I don't blame you for having to put things away before certain people come over. I would do the same. It never fails to amaze me when people don't know how to behave in someone else's house. Either they're deliberately being silly or they just don't understand boundaries. I think you're doing the right thing in minimizing the damage that might be caused but I'm another who's saying that your husband ought to have a word.

When the children were much younger, organizing dates with the hubster was always a bit tricky, especially as I didn't know many people where we were living so finding a babysitter wasn't the easiest thing in the world. We did however try to make time for each by going out on dates whenever we could. Now that both my kids are young adults, my husband and I definitely go out a lot more. Whether you're newlyweds or have been together as long as we have, it's definitely important.

I've been married for 20 years and my chief bridesmaid is someone I'm no longer in touch with. To be honest, we'd started to drift apart even before I got married but I still had her as my chief bridesmaid which I do regret. Don't get me wrong, we were still friends and she'd never done anything wrong. But our ' best friendship' had run it's course and with hindsight, I should have given that role to someone else. My cousin would have been an ideal choice. I think I gave her that role as we promised each other when we were much younger that we would be each other's chief bridesmaids and godmothers to each others kids. So due to some silly childhood promise, I continued to go along with it. Though thankfully I didn't ask her to be my children's godmother and I have a feeling she would have refused if I'd asked her anyway. I haven't spoken to her in maybe fifteen years and I don't know where she is today. But my point is if you really feel that this isn't the person you want following you down the aisle, then ask someone else. Don't be bound by obligation. I think Green Diamante said it best - you were close when you were her bridesmaid, but you're not so close now. So if I were you, I'd ask the person I really want as my chief bridesmaid. And please don't feel guilty about it!

I got with my husband when I was 22 and before then there were only lads I went out with for a very short period of time. I have no idea where in the world they are now so I'm sure you can gather that we're not in contact! My husband did have one very serious relationship before me and they were engaged. But that ended very badly so it's safe to say that they will never be friends! To stay friends with an ex or not is a very difficult question to answer because it depends on so many things. If the worst should happen and me and my husband split up, we'll definitely be in each other's lives because we're connected by our children. But whether we'll be like Kevin and Sally on Coronation Street with their spouses is another story!