DEAR ABBY: My brother is 53. He has one child, my 12-year-old nephew, “Conner.” Our father was difficult, and neither of us has many happy memories of times we shared with him.
Perhaps in response to this, my brother seems incapable of socializing without his son. Many times, he suggests outings to my husband or his friends and then throws in that he’s planning on bringing Conner. We do not want the boy included in what should be adult outings, but we can’t find a way of saying it. If I’m planning a dinner out or something else where I think he might invite his son, I preface it with a grownups-only clause.
