Dear Amy: I’m a millennial. Growing up, I played tennis with my dad regularly. Neither of us were very good at the game, but it was something we did together.

A few years ago, I got burnt out and stopped playing tennis.

It was during the pandemic, and I just got tired of doing it.

My father would either cancel or be late about half the times we were scheduled to play, which was stressful.

Ever since then, my father asks me to play tennis whenever I see him, which is usually twice a month.

He’ll ask me: “Have you given up on tennis?” He also has my mom asking if I will play tennis with him.

How can I respond to these endlessly annoying inquiries?

– Annoyed Son

Dear Annoyed: Speaking of annoying inquiries, I might place yours into that category.

Have you ever simply told your folks that you’ve given up playing tennis?

Your father quite obviously would like to revive the idea of doing something special with you. Rather than understand this as a bid for connection, you choose to be annoyed by it.

The kindest response would be for you to suggest another activity you two could enjoy together. Ping pong, perhaps?

You can email Amy Dickinson at [email protected] or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.

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