DR. WALLACE: I'm 20 years old, and I already have a 2-year-old daughter. I love her very much and sometimes find myself obsessing over how to be the best mother for her.

I really enjoy seeing her try new things and begin to explore the world around her. I'm a pretty good athlete, and I'd love to introduce my daughter to sports when she's old enough.

I realize you're from a different generation, but I wonder if you have any parenting advice when it comes to a young person such as myself raising a young child, hopefully one who may have athletic tendencies. — I Love Her So Much, via email.

I LOVE HER SO MUCH: Congratulations on already being a conscientious parent! The fact that you've written for advice on this topic demonstrates your desire to help guide your daughter through life to the very best of your ability.

Starting with sports, as a former high school varsity coach, I can tell you that the best thing you can do is to expose your daughter to a wide variety of sports, especially when she's young. Yes, she may ultimately want to emulate you in your chosen sport, but don't be surprised if she shows a higher aptitude in another sport.

Overall, my advice is to resist comparing your daughter to any other child or anything you see in an online video, a social media post or even observing other children in person.

Your individual child is unique and wonderful and should be encouraged to develop her own way at her own pace! Loosely follow these guidelines and course-correct as you see fit, and I trust with your mindset, you'll be an excellent mother for the entirety of her childhood.

WAS I INTENTIONALLY DUPED AND DECEIVED HERE?

DR. WALLACE: My mother has used her maiden name my whole life, and of course, my father's last name is different from hers.

When I was born, I was given my father's last name, and I never thought much about it when I was younger. I did often wonder why my mother never hyphenated her last name to include my father's last name.

Well, recently it came to my attention that although my parents celebrate their anniversary every year, it's actually the anniversary of the date they moved in together, not the date they got married. Why? Because they never got married at all!

My mother confessed this to me, and my first reaction was to be very upset about it. However, I soon realized that my parents are my parents, and I know in my heart they've done a good job of raising me. Why do you feel they decided to mislead me for so long? — Just Learned This, via email

JUST LEARNED THIS: I'm sure your parents had their reasons for doing what they did and likely felt self-conscious about it. I also believe it's likely that their efforts to keep their little secret tucked away extended far beyond any discomfort you and any siblings you may have now that this news has been released.

At this point, I would suggest that you not be too hard on them and instead, as you correctly pointed out, be happy that they are the outstanding parents you love and respect.

No human being is perfect, and if this is the most egregious secret they've withheld from you, I'd say they are pretty good people, indeed.

And to give you a more direct answer to your question, I don't believe they intentionally tried to mislead you as much as they tried to just quietly keep their situation between themselves, perhaps for job or societal reasons. This was a situation they intentionally chose, and it likely had nothing to do with wanting to deceive you.

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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