Ask Amy: Manipulative girlfriend a clear red flag

Dear Amy: I’m a sophomore in college. My girlfriend and I met on campus and have been together for six months (we’re both women). We’re making plans for this summer. We’re both looking into working at a beach resort near our college.

Every summer I go to a reunion at my summer camp. This is a camp I went to for most of my childhood and through my teens. I was a counselor there for three years. The reunion week is a time when former campers perform some maintenance tasks and help prepare the camp for the summer.

I really enjoy doing this work, and I like seeing my fellow campers and staff. It’s a really special experience for me.

My girlfriend is having a tough time with my decision to take this week away this summer. She says she will miss me too much, and she is heavily hinting that I shouldn’t do it. What do you think?

Amy says: I think your girlfriend is really into you. I also think she is trying to manipulate and control you.

Granted, a week apart can seem like a very long time when you are in the first throes of attachment. But assuming you’ve told her how important this is to you, she should not pressure you to forgo it.

Your attachment, service and commitment to this place and these people is an important part of who you are. A person who loves and respects you should on some level also celebrate this aspect of your life and character.

Dear Amy: I am a man in my 20s, exclusively dating my girlfriend for the past three years. We are very compatible and are talking about moving in together.

Recently we took a trip to her hometown and stayed with her folks. I’m a little concerned because while we were there I felt like my girlfriend wasn’t very nice to her mother. She acted very irritated by her mother and was snapping at her. She seemed to react to her grandmother the same way — impatient and bordering on rude. I’ve also heard her be this way with her mother on the phone.

Lately I have to admit that she seems to be treating me a little bit this way, too. When she is bothered or irritated, she snaps and is very short with me.

I really did not like seeing her this way with her mother, I don’t like being treated this way, and I’m wondering if this is a red flag about our future.

Amy says: Mothers and daughters sometimes share a tricky dynamic. You’re not likely to influence a lifetime of feelings between your girlfriend and the women in her life, but adults are supposed to be able to control their behavior.

Yes, I’d say that this behavior is a red flag, but it is also behavior your girlfriend can change. And she should absolutely be willing to work on it.