DR. WALLACE: I'm a 15-year-old girl, and my 10-year-old little sister is constantly calling me names or saying mean things to me, trying to get a reaction out of me.

I take it for as long as I can, but finally every four or five days it builds up too much and I finally explode back at her or even shove her onto her bed and tell her to shut up and stop calling me names.

At this point, I'm the one who gets punished and even grounded for a couple of days, especially if I push my sister intentionally. My parents tell me that I am almost like a young adult now, and my little sister is just a kid who doesn't know any better. But I definitely know she's doing this on purpose and is well aware of what she's doing.

I feel trapped because my parents always side with her. What can I do? Dealing with her constant nonsense is horrible for me. — A Frustrated Older Sister, via email

A FRUSTRATED OLDER SISTER: Try a steady diet of kindness, even though this seems counterintuitive.

Ignore her taunts and say something kind to her instead. Also show interest in her, and talk to her about how things are going and what's happening with her at school. This nonconfrontational approach, if consistently applied, will likely adjust her mindset with enough repetitions.

It could be that your younger sister is frustrated for a reason you don't exactly know about yet. Having an older sister to talk to and confide in may be exactly what she needs to help her calm down.

Try to look at this situation from this perspective, and I trust you'll be more than pleased with the results over the long run.

I'M ANXIOUS EVEN CONSIDERING IT!

DR. WALLACE: My 10-year high school reunion is coming up, and I dread the idea of attending it! I was kind of a middle-of-the-batch, unremarkable female student back then. I didn't play sports or appear in school plays or anything like that. Although I have a steady job, I'm not doing anything spectacular thus far since I've graduated. The idea of explaining my current life to everyone makes me anxious to even think about it.

The two close girlfriends of mine that I have now, both of whom did not attend my high school, told me the 10-year reunion is the one to attend since not everyone has developed into "full life mode" by then! Their advice is to avoid the 20-year and 25-year reunions but to attend the 10-year just to get a look around.

What's your opinion? Should I just skip it entirely due to my anxiety, or attend this one time just for the heck of it? — I Didn't Stand Out Back Then, via email

I DIDN'T STAND OUT BACK THEN: I'm a big believer that attending a high school reunion is a good thing and nothing to be unduly anxious about.

Remember that you can sign up for the reunion, enter the event, and if something changes your mind, you can simply walk out at any time. Just knowing this can give you a calm base from which to operate from. I would focus only on this particular reunion and not worry about future reunions decades from now. You can cross those bridges if and when you come to them.

One great reason to attend a high school reunion is simply for the outstanding networking opportunity that it can present.

Some people you knew a decade ago will be much the same, but others will appear to be vastly different to you. And you never know who you'll end up speaking to, and what common interests or career paths may exist that overlap with yours. A great job opportunity, a potential new friendship or even a romantic spark could occur seemingly out of nowhere at a high school reunion. I feel it's worth spending an hour or two because the potential upside vastly outweighs any trivial downside you may encounter.

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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