t hate my ex, and I’d like to get him a little something for Christmas. What’s good ex-etiquette?

A. I have multiple answers to your question. Do you have children or not? Using the children as qualifiers, that will help determine my answer.

If you don’t have children, how will the present be received, and what is the ...Read more

It’s 11 p.m. on Tuesday, and you’re wrapping up a first date. And it was a pretty good one! It ends with a hug goodbye and tentative plans to get together again for dinner early next week (you know, if you ever hear from him again). As you climb into your Lyft and give a final wave to your date, you’re excited that after a string of "mid" ...Read more

Q. My son recently married a woman with four children. They also have a baby together, my only grandchild. We are expecting a lot of company for the upcoming holiday, and I have asked my son to bring my grandchild but leave his wife’s children at home. There’s just not enough room. Now he’s refusing to come, and I’m broken-hearted. What ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Diners at Sweetgreen in Willis Tower, get ready to meet the chef of the future: a robot that makes your salad to order.

The California-based chain is launching its automated Infinite Kitchen system this week at the busy Loop restaurant, putting an assembly line of robotic chefs to work preparing bowls of everything from Kale Caesar ...Read more

PAYNESVILLE, Minn. – The red wooden doors at Salem Historical Church have been tightly sealed and locked for most of the last half-century.

But on Saturday night, the doors were a portal to the past: Inside were twinkling holiday lights and a pine tree that stretched to the ceiling, its boughs draped in silver tinsel. A sugary aroma hung ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

My freshman son is well-behaved and loves school, except for fifth period. That class is taught by a long-term substitute and has been all year. My son has been a pretty accurate reporter so far in his life at school, and he says that the substitute does not have lesson plans and student behaviors are pretty bad. The ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The Grinch steals the spotlight each holiday season, with his green grimace and his heart that's two sizes too small. His tale has inspired movies, musicals, games, and fashion since he first appeared in 1957 — but today, one green diva in Philadelphia is snatching the mic to tell her own story of how the Grinch stole, and ...Read more

Jeff Kromrey, 69, will sit down with his daughter the next time she visits and show her how to access his online accounts if he has an unexpected health crisis.

Gayle Williams-Brett, 69, plans to tackle a project she’s been putting off for months: organizing all her financial information.

Michael Davis, 71, is going to draft a living will ...Read more

The kitchen becomes my primary place of residence the week before Thanksgiving and continues straight on through New Year's Day. I should probably file a change-of-address card with the post office.

The kitchen counter is littered with crumpled dish towels, soiled hot pads and towering stacks of dirty cookie sheets and mixing bowls. Pots ...Read more

When you get to be a certain age — in my case, old — you tend to run hot and cold, which not only is true but also rhymes.

The reason is that no matter what the temperature is inside or outside, it’s either too hot or too cold.

That is why my wife, Sue, called a technician named Joe to come over and fix the upstairs thermostat, which had...Read more

From toys to toaster ovens, regifting has become the new normal for some people. One in 3 Americans (33%) say regifting holiday gifts is acceptable.

Still, regifting has traditionally been considered tacky. So what should we do this holiday season?

To get the truth about regifting, I went to my personal etiquette expert — my mom, Betzi ...Read more

WILSON TOWNSHIP, Minn. – The last time the Catholic church here faced an existential threat was on New Year’s Eve 1935, when the church was set ablaze. Not even a trace of its sacred vessels was found in the debris.

The hardship of the Great Depression did little to deter the congregation. Within weeks, parishioners were rebuilding. Men of ...Read more

This will be Craig and Donna Mindrum’s first Christmas without their son Jonathan. He died in January at age 36, leaving their family with a gaping wound where a son and a brother and an uncle should be.

Nothing will fill it, but time and talking may help it heal, Craig Mindrum figures. Hopes.

“It’s got to get better,” he said a few ...Read more

On a recent chilly morning in Hesperia, California, Alfredo Lara used a shovel to pour cement into a mound of concrete he'd shaped like a wide volcano for mixing. Nearby, his friend filled a bucket with water for the final ingredient.

"Well, here we are, trying to carry on," the 70-year-old said in Spanish. "But it hasn't been easy at all, I've...Read more

A few years ago, I wrote a column on the keys to the winter landscape being Bones, Berries and Bark. The bones of course are evergreen plants, berries are like nature’s winter baubles, and bark is typically associated with trees that create a "look at me" moment by virtue of their wood. So, when I had the opportunity to try some Berry Box ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Name-A-Snowplow contest is back, and the public continues to eat it up.

“Five years and still going strong,” said MnDOT spokeswoman Anne Meyer. “We hear about it all year long. We know there is interest out there. People enjoy the contest.”

The agency started the naming ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In his old life, Jim Johnson was a biker, did drywall and concrete work and had his sight. He never cooked.

Johnson, 59, of Citrus Heights, California, became permanently blind in 2020 after a long-term battle with open-angle glaucoma.

“Prior to being married, I popped everything in a microwave,” he said. “I ate it ...Read more

Question: “How do you ask if a guy is ready for a relationship if he is ripe off of a five-year relationship?”

This is a question I received recently, and I get some form of the “How do I know if someone else is ready?” question quite frequently.

My response:

“People are notoriously bad at self-assessing their readiness. The only ...Read more

Do you plan to leave a $20 bill in the mailbox or send gift cards to school for your child’s teachers? If so, you’re among the many Americans planning to say thank you with tips for service providers like mail carriers and teachers this holiday season.

Bankrate’s 2024 Tipping Culture Survey revealed more than 1 in 3 Americans say tipping ...Read more