Krys, 22 from Canada asks:

My boyfriend is a nice guy but has a lot of baggage. A couple years ago his father left the family for another woman and now he and his mom live together. She babies him completely and cooks and cleans for him. He is so lazy and helps out with nothing. We have been together for a year and even though I know that he loves me he never expresses it to me. He never says anything nice to me and is always making jokes about my weight (even though I am not overweight at all) or my appearance. I told him it’s not nice and he says that I take it too personally because he is only kidding. It seems like I make a lot of effort to make him happy and accommodate him but he never wants to make the same effort. He thinks that there is no problem and that I am making a huge deal over nothing. All I want from him is a few nice words here and there and an I love you every once in a while. To show that he cars, why is this so hard for him???

Emilie’s Advice:

Maybe it’s hard for him because *brace yourself* he doesn’t love you. I know you say you know he does, but how do you know that? If he never says he loves you, never shows you that he loves you and makes you feel bad about yourself even after you’ve told him it hurts your feelings then what indication do you have? You go out of your way to make him happy and he does nothing in return. It sounds like he’s got a great thing going- at your expense. You do everything for him and he doesn’t have to do anything for you. You are letting him take advantage of you. You said he’s a nice guy, but he’s obviously not nice to YOU. So my advice is to break up with him. Let him “love” someone else. I can assure you that you’ll be much happier without him.