For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for February 23, 2013

I hope Gordon got a better punishment than what Michael’s gonna get.

I know mothers are supposed to know everything, but do they always have to prove it? How did Elly know where Michael had been?

Love the ‘Subcutaneous’ part…

any mom worth her salt knows that if she tells a child they can’t go to a particular place, that is the one place that becomes the one place they MUST go at least once. And since he was out with Gordon, and he already told her that Gordon is allowed to go there, then it stands to reason that thye went there. Also was maybe a good guess. lol

if they allowed smoking in the arcade…Mom would have smelled it on his clothes. Especially since they have a smoke free house.

That is not lucky at all to have parents that don’t care and make rules because they care.

I used to have friends who claimed they could “do anything they wanted” but as they said that they sounded very sad. I think they wished their parents had established some boundaries because it would’ve showed they cared.

Also Elly’s family was partly a surrogate for Gordon.Anyway, it doesn’t sound like Elly forbade Michael from going to the arcade, so she can only be disappointed. Doesn’t sound like a punishable offense.

OK, who was the tattle-tale? Telling on someone is as bad as the crime.

When my wife was a little girl, she had been told that the lights were kept low in taverns so nobody could see the cockroaches.So, one day she walked into one and started looking around:What are you doing in here? Looking for the cockroaches!Go on home – your mother wants you!And, when she got home, mom asks “Where have you been? I need you.”For years she wondered how the bartender knew that mom wanted her!

My oldest boy once went to an arcade at the mall, and when he got home couild not find his wallet!Hmmmmmm

No one knows of a Mother’s powers!

I’m kinda surprised here… This is For Better or For Worse..I thought Lynn would know that if you give a child a chance to lie, the child will lie. Always state the facts so there is no chance to lie – “Michael, I know you were at the arcade. Go to your room and we will talk about this later.”

What about the cigarette smoke on his clothes? You can’t get that at the park.

I always hated when my parents asked me stuff like that and they darn well knew the answer.

“what time did you get home last night?”

“Uh, a little after 1 – sorry about that” (my curfew was 1)

“It was 2:30!”

what’s the point of breaking a curfew unless you smash it into smithereens?

No such thing in those days!!!!!

I suspect Elly banned Michael from the arcade because of the kids that hang out there, not because she was worried about the games he might play. I also suspect she smelled the cigarette smoke on Michael’s clothes and that’s how she knew where he was.

What’s a boy supposed to do when he’s about 8 years old, his mother doesn’t want him in their house, he can’t go to his friends’ house because of his alcoholic parents and it’s too cold to play outside because it’s February in Canada?!? There’s just no way for him to win in a situation like this because no matter what choice he made, it would have been all wrong as far as his mother was concerned!

I heard this several times from my children. I was a stay-at-home mom and my kids were envious of friends who has complete freedom from the time school was out until after 5:00.

My mother was psychic. Yes, really! She always knew where I was. So I think Elly just put 2 and 2 together and figured out her son and his buddy were at the forbidden arcade. Or maybe one of Elly’s friends saw Michael there and called Elly to tell her.

Being able to do anything I want to(unless it cost money), was not really fun. Other kids (the rotten ones down the street) got new bikes every other Christmas(so much for believing in Santa), they went skiing, dirt bike riding, fishing and got signed up for sports. Even if it were free, my parents wouldn’t take me or go to the games.

For those of you that hope that Gordon gets a worse punishment then Micheal, don’t. In later strips we find out that his father beats him. Very severely too.

Why is Elly squinting in the second panel? Is Michael facing the window?

I would go with: g. Elly was there playing a few games herself be fore heading home to make dinner.