Q. My stepmother couldn't be nicer, but she seems incapable
of making a short telephone call to me — her calls go on for about half an hour, and no matter how many cues I give her she still finds something new to talk about. I bring calls with friends to a close by openly saying, 'OK, I'll let you go now, I've got to get on with my life,' but my stepmother feels a little bit insecure so I can't risk this breezy tactic with her. What should I do?
Name withheld, Norfolk A. Since you live in Norfolk, where there is sporadic network coverage, you are perfectly positioned to telephone your stepmother from your mobile. Time car journeys so as to give her about five or ten minutes, then say, quite truthfully. 'We're coming up to a place where there's no signal, so I'll say goodbye in case the line goes dead.' In this way you will spare her paranoia
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