DR. WALLACE: Last semester, I was selected to be a school patrol monitor. My mother didn't like the idea because I had to report to school a half hour earlier than the rest of the kids. This meant that my mom also had to get up 30 minutes earlier than usual. Yesterday, I was informed that I have been appointed patrol monitor captain for the next semester because I have done a superior job. When I told my mom, she was furious and told me that I had to quit because she was tired of getting up early. Please tell me what I should do. I really want to keep doing my job, as I enjoy it and it helps me with my self-confidence. I get to meet and talk to so many students and faculty members in a positive way. I was so shy before I had this opportunity. Please hurry with your advice. I'm 12 years old. — Patrol Monitor, New York
PATROL MONITOR: If Mom has to get up early to make your breakfast and pack your lunch, convince her that you are old enough to fend for yourself with these two tasks. Mom should be proud of your accomplishment. It's a great honor to be selected the captain. Ask your teacher to call your mom and let her know that you are a superb monitor and that the school needs your strong leadership. Much too often, parents are not aware of their child's superior deeds until someone (usually another adult) points it out to them. Finally, please accept my congratulations on a job well done!
HE LIVES 100 MILES AWAY
DR. WALLACE: When I was in sixth grade (four years ago), I had a good friend who happened to be a boy. We stopped seeing each other because my family moved away. Recently, my family and I returned to his town to visit friends, and I decided to call him. Although we didn't get a chance to see each other that day, I talked to him on the phone every day for the week that we were there. Sometimes, he would call me two or three times during the day, and I was always glad to hear his voice.
Now that I'm back home, I have this feeling that I really like him, even though I can only guess what he looks like these days. What should I do? He lives 100 miles away from me. — Anonymous, DeKalb, Illinois
ANONYMOUS: Continue to correspond with your friend as pen pals. Send him a recent photo of yourself and ask that he send one to you. Don't mention that you have this "feeling" for him, but suggest that it would be exciting to see him soon after so long. Don't be too surprised if he makes arrangements to visit you in DeKalb someday.
IT TOOK A LITTLE SPUNK
DR. WALLACE: This past summer, I met a guy when I was visiting my grandmother in Erie, Pennsylvania. We dated six times, and I had great fun. I think that he did also. When it was time for me to return home, we agreed to stay in touch with one another by email. I have emailed him at least once every week since I got home, and he has only answered me once. I emailed him a birthday gift, but he didn't respond to say that he received it.
Last night, I called him and asked if he received my gift, and he said that he had but his girlfriend wasn't happy that he was receiving gifts from a "strange" girl in a faraway city. This made me furious. I told him that I wasn't strange and that I wanted him to return my gift to him. I also told him that I considered him to be a rat for not telling me he had a girlfriend.
I'll never know if he had this girlfriend while he was dating me. Was I wrong in asking for my gift to be returned? It cost me over $60 of my hard-earned money. — Anonymous, Pittsburgh
ANONYMOUS: I can't tell you the number of times summer romances have faded away once summer ends and the reality of a new school year replaces the fantasy of a carefree summer. I agree that you should have been informed that a "girlfriend" had entered the picture.
It took a little spunk to ask this guy to return the birthday gift you sent him, but I also agree that you were right in asking him to return it. After all, you wouldn't have sent it if you were aware that he had a girlfriend. Fair is fair. Hopefully, it's something small enough that it won't cost a lot for him to ship it back to you.
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. Email him at [email protected]. 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.
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