DR. WALLACE: I'm 15 and live with my parents and a 3-year-old brother. He is a very smart little guy, but sometimes he allows his imagination to run wild. Simply put, he tells a lot of lies.

For instance, he will tell my mom and me that he saw an elephant in our backyard. When my mom asks what the elephant was doing, he'll say that it was drinking water out of our swimming pool. My mom always says things to encourage him to keep lying, such as, "What color was the elephant?" Then my brother will say, "Yellow," and then my mom will say, "I think I saw him, too."

I tell my brother to quit lying because elephants are in the zoo, not in our backyard. I think my mother is encouraging my brother to continue lying. I think being honest and blunt is the best approach. Do you agree?

Please answer my question. I love my little brother and do not want him to grow up to be a big liar. — Nameless, Tampa, Fla.

NAMELESS: There is all the difference in the world between make-believe and lying. Your brother's world is full of wonder; his imagination is vivid and fertile, and not yet limited by "reality."

Is it lying to flap your arms and pretend you're flying, or to call a blanket draped over a chair a magic castle? Of course not.

A lie is, in some way, self-serving. If your little brother had eaten forbidden cookies, then denied it, that would be lying, and such a practice should be called to his attention and stopped.

The wonder of small children is that they bring out the child in all of us. Far from encouraging your brother to lie, your mother is entering his world and celebrating its magic.

Relax and enjoy your little brother and his imagination. By not doing so, you're denying yourself a great deal of fun. Children are far more in need of love and laughter than constant correction. All it does is create an atmosphere of emotional distress, which could very well lead to a habit of chronic deceit and lying.

The next time your brother sees an elephant out in the yard, look a little harder. See if you can see it yourself.

DOES GRANDMA SPEAK NONSENSE?

DR. WALLACE: I am 14 years old and an only child. My grandmother keeps telling me that only children grow up confused and maladjusted. I don't feel that way now and I don't think I will be confused and maladjusted as an adult. What can I say to keep Grandmother from speaking such nonsense? — Only Child, Galesburg, Ill.

ONLY CHILD: Grandmother has no business undermining you like that, especially when she's spouting "such nonsense."

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.

Photo credit: Ruth Hartnup