Dear Leo: Advice Column

Welcome to the next installment of the Dear Leo Advice Column! As always, here is the form to ask for advice!

Dear Leo,

There's a person who's spilling all their friend's secrets to me, and I know for a fact that their friend hates me. (That friend has been talking about me behind my back for as long as I can remember.) So I'm guessing that if I told them, that person would think I was lying, and the person who tells me stuff just won't shut up. HALP!!!

-Archibald Bartholomew Archibaldson LXVII

Dear Archibald Bartholomew Archibaldson LXVII (nice name by the way),

This is so hard and relatable! It sounds like this person who’s been spilling a lot of secrets needs a place to talk and/or vent about that person, and they might be talking to you a lot if you seem approachable. Maybe the person telling all of the secrets is annoyed by their friend but doesn’t want to have a conflict with them, so they give out their secrets to you (and maybe others). If you want this person to stop telling you secrets, acting indifferent to said secrets would probably work well. If you have a strong reaction to what they’re saying or seem to really care about what this person is telling you, they are likely to want to keep telling you these secrets as they know that you’ll listen to them. If you don’t seem to care about the secrets, they might give up on gossiping about their friend. You don’t necessarily have to distance yourself from them, but they will continue telling secrets if you care about those secrets. If they still refuse to stop telling you their friend’s secrets, try ignoring them or telling them to stop. A simple statement of “I don’t really enjoy hearing about all this” or something along those lines will probably let them know that you aren’t interested in those secrets. Also, if you want to inform the other person whose secrets are being spilled, it’s probably worth a try. Even if that person doesn’t like you, they will probably appreciate you telling them about their friend, and may be more grateful to you as a result. Good luck with this!

Dear Leo,

What is the best and fastest way to get candy of any kind? 

-I don’t know. Who am I?

Dear I don’t know. Who am I?,

I have 5 ideas:

1. Bribe one of your friends to do something for them for candy.

2. Win a math Kahoot, language class Blooket/Gimkit, or any sort of challenge in class.

3. Go to some sort of school event and look for a table with those plastic pom-pom things. They will probably have candy!

4. Um, buy some after school? Although maybe not the cheapest choice!

5. If you’re really desperate, you *could* try to trick-or-treat. Even though it’s March, maybe you could trick some people into thinking it’s October??

Hope this helps!

Dear Leo,      

I signed up for four after-school clubs this semester. My parents say that since I stay after school so much, I get tired and I'm not able to do my homework. I do not want to drop out of any clubs. I think it is pointless because even if I came home early, I would still go to sleep at the same time, and I always turn in my homework on time. My parents said since I don't get enough sleep, I get really tired and let it out on them and my little sister. But in my opinion, I don't think it has anything to do with my clubs. My parents said if I yell at my sister one more time, they will make me drop out of a club, which is really sad. What should I do?

-#someoneinthisworld

Dear #someoneinthisworld,

This sounds hard! Since you and your family have conflicting views on how much sleep you’re getting, how academics are going, etc., I would suggest thinking about how your workload feels. Your parents are probably concerned because you seem tired, and if you often feel sleep-deprived, overloaded, or consumed by activities, you could temporarily put a hold on some of the things you’re doing. However, if you still feel okay about your activities, school, and everything else, you can ask your parents why they think you’re doing too many activities. Many people like to be busy and participate in multiple different activities, which might be your case. You could also reassure them that clubs aren’t necessarily giant commitments with lots of other work, depending on which clubs you’re doing. If you’re sometimes getting mad at your family, they might be doing something that irritates you — maybe even constantly suggesting that you not take on so many commitments! If you know that your sister or your parents are doing something to annoy you, you could always ask them to stop, and then they are likely to see that your anger doesn’t have anything to do with your clubs. Hopefully, this works out!