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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.
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Your Little Brother is Full of WonderDR. WALLACE: I'm 14 and live with my parents and a 3-year-old brother. He is very smart, but sometimes he allows his imagination to run wild. Simply put, he tells a lot of lies. For instance, he will tell my mom and me that he saw an elephant in our backyard. When my mom asks what the elephant was doing, he'll say that it was drinking water out of our pool. My mom always says things to encourage him to keep lying, such as, "What color was the elephant?" Then my brother will say, "yellow," and my mom will say, "I think I saw him, too." I tell my brother to quit lying because elephants are in the zoo, not in our backyard. I think my mother is encouraging my brother to continue lying. I think being honest and blunt is the best approach. Do you agree? Please answer my question. I love my little brother and do not want him to grow up and be a big liar. — Nameless, Hobart, Ind. NAMELESS: There is all the difference in the world between make-believe and lying. Your brother's world is full of wonder; his imagination is vivid and fertile, not yet limited by "reality." Is it lying to flap your arms and pretend you're flying, or to call a blanket draped over a chair a magic castle? Of course not. A lie is, in some way, self-serving. If your little brother had eaten forbidden cookies, then denied it, that would be lying — such a practice should be called to his attention and stopped. The wonder of small children is that they bring out the child in all of us. Far from encouraging your brother to lie, your mother is entering his world and celebrating its magic. Relax and enjoy your little brother. By not doing so, you're denying yourself a great deal of fun. Children are far more in need of love and laughter than constant correction.
The next time your brother sees an elephant out in the yard, look a little harder. See if you can see it yourself. THERE IS NO KNOWN CURE FOR HERPES DR. WALLACE: Is herpes a venereal disease? If so, how dangerous is it? What are the symptoms? How do you get rid of herpes? It's important that you answer my questions. I'm dating a guy who has had herpes, but he says he is now "clean" and cured. I can't ask anyone but you for advice because my parents are well-known personalities, and I don't want them to know my boyfriend has herpes. — Nameless, San Mateo, Calif. NAMELESS: Herpes has been a troublesome condition for a long time. It caused such a terrible epidemic of lip sores in ancient Rome that the emperor banned kissing in public. It wasn't until the late 1960s that medical researchers isolated two types of herpes. Type I is associated with cold sores. The "no kissing" type is not a venereal disease. Type II causes genital sores and is a venereal disease. The first symptoms of genital herpes may be a tingling or itching sensation. Blisters may appear within two to 15 days after infection and usually last about three weeks. Subsequent attacks last around five days. The blisters may be accompanied by fever and headache. Herpes is far from the worst venereal disease; it is not life-threatening, but there is no known cure for it. An estimated 25 million people in North America now suffer from genital herpes, with as many as half a million new cases developing every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. 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 2010 CREATORS.COM
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