A close friend of mine went through a very similar breakup 9 months after I did, but within 3 months was on online dating, announcing she was over her ex and ready for a new relationship She met a younger and superficially charming single dad who bombarded her with poetry, which (as Jane Austen would say) was so bad that it should have killed off the romance. Fast forward a year: he quit work, moved far away from his young child, and is now living with my friend rent-free so he can go back to Uni while she works full time and more to support all of them. She worries that she is too

It's now 3 years since my ex left and I'm doing OK, though I accept that I will always have some sadness and anger about the way my ex left the marriage and his ongoing reluctance to spend one on one time with his own children. But he does see them and support them, so it could be a lot worse. Initially I was annoyed that I even remembered the date this year, but it came to a head around my birthday, so I don't think I'll ever forget it. I've read it's very common for spouses to make these announcements on or close to a birthday or Christmas...so thoughtful! Instead I've decided to

My new neighbourhood has lots of young kids who like to play together on the grass outside their houses after school, probably in part because our houses and gardens are relatively small, and it's a quiet narrow street allowing only slow traffic. The kids are comfortable enough with other families to drop over unannounced to play with the other children or roam through the backyards to the giant trampoline next door. One particular day we had a lot of visitors pop around to investigate the aroma of my babysitter's peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, once the word got around the