DR. WALLACE: I'm a girl who is 17, and three days a week I have to cook for our family! My mom has a part-time job on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and she does not get home until shortly after 9 p.m.

Since I'm the oldest of three siblings and my father is "all thumbs" when it comes to the kitchen, I'm stuck making dinner three nights a week by myself. My mother is a great cook, and she has given me many lessons and pointers on how to prepare a good dinner. She cooks great dinners the other four nights of the week, and we have some spectacular meals on Saturdays and Sundays.

My two younger siblings are both boys, and it seems nobody wants to help me in the kitchen and I'm growing tired of having to do it all by myself. Do you think this is fair? What can I do about this? I don't mind doing some cooking, but I'd sure appreciate at least some help from the males in our family. — A Teen Chef, via email

A TEEN CHEF: Tell your mother exactly what you have told me here! Explain that you don't mind cooking the dinners but that you would really appreciate some help.

Since your mother knows cooking and food preparation so well, ask her what tasks would be suitable for your brothers and father to assist you with to save you some time and effort at the beginning of your meal preparations.

In addition to this, the least your brothers and father could do would be to set the table and handle the preparation of all beverages that are to be served at the meal.

I feel that your weekday dinners should be a team effort, with you leading the way, but not with everything heaped upon your shoulders. Your brothers and father can help to peel potatoes and carrots and even wash lettuce for salads. Your focus can then be on the recipes and the art of cooking everything to perfection.

I HAVE NO SHOT AT BEATING THEM AT 'HORSE'

DR. WALLACE: I'm a basketball player on my intermediate school's girls basketball team. I'm tall for my age and a pretty good player, so I've earned the right to be a starter on our team at the position of center.

Sometimes on the weekends I'll go down to our junior high school and shoot baskets at the outdoor courts. Oftentimes several of the boys from our boys team at our school will also be there shooting baskets. They always want to play the game "horse" with me which is a game where each player has to shoot the same shot and those who missed are assigned a letter of the word horse, starting with an H. So, basically, once a player misses five shots that another player has made, that player is eliminated from the game. The game continues this way until everyone is eliminated except the lone winner who remains at the end.

The boys are bigger and stronger and can shoot from farther away, so they can always win the game if they really try. But sometimes I noticed they miss shots on purpose to keep the game going longer or to make it seem like I have a chance to actually win.

But I never do win. I'm a good shooter from 10 or 12 feet in, but I don't shoot long shots in our games since that's not my role, nor my specialty.

What can I do about this? I don't want to be antisocial when practicing on a Saturday afternoon, but it's crazy to play a game with them that I'll never win. Since I read that you were a varsity basketball coach for several years, I figured you might have a suggestion for me. — Basketball Girl, via email

BASKETBALL GIRL: I suggest that you propose two separate games of horse! In the first one, tell them that you'll stand near the basket to rebound all their shots and be the scorekeeper. Let the boys go crazy playing against each other with their long shots and see which one can impress you by winning that competition. You can gather the rebounds and make crisp passes back to them to keep the game moving along at a rapid, organized pace.

Then when they finish their game of horse, tell them they must now play "your" game of horse! For this second game tell them there will be no shots allowed from any distance farther than 12 feet from the basket! Have the boy who finished last in their game become the "rebounder and scorekeeper" and the rest of you can compete in the same quick, crisp way. In this second game, your skill set will be much better served. And the boys may not be as practiced at the shorter shots, so you may be helping some of them to work on their "short" game as well. In this second game, you'll indeed have a good shot at winning. Good luck!

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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