DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My wife is a competent cook when she follows a recipe. However, she thinks she has a real flair for cooking and will go off script to “improve” a dish. The trouble is her improvements more often than not result in an inedible mess.

I do not want to discourage her from cooking, especially since she enjoys it so much, but I don’t know how many more unappetizing meals I can take. How blunt should I be with my test kitchen cook? --- FOLLOW THE RECIPE

DEAR FOLLOW THE RECIPE: It sounds like your wife’s creativity doesn’t yield a 100 percent failure rate, which may be a good starting point whenever you speak to her about her cooking.

Perhaps the way to go is to make clear how much you like the successful experiments and encourage her to use those ingredients and combinations more often.

A gentle push in the right direction might work better than spotlighting her misfires.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I work at a long-term care facility in a state that currently allows window and outdoor visits only. My center stated weeks ago that there will be no big Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends this year, and the administration has told families that if they take their loved ones home for the day, they may be subject to a two-week in-room quarantine when they return.

I get the need to take precautions, but I find it only gets harder to explain to our residents why they can’t be with their loved ones the way they always could be before. Most of the people in our facility are in their 80s and 90s, and I see how hard it is on them to be living even more separated from the outside world and the people they love. Many of them have obviously declined more than they probably would have if things were more normal.

I already volunteered to work on Thanksgiving Day. I know how hard it’s going to be for a lot of people and I just wanted to ask you to let people know that as hard as it is for those on the outside who don’t get to see their loved ones in person, it’s even harder on the people who live in nursing homes and assisted living apartment buildings.

Please urge people to remember those who are not able to be with those they love, especially during this difficult year’s holidays. --- PLEASE DON’T FORGET

DEAR PLEASE DON’T FORGET: As a family member of someone in an assisted living community, I appreciate your efforts to remind us all about how the pandemic particularly affects an already vulnerable part of our population and the people who love them.

Thank you and all those who care for and about patients and residents in healthcare centers everywhere.

Stay safe and well.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My dad has been a cop since before I was born. He even met my mom while responding to a robbery. He is well-liked and respected on the force and in the community where he serves. He is truly one of the best guys I know.

It just kills me that he and all the other good cops are getting lumped in with the bad ones, and my dad is the first to admit there are some bad cops out there. Over the years, he has gotten kind of used to being put down because of his profession.

What’s happening now is I am getting heat from friends on-line (never to my face), about how can I stand being a cop’s daughter. And many of these comments come from people who know my dad. Some have even either been helped by him or had family members helped by him. The saddest thing of all may be that whenever I say anything in support of my dad, not just cops in general, I get attacked. It hurts, and I am ready to drop off social media altogether.

I don’t want to get into arguments with people over this, but their blindness gets me. Should I fight back? --- A COP’S DAUGHTER

DEAR A COP’S DAUGHTER: My guess is that your fighting back will do little or nothing to change the opinions of people who have already made up their minds. This is an issue that’s held an intensely high-profile and often one-sided place in the media for decades.

It may be a losing battle, but if you want to stand up for your dad, you could try reminding your friends — especially the ones who personally know him — that, like your father, there are still plenty of other good, decent men and women doing a largely thankless job, which happens to also be an increasingly dangerous one.

While it might not convert anyone, it could at least give you some relief and maybe, just maybe, make the generalizers think twice before they post again; and if the negativity stays at a high level, you could certainly do worse than taking yourself out of the social media loop for a bit.