Recently
Love Is the Key to Successful Parenting
DR. WALLACE: I am a single parent of an 11-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son. I had a lot of problems as a teen because my parents were super lenient in controlling me. Let's say I could do almost anything that I wanted with no questions asked.…Read more.
Give Intelligent Young Women a Break
DR. WALLACE: I'm angry that you encourage all girls, even the mentally, emotionally and physically mature young women who happen to be teenagers, not to get involved with older guys. You are dead wrong in your assumption that older guys and teenage …Read more.
Open and Honest Conversation Is Paramount
DR. WALLACE: Please tell me what to do. I'm 20, married three years and the mother of a 2-year-old son. I love my husband very much, but I'm lonely and depressed. My husband works 12 to 16 hours, 6 days a week. I have no friends, no job and no time …Read more.
My Friend's Mother Helps Her Cheat
DR. WALLACE: We have homework four days a week in world history. I do all my homework by myself, but my best friend's mother helps her with hers. I average a B on my homework, but my friend averages an A. I don't believe this is fair. Both of us are …Read more.
more articles
|
Hope that Mother Nature is a Close FriendDR. WALLACE: I'm 20 and my fiance is 22, and we will be married on Dec. 31 so we can get the maximum income tax break. Don't get me wrong, we are getting married because we have been a couple for over three years and are very much in love. We have already planned to have three children. It would be perfect if we would have two girls and one boy, or two boys and one girl. I desperately want a daughter. My fiance wants a son because he likes sports and wants to be a "Little League" father. I know the odds are good that if we are blessed with three children, we will be parents of a two and one combination. But I am well aware that it is possible for parents to be blessed with three, four and even more children of the same sex. I have three older sisters and no brothers. My mother admits that they were hoping for a son, but I didn't cooperate. Of course, my parents love me. My mom says that secretly she wanted another daughter because she had a ton of toys and clothes to give me (only kidding). With all of the medical advances, is it now possible to select the sex of the child you plan to have, or is it still Mother Nature's choice? — Nameless, Plattsburgh, N.Y. NAMELESS: Unless Mother Nature is a close friend of yours, plan on pot luck. Sorry, but the choice is not yours. A baby's sex is determined at the instant of fertilization. All female cells carry X chromosomes, while men carry both X and Y chromosomes.
If, indeed, your husband and you are blessed with three children, the odds are about 88 percent that the one-two combination will make you both extra happy. And I'm positive that if Mother Nature decides to provide you with a three-zero score, you both will be equally happy and proud. ALL DOG BITES ARE SERIOUS DR. WALLACE: My uncle has a very friendly dog that I always play with when my family visits. Last night I was playing with the dog and a ball, and the dog accidentally bit me on the finger. It wasn't serious, but now I'm worried about getting rabies. What should I do? I've already washed the wound thoroughly. — Willie, Goshen, Ind. WILLIE: All dog bites should be taken seriously. Rabies is a potentially deadly disease that's transferred to humans through the saliva of an infected animal. Have your uncle keep a close watch on the pooch. If it dies or acts strangely in the first two weeks after the bite, contact a doctor immediately. Rabies can be prevented by Pasteur treatments (a series of a dozen or more injections). The slow incubation period of rabies usually allows enough time to observe the dog. Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at rwallace@galesburg.net. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
