DR. WALLACE: I'm a 17-year-old girl who recently went through a heartbreaking breakup with my boyfriend. He and I dated for eight months. I enjoyed the time we spent together, and I truly thought that he did as well. However, my assumptions were incorrect as a few months ago he told me that he thought I was too possessive, too clingy and too demanding regarding his time. He culminated his little speech with me by telling me that it was time we started seeing other people. I then heard through the grapevine he started dating someone else that week, whereas I simply stayed home and sat for the next six weeks.

Finally, one of my best girlfriends coaxed me to go to a few social events that she had been invited to and on one of these occasions I met a new guy who asked me out on a date. This new guy and I have now been on exactly eight dates over the past three weeks and each date has gone extremely well.

Then a dilemma arrived on my doorstep as my former boyfriend called to tell me he had made a huge mistake and wants me to go out with him again. I like the new guy I'm seeing even though I obviously don't know him as well as I knew my former boyfriend. Now I'm wondering what the best strategy for me would be. Do you have any advice? — Girl With a Dilemma, via email

GIRL WITH A DILEMMA: My advice is to continue dating your current guy as long as the two of you are getting along and enjoying each date as much as you have explained that you currently do. Remember your old boyfriend is the one who broke up with you, so you have no obligation to take him back now or at any point in the future.

If you want to hedge your situation, you could tell him that you're not interested in dating him at this time since you're involved with someone new. You can explain that if you're ever single again, you might consider dating him at some point in the future, but that you're making no promises at all to do so since you may end up being very happy in your current relationship or even another one at some other point.

This will deliver the message to your ex-boyfriend in such a way that he will understand, even if he is not happy to hear your answer.

THEY BOTH WANT NAMING RIGHTS!

DR. WALLACE: My parents have four children, and my mom is about to have a new baby girl this summer! I'm the oldest sibling as I'm 17 years old. We are all girls except for my brother, who is currently the youngest in our family.

My parents have approached me and asked me to name my new baby sister. I consider this a great honor, and they told me that I could select both the first and middle name of my new sibling, who is expected to arrive in our family soon.

My problem is that both of my grandmothers are pressuring me heavily to name the baby after them! And both of my grandmothers have "old" first names that are not the best for a girl's first name in 2023.

I know that if I select one name over the other, one of my grandmothers will be upset with me, and I don't want that to happen. But if I select neither of their names, they will both be disappointed, so now I'm feeling boxed in.

So, what began as a joyous task has now made me worried and concerned about family politics. Do you have any suggestions on how I can resolve the situation to everyone's satisfaction? — Name Games, via email

NAME GAMES: I suggest that you select a current first name for your baby sister that makes you and everyone comfortable and happy. Then give this little girl two middle names and make them the two first names of your respective grandmothers in alphabetical order!

This will allow you to honor both grandmothers and still let your new sister have a suitable first name for the upcoming 2030s, when she will be attending high school.

And by using alphabetical order (on my suggestion), you will not be consciously selecting the order of the names. And one last idea may be to give your sister one middle name but use a hyphen in the middle of the two names! Do whatever you feel is best and then you'll be happy you were given this wonderful honor to name your baby sister.

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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