Since there have been mothers, they've been doling out advice to their children on what to eat, how to behave, and when that long-overdue haircut is urgently needed. When it comes to love, some mothers adopt a strict "don't ask, don't tell" policy while others find themselves privvy to all of their offsprings' relationship secrets.

We asked YourTango staffers to share love advice from their moms (or mother-like figures), so the rest of us might learn from them. Here are the results:

"In life and in love it's easy to know what is right and what is wrong—the hard part is … Read More

Barack Obama has something in common with 5% of Americans over the age of 18. He lives with his mother in-law. Why Do Men Get Married?

And while the leader of the free world is not one to badmouth said mother in-law (who assisted with childcare duties during the presidentail campaign and who was brought along to Washington D.C. to do the same), he is obviously absent from an article in yesterday's New York Times about Marian Robinson's life in the White House.

The piece, which opens with a quote from the first mother in-law's son, Craig Robinson, … Read More

So you married your soul mate and are about to walk down the aisle towards the start of something special. Don't be alarmed if there's a tugging at your sleeve as you link arms with Mr. Wonderful and head off into the horizon.

That's not an overzealous bridesmaid biting at your heel; it's your husband's mother.

Before becoming your husband, the man of your dreams was the center of someone else's universe, his mother's. Mama's boy or not, your husband's mother had first dibs on your guy even before you were old enough to walk, let alone say "I … Read More

My DH wears socks riddled with holes. He likes them. He doesn't care and if he's happy, so am I. Everything would be okay, except his mom (who is fabulous btw) is constantly telling me that I shouldn't let him wear those socks and that its my job to "take care of him": buy him socks, throw away the old ones.I disagree. He's a big boy. He wants socks, he knows how to drive to Target. What do you think? Would you get your DH new socks? Or are you with me and let him take care of himself?

Nothing can strike fear into the most confident of women like a mother-in-law. A close second? A future mother-in-law (FMIL), or even more terrifying, meeting his mom for the first time (contain your shrieks of terror!) as she hosts you for the holidays.

Sure, most FMILs are warm-hearted, apron-donning rays of sunshine. But just in case you need to win her over, here are the perfect hostess (with a twist) gifts. With these in hand, you'll prove you're the one for her son.

You probably heard that news that John McCain's VP nominee Sarah Palin has a seventeen-year-old daughter, Bristol, who is pregnant and plans to marry the father. In today's New York Times there's a piece with the headline, "In Political Realm "Family Problem" Emerges as Test." Swap in the word "relationship" instead of "political," and you could be describing the experience of meeting your significant other's family.

The questions in both the political and relationship realms are these: How much is someone's family a reflection of them, and should your lover's … Read More

Communication response times have come far from the days of smoke signals. We can send and receive messages in the blink of an eye via text, phone, e-mail, Facebook, MySpace, instant message, the list goes on. This is a good thing. Except when it's not.

For example, on the occasions when you really need to return a bad blind date's or your mother-in-law's phone call. It would be rude not to, but it's late, your throat is bone dry from talking all day and there's a Scrubs rerun on TV. A text might come off as too curt, an … Read More