Latest news with #Doghouse
Washington Post
3 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Carolyn Hax: Sorry, Mother, I like our dog sitter too much to share the number
Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: Lowish-stakes question: My new spouse and I have a wonderful dog sitter, whom we cherish and don't want to lose. My parents live about 20 miles away and have two purebred dogs. My mother has always been a difficult, rigid person and has lost a lot of friends over the years because of her anger and difficult personality. (Managing that aspect of my relationship with her is the subject of a different letter.) Their previous dog sitter, for whatever reason, is no longer available to take care of my parents' dogs according to my mother's increasingly rigid and prescribed rules during their increasingly frequent vacations. My mother keeps asking for our sitter's contact information. I do not want to give it to her — even if the sitter figures out right away what a no-win situation that is, I worry that I will be tarred with the brush of Mom's Unreasonableness and that may affect our relationship with our sitter. I need a script for refusing my mother's escalating requests for the contact information, something other than 'no,' or ignoring her, or finally telling her the truth about how difficult she is and how giving out that information will have a serious negative impact on me. — Doghouse Doghouse: This is a lowish-stakes offshoot to the high-stakes issue, so this minor one will vanish once you find a way to stand up to your mom that is both scalable and allows you to sleep at night. You said it was another letter, but why not economize. We've been here before. Be calm and civil; say yes and no when you want to, not when you think you're supposed to; don't let anyone treat your 'no' as an opening to negotiations; and don't engage with any tantrums you set off with a 'no' someone doesn't like. If that's easier read than done, then therapy is a good place to learn boundaries, or try the endearingly basic 'Lifeskills for Adult Children' by Janet Woititz and Alan Garner. For the minor issue, though? You can hand the dog sitter your mother's information and let them work it out. Your sitter might shoot down the gig as too far away. Or really want the business, with a steep high-maintenance upcharge … because with the contact information, you will of course also pass along the intel that your mother has 'increasingly rigid and prescribed rules' for her animals' care. But do be clear that 'if you're not taking new clients, I'll let her know.' Ahem. Or just not taking this one, which is also okay. We're not even talking about the best reason to say 'Sorry, Mom, state secret': Your parents take frequent vacations. I'm not giving away my dog care if that means the sitter won't be available for my shmoof. Readers' thoughts: · The dog sitter question isn't low-stakes, but it is easy. Or was easy, until you continued to dodge your mother forever. All you had to do was say, 'She isn't accepting new clients.' Or, like Carolyn said, give the scoop and let your dog sitter decide. This isn't a situation you need to manage for either of them. It would only tarnish your reputation if you sprang your mother on the dog sitter without any warning. · Yes, ask the dog sitter, BUT be clear they have your permission to say no up-front or after giving it a try, and that it will NOT affect your desire to hire/keep them.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Luke Donald Must be Encouraged With the Brothers Hojgaard
European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald was in the Crescent City to play in the Zurich Classic. He would miss the cut playing with teammate Camillo Villegas, but that was the bad news. The good news Donald may have found another pairing for Europe. Advertisement What may have seemed obvious pairing the brothers Hojgaard together, that was validated on Sunday when the Danish twins finished runner-up to Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak. Rasmus Hojgaard hugs his twin Nicolai Hojgaard on the 18th hole during the second round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament. Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images What was impressive was not on the 13-under 59 in the opening round best-ball, but the Sunday final round 4-under 68. 'It's an important week for us, we can build a lot and there's a lot of positives from this week,' Nicoli said. 'I feel like we played some good golf for the most part and still can see where our games need a bit of fine tuning. But it was a week where we could free up a little bit and try and really help each other, and we had so much fun.' Advertisement In a week when most of the presumptive U.S. Ryder Cup team was off, the Hojgaard's, who have been playing with and against each other since they were kids had an opportunity to experience a team event in a high leverage situation and more importantly know they need to work on somethings, which has to be for a bigger event in September. 'I think all week we've had a good vibe in our little group, us two and our two caddies,' Rasmus said. 'Yeah, there's been good energy right from the start, and obviously we got off to building from there, and I think we did that well putting ourselves in contention. We did our best today and we can keep our head high.' Not to slight the recent Masters winner, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry was in the field as well. The defending champions didn't successfully defend, but considering most people didn't believe McIlroy was even going to show up, they acquitted themselves well. Rory McIlroy, left, laughs with Shane Lowry before the start of their final round on the 1st hole of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf Hinton-Ima The eventually T12 had some positives, with a 61 in the third round and the duo having a legitimate chance to defend, if they had a impactful Sunday final round, which they didn't. Advertisement 'It was nice to come and try and defend, I think we did a good job for the most part.,' Lowry said. 'I think we played all right, just today nothing really happened for us, and then after the delay we just went -- everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I had a great week. I'm happy my man came here this week, and we had a great time, and it was fun.' And if you're Donald, you must be encouraged with seeing the brothers Hojgaard playing so well as a team and seeing McIlroy and Lowry make an appearance and get some additional experience together. Related: Marco Penge Goes From Doghouse to Penthouse With a Win in China Related: The Brothers Højgaard Shoot 59 at the Zurich Classic
