DR. WALLACE: I'm a 16-and-a-half-year-old girl, and my best two girlfriends are the same age. In our area, there are two recent trends that girls are going for. One is to wear pajama bottoms out in public as a fashion statement, and the second is to wear a bellybutton ring. One of my girlfriends regularly sports her bellybutton ring with her pajamas when I meet her during the summer, and my other girlfriend gets to wear pajama bottoms out, but her parents won't let her do the bellybutton piercing.

When I asked my parents for both things, they immediately told me I was not going to be allowed to do a bellybutton piercing, then they further disgraced me by telling me I can't wear pajama bottoms out of the house either! So out of the three of us girls, one girl got to do both, one girl got to do one of the two, and I got nothing! Now I'm so embarrassed that I just want to crawl into a hole instead of going out with my friends anymore.

Can you help me think of a way I can at least talk my parents into letting me wear pajama bottoms out of the house, like my other girlfriend does? — My Parents Are Totally Unfair, via email

MY PARENTS ARE TOTALLY UNFAIR: Unfortunately, each parent or set of parents has the right to set their own rules when it comes to their children under 18 years of age. Whereas you see their decisions as unfair, they see it as common sense. I feel it's quite doubtful that you're going to come up with a way to get your parents to allow you to wear pajamas out in public if they've already told you no the first time.

Perhaps this may create an opportunity for you to come up with another fashion statement, something creative that would be acceptable to your parents that you could wear and introduce to your other girlfriends. The sooner you're on to a new fashion idea, the better you'll feel about missing out on the bellybutton ring and the pajamas.

I USED MY PLANNING SKILLS FOR AN EPIC FOURTH OF JULY LOCAL BASH!

DR. WALLACE: I'm an 18-year-old girl, and my dream in life is to become a wedding planner. Many of my teachers and mentors have told me to play to my strengths, and landing a career as a wedding planner would definitely accomplish that for me. I had a wise teacher in high school who said dreams do come true for some people, and it's much more likely for those who can do something well and find it easy to do so. Some people get overwhelmed trying to juggle multiple arrangements simultaneously, but not me! I communicate well and love seeing a plan come together.

And speaking of plans, my older brother (he's 21) and I went around our neighborhood a few weeks ago, and we passed out flyers telling our local community that we would organize a huge neighborhood Fourth of July celebration on the grounds of a local private school that I have close connections with. They have the perfect field for it.

We mentioned having a huge barbecue, a lot of fun activities and booths. A week went by, and we had very few responses, but then with only six days left before the Fourth of July, we started receiving an incredible amount of positive interest! My brother and I immediately went into overdrive organizing everything together. When my father caught wind of what we were doing, he tried to put a stop to it and talk us out of it. He usually yawns each Fourth of July and does nothing.

My mother stepped in and explained to him how far along we were already, and how many people had positively responded to us and wanted to celebrate together as a community. My brother is telling me now that we're lucky that our mom stepped in to save the event, but I explained to him that because we did such a good job, the event became unstoppable! Who do you think is right here? — A Happy Fourth to Everyone, via email

A HAPPY FOURTH TO EVERYONE: It likely was a combination of both factors, but your mother absolutely was able to avert what potentially could've become quite an awkward position for you and your brother to be put in with your local community. What if your father had stepped in at the last minute and shut everything down on you?

It's great that you have found your calling in life and that you are so good at it. I wish you and your family, friends and neighbors a wonderful Fourth of July celebration you arranged on the grounds of this private school. But in the future, a big part and important first step of any event-planning endeavor is to clear everything with all parties well in advance. Taking this extra step in the future will not only help you with your family but set you up to be even better when you start your career in your chosen field. Happy Fourth to all!

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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