Dear Diane: Mother-in-law meds, mayhem

Dear Diane: My mother-in-law, “Raylene,” has stopped taking her anti-depressant medication. She has really gone off the deep end. She barely leaves her apartment. When we do speak, all she talks about is death.

How can I talk her into going back on her medication without upsetting her even more — to the point of maybe taking her own life?

— Scared in Sarasota

Dear Sarasota: I don’t think you have the ability or the training to talk Raylene into going back on her medication. It’s too risky. Speak to her physician immediately and tell her (or him) what you have told me, and let the physician do what is necessary to help your mother-in-law. Good luck.

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Dear Diane: My mother keeps making backhanded comments about my husband’s parenting skills. Barney and I have a 6-week-old baby girl, “Shaelynne,” and she is an absolute angel.

Mom keeps saying snarky things about how Barney holds the baby, how he feeds the baby. Everything Barney does isn’t The Right Way — which is Mom’s way of saying Not Her Way.

How can I get the two of them to make peace?

— Tired Mom In Montana

Dear Montana: Easy. Just tell Snarky Mom that if she doesn’t cool it with the comments, you will limit access to her granddaughter. In other words, Play Nice or No Baby Time, Grandma.

That ought to solve the problem. She may not like it, but she needs to learn that you and Barney are this baby’s parents, not her, and she needs to step back and allow you and Barney to do things your way.