Dear Mia,

I am a 36 year old woman having two boys. I have a husband too. Thus I have a confidence problem at home. Anything I do is not good enough. So I tend to get depressed. To boost my self confidence I have tried to do a number of things. I wake up in the morning and tell myself 50 times that I am good. I have arranged with my closest friends to ring me up regularly and convince me how good and useful I am. I even leave notes at odd places (like bathroom mirror, wardrobe, even bed post) reminding me how wonderful I am. Hell, I have even made a small album listing all the successes I have had in life and where I look so cute winning the frog race in Std II.! I’ll admit all these have helped me a great deal.

However, yesterday I overheard my husband talking surreptiously over the phone arranging a meeting with a “special” kind of doctor. Now, I want to know, is my self-confidence bothering him too much? Is that why he wants to see a doctor? Can you please help me? Oh, he has asked me to accompany him, so I will get to know eventually!

Selfconfidently

Mamamia

Dear Mamamia,

Sometimes the obvious quirk isn't THE quirk. Are you sure that you have a confidence problem or is it just a cover for your office supply addiction and/or scrapbooking fetish? You need to get to the root of your inner paper product and photo shop cravings. When you solve this mystery, you will then have no more "confidence" problems. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Were you denied paper products and/or fancy stationery as a young girl? In other words, did your parents just say no to post-it notes and construction paper?

2. Why was the only photo you chose to tell me about was the one where you looked cute as a frog? A frog! Don't you see??

Mamamia, it's not about your house being full of testosterone or how many friends you think you have and only you know why you are waking up early to talk to yourself in the dark!

Finally, most people with actual "confidence" problems would never write in publicly to my column to ask for help. All four of my readers now know who you are.

Trying to help you get to the root of your quirks,

Mia

By the way, I found the video "you" made about your addiction. I'm sorry to expose you on camera, but I believe it's good for you to confront this problem head-on as there really isn't an easy button.