DR. WALLACE: My older sister is wild about fortune tellers and psychic card readers. I don't know where this came from originally, but it's really crazy how much time and money she pours into this field.

My sister and one of her girlfriends even drove over two hours to go to see a "special" card reader who supposedly has a great track record. My big sis also is constantly trying to get me to go with her to get my palms read or to have some special cards dealt to me out of a deck of some sort of weird cards. This whole idea is not only uninteresting to me but it even kind of freaks me out. And then to think that I would have to spend my hard-earned babysitting money to go through this makes me even more sure that this is not for me.

My problem is that my older sister, who is 19, won't stop badgering me to go with her to get a reading. I'm her 17-year-old younger sister, and we have two little brothers as well. I like my sister a lot, but on this one topic I just don't see eye-to-eye with her. How can I get her to leave me alone about this?

I'd like to think that my future would mostly be under my own control since I can make many important decisions about my life myself. I don't need some stranger to tell me what to do. — My future is mine only, via email

MY FUTURE IS MINE ONLY: My family and I are also not fans of this genre, so I can relate to how you feel about this matter. However, your sister can do as she pleases with her time and money as long as she's not hurting anyone else with her various endeavors, including this one.

Simply tell her directly that even if she were to offer to pay for your reading, you still would not go. This might get the point across a bit more directly to her. And I also suggest that you go a step further. Sit and think about what activities the two of you girls enjoy doing together. It might be shopping, going to the movies, hiking or working out together at your local gym. Whatever activities you mutually enjoy the most would be the ones to mention to her any time in the future when she might reintroduce her offer to go to a "reading" together. Simply tell her that you're not interested in a reading, but if she'd like to go to a movie or to take a nice nature trail hike with you, that you'd love to spend some quality time with your older sister.

This way, you'll always be saying no to her reading requests, but you'll always offer to spend some time with her doing an activity you both enjoy.

MY GIRLFRIEND SAYS I MUST DUMP ONE OF THEM!

DR. WALLACE: I'm a girl who is now 16 and a half, and my parents let me start dating at age 16. For the first five months that I started dating, I would date one guy at a time, with sometimes a week or two in between dating somebody new. However, in the last few weeks, I got asked out by two really interesting guys, and they are quite opposite of each other.

One is a big-time sports star at our high school and is very popular with many students. The other guy is much more quiet and introverted but is a tremendous academic student who will no doubt go to an excellent college and have a chance to have a really great career in the field he's interested in.

Since they both asked me out within a few days of each other, I hadn't dated either boy at the time I actually said yes to both. So I carefully schedule my time, and for the last couple of weeks, I've dated each boy one night a week. I like them both equally so far. In both cases, we are just casually dating and kind of more like friends than being boyfriend and girlfriend. My plan has been to take my time and see them both for a while until I see how we interact with each other over time.

My problem is that my best girlfriend keeps telling me that I am being unfair and deceitful to both of these guys. She thinks I need to pick one right now and only date that guy. She thinks I should "break up" with the other one. But that sounds strange to me since neither guy has said anything about being exclusive with me, so in my mind there is no "breaking up" issue on the table either way.

My question is, am I being unfair to these guys? Do I need to tell each one about the other or just pick one right now? And if I pick one that turns out to be uninterested in me in the longer run, then maybe I'll lose out on the chance to get to know the other guy better.

Both of these guys have treated me super well and have put no pressure on me in any way. They both act like gentlemen and neither one has asked me anything about going steady or about any other aspect of my dating life. What do you feel I should do at this point? — Dating two at once, via email

DATING TWO AT ONCE: In my opinion, you're doing fine and should simply stay the course with both of them at this point in time. As you quite correctly pointed out, one, if not both, of these friendships could start to recede at any point in time for myriad reasons.

You're doing nothing deceitful, instead you are simply enjoying the opportunity to get to know some new guys as you gain dating experience. Over time, I feel you will likely gravitate toward one more than the other. And if one of these two guys connects with you in an ongoing, meaningful way, I trust you will feel this and make a good decision at that time.

It's also quite likely that eventually both of them may pass through your dating "career" and you will end up dating some new guys in the future. Simply be honorable, tell the truth whenever asked a direct question and don't feel that while you are casually dating that you have to necessarily share every bit of your personal information with every guy that you choose to see socially.

Remember, this is your life, not your friend's life, so you are in control of how you wish to proceed. Could it be that she'd be interested in one or the other if you "broke up" with one of them? She may or may not have any interest in these guys, but I mention this to again encourage you to focus on what you feel is best for you when it comes to your social life.

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 rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. 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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