dear life kit

Dear Life Kit: My best friend said he'd unfriend me if I ever had kids

9:28am March 11, 2025

A reader is taken aback by her best friend's reaction to the possibility that she might want kids. He says that if she had kids, it would change everything between them. Friendship experts weigh in.

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Dear Life Kit, DLK Withered rose with fallen petals

Dear Life Kit: My friend kissed me and I liked it. Now he wants to take it back!

5:00am February 13, 2025

Plus: how to deal with an awful brother-in-law, what to do with a box of mementos you shared with your ex and how to tell a bestie you don't want to go on a couples trip.

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Dear Life Kit: My husband is more emotional with his work wife than he is with me

5:00am February 01, 2025

An NPR listener wonders whether her husband's relationship with a female colleague is too close for comfort. He says she's being competitive for no reason, and that he sees the woman as a 'sister.'

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Dear Life Kit: My daughter was left out of the holiday newsletter — again!

5:00am December 12, 2024

A mother wonders why her father-in-law keeps neglecting to mention his daughter in his annual newsletter to family. It includes updates on the other grandchildren. Why not her?

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Dear Life Kit: Is it a faux pas to create a 'happy graduation' registry for myself?

10:00am October 31, 2024

An NPR listener is graduating soon with her MBA. She wants to know if it's OK celebrate her achievement by asking loved ones to buy her gifts from a registry, similar to what people do for weddings.

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Collage showing a hand holding a single key on a keychain with a house, in front of a large, glowing keyhole that shows two people sitting on the floor embracing in their new home.

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Dear Life Kit: My boyfriend says I need to live on my own before we move in together

10:31am February 23, 2024

by Becky Harlan

Relationship researchers and clinical psychologists Julie Schwartz Gottman and John Gottman weigh in on four tricky relationship questions.

A grid of six images from NPR Life Kit's top stories of 2022. From left: An illustration showing a couple who are struggling over an uneven division of labor; eight water glasses stacked in a pyramid against a blue background; an illustrated woman finding her way through vegetation; A brown lunch bag transforming into sushi; A bird in a tree; and a toddlers hand playing with duplo lego blocks.

Arts

Life Kit's top episodes of 2022: How to split chores, stop 'lifestyle creep' and more

2:02pm December 06, 2022

by Malaka Gharib

NPR's advice podcast shares the most popular episodes of the year, which includes tips on how to avoid thinking traps and protect North American birds during migration.

Rachel Wilkerson Miller is the editor-in-chief of Self and the author of The Art of Showing Up.

Arts

Dear Life Kit: Can I tell my neighbor to put their yappy dogs inside?

5:30am August 06, 2022

It can be hard to navigate etiquette in the midst of interpersonal conflict. Rachel Wilkerson Miller, editor-in-chief of Self, gives advice in three sticky situations.

Two pigeons beak-to-beak forming a heart between their necks. Collage of letters behind them.

Arts

Dear Life Kit: I'm ready to move in together. My boyfriend isn't

6:02am July 24, 2022

Pop musician and reality dating series host Betty Who answers your questions on finding love, keeping love and knowing when to walk away.

Collage featuring a close-up image of an open mouth in black and white with colorful cut-outs of triangles emanating from it, symbolizing speech. The collage is surrounded by a frame of stamps, letters and envelopes symbolizing mail.

Arts

Dear Life Kit: Should I tell my friend they talk too much?

5:00am June 05, 2022

Sometimes it's easier to bottle up your feelings than to have a difficult conversation with a friend. Celeste Headlee, author of We Need to Talk, answers your questions about conflict with friends.