DEAR ABBY: I recently turned 30, and I find myself in kind of a “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” situation, specifically the scene where Toula’s father has invited several Greek men to dinner to try to persuade her to marry one of them. I told my father I am not interested in dating, but he and his boss keep telling me about single Romanian men in their 30s, and Dad wants me to “get married and make babies.” How do I politely tell him I am happier and healthier as a single woman, as opposed to being married and a mother when I know FOR SURE I don’t want to be one?
For the last 10 years, I have helped out with my twin nephews. I am their main babysitter/nanny. I try to answer my nephews’ questions about life within their parents’ worldviews, and I clean both my brother’s and my nephews’ mother’s apartments. My decision to remain single and childless hasn’t been decided lightly. How can I politely tell my father that I do not want to date anyone, even if some of them are very nice guys? — ROMANIAN CAT LADY
DEAR LADY: At the age of 30, you should be able to make up your own mind about what you would like your future to be, without arm-twisting or “help” from your father. How about telling him in plain English (or Romanian) exactly what you have told me? From where I sit, for the last 10 years you have been subjected to an extra-large dose of parenting and housekeeping. If that “taste” isn’t for you, speak up and say so.
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