
Dear Sugar,
My teenage daughter plays sports and has since she was in grade school. Not long after she started, a woman that lives in our town asked to carpool. I was OK with it at first but over the last five years, it has evolved from carpooling to my family being completely responsible for her kids without any compensation.

Since women hate to disappoint, we tend to take on more than we can handle, leaving us at times resentful and exhausted.
Glamour Magazine recently coined it the "Do-it-all disease", and if you suffer from it, you're in luck. Pamela Redmond Satran has come up with 14 perfectly acceptable ways to say no without being abrupt or harsh.

It’s certainly a bit awkward and requires some major tact, but you actually can
say no to a friend’s request for you to be her bridesmaid. In fact, if you really don’t feel like you’ll be a positive participant either because of time constraints or personal demands,
declining her request might just be the best thing you can do. Though coming right out with “no thanks” may not be the best strategy, there are ways of refusing gracefully.

Sometimes you just don't want to go to happy hour with a friend or to a co-worker's housewarming party. Maybe the location is inconvenient or perhaps you just don't feel like making the effort, either way, all you want to do is refuse. Unfortunately most of us end up going anyway because we just can't say "no."
Are you a push over? Do people constantly ask you for favors because they know you'll always say yes? If so, don't feel bad, because you're not alone.