For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for December 03, 2012

Oh, the child’s interpretation of “pin cushion.”

Kids DO the darnedest things.

Yes, they’ll definitely be able to find them there. What a pain in the butt! ;-)

Thus Elly learns not to leave certain things down, and After the spanking, Lizzy learns not to touch mommy’s things. That’s how it worked in my house.

There goes John, sticking his foot in his mouth agai- oh wait! A new topic!

Oh, C’mon, Susan. This is a comic strip. Leave your judgement at the door and enjoy the moment. Of course it was a careless thing to do with a toddler running around the house, but the point is how Elly learns her mother lessons. If you are looking for a comic strip about how to be a politically correct mother in 2012, then there are other places you might want to try. If you are looking for a classic comic strip about the joys and sorrows of a family as it grows from day to day, then sit back and enjoy the show.

that’ll help her to remember where she left them

I agree with you Brewwitch, I was under the impression that comic strips were meant to bring a brief moment of humor into life. That by their very name and definition they shouldn’t even be taken seriously, much less compulsively obsessed over and judged as proper or lacking.

I believe that Lynn lives in the real world, not the sanitized version that so many people think we need. If you have two kids and a life, it’s not always possible to make things 100% safe. You just do your best.

I believe it is possible. My mother had a metal sliver go in her foot and a couple of years later it came out in the opposite side of her foot.

My great aunt swallowed a golden needle in Ireland around 1900. In 1963, she felt a sharp pain on a San Francisco trolley – she was taken to the hospital and it was found. point out trying to make its way through the ab wall.

Non-absorbable objects can get a protective coating of facia (like the membrane around muscles) and can be pushed around by muscle action to parts elsewhere, and they do occasionally emerge as described. Interesting the ways the body has of protecting itself. Unfortunately, rape-induced pregnancy is not one of them, despite some political physiology doctrines.

@ Susan Newman Hitler was a nut case and this is just a comic strip. You’re comparing apples to oranges. Relax.

@howtheduck

Whether they are humorous or not the point remains they are not real, and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

As long as it’s kept clean, everyone’s got a right to their own opinion and shouldn’t be told to shut up and keep it to themselves just because someone else doesn’t agree with them (even if other words are used instead, it still means the same thing).

Ellie will be on pins and needles now.

For just this one time I agree with the Elly bashers — she definitely should NOT have left the needles lying around with a 2-3 year old in the house.

Yes, everyone has a right to their own opinion. That being said, clearly Susan has an issue with this comic strip. She is physically incapable of letting any mistake a COMIC STRIP CHARACTER go uncriticized. When one person feels the need to incessantly complain and criticize, it brings the enjoyment down for the rest of us who actually like the comic. And we are of the opinion that if she doesn’t like the comic or the character, to go away and leave the rest of us in peace.

I think all the comments here are correct: Yes, leaving a package of needles unattended is a careless and dangerous thing to do when you have a toddler in the house. However, no one is born a perfect parent, and when our mistakes end in hilarity rather than tragedy, it’s a good thing to share the story to both make people laugh and help them not make the same mistakes we did, when their stories might not end as luckily. Case in point: when I was about the age Lizzie is depicted here, I managed to accidentally cut my finger off in a “guaranteed safe” folding stepstool. They managed to sew it back on, nobody sued, and now I tell that story to all my friends who are new parents to drive home the truth that kids will get into and/or manage to hurt themselves with the last thing you think possible.

Most comics, including this one, classics like Pogo, and some of those mentioned, can be both funny and enlightening. Just look for both and you will usually find both. If not, to paraphrase Mark Twain’s translation of “de gustibus non est disputantam”, it is the difference of opinion that makes both the horse race and comics discussions. Don’t attach ultimate value on either.

Uh oh