Dear Rita:

We have a house rule (request) that everyone take their shoes off when
entering our house. None of our friends mind (several of them have the
same custom), even our children and their friends happily oblige before
entering the house. The only person who won't follow this request is my
mother. She claims "it's too cold." Never mind that she is always
inappropriately dressed, which is the cause of her "coldness." I have
reminded her several times and so have our children; I even bought her
a pair of slippers, but she says, "they're too big." Please tell me how
to handle my very difficult mother.

Daughter of Cold Feet

Dear Cold Feet,

As a mother who also appreciates that the outdoors stay out of our doors, I get chill bumps just thinking about this one! Sounds like mother likes to be the head of every henhouse and your polite tactics aren't paying off. Next time she plans to come over tell her the house request has changed to a house rule and since she has always set such a fine example to you and yours growing up you are happy to have her set the bar once more, no shoes or she'll be out in the cold!

Good Cluck!

Rita