For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 04, 2010

Heh, heh, heh…

Them kids will test ya ever step of the way….even after they fly the nest…somtimes

I think Anne needs to get a refund for that parent “uneffectiveness ” training! LOL! The only one who seems to be doing any training is Christopher. The most effective training anyone can undergo is called life. Roll with the punches, Anne. Too soon this time will be over and you’ll be tearing your hair out over something new Christopher’s done and wishing in vain you could come back to episodes like these. In the meantime, enjoy!!

Lesson learned: never show off your parenting skills in front of another parent. It never ends well, lol!

Ah, to be that age again…. when you could get away with practically anything and everyone found it cute!

We had neighbors who didn’t spank. They don’t miss many visiting days at the jail now.

With a kid that age, the way to avoid milk spills on the floor is to give him/her a sippy cup. Kids that age don’t have the coordination to not spill.

js305 said, 37 minutes ago

We had neighbors who didn’t spank. They don’t miss many visiting days at the jail now.

You mean their kids are locked up with the really vicious ones, those whose parents thought spanking was the answer to everything?

After this doesn’t mean because of this.

And one size doesn’t fit all.

LOL! Make mommy do it again, Christopher. :-)

Look how well he has her trained.

I say that Elly is not putting Anne down, actually–Anne is pontificating at her, Elly is listening, and she’s seeing that the kids are still kids and have their own way of reacting, just like her kids do. So, I don’t have either person’s side here, Anne’s as full of assumptions as Elly.

Well, that’s putting mommy in her place. Way to go, Christopher! You forgot to bonk her on her head with the glass, tho.

And Anne has two more kids later, I believe.

I think you’re reading too much into this, howtheduck. This strip is not about child-raising, nor is it Elly’s Handbook of Pediatrics. It is a comic strip that is intended to help us laugh at the circumstances in our own lives through sometimes-contrived situations with a 4th-panel punch line. I think if you look much beyond that, you are missing the fun and revealing a lot more about yourself than about Lynn Johnston - or the imaginary Elly and Jon Patterson.

I agree dsom8 & pibfan868.

I see this all the time in real life. Someone (including my wife and me) goes to a class, reads a book, and learns good things, but in the end kids are kids.

All the toddlers do that on purpose. They like to spill over their heads and faces with any drinks. I think it would be so funny but hate to clean up the spilling mess.

howtheduck: I agree with pibfan868. This is about lampooning Anne for being so arrogant about her parenting style. She has spent the last 3 days saying “you’re wrong and I’m right” and today we see how well that worked.

This isn’t about YOU PEOPLE!

After all, it’s “JUST a COMIC STRIP”!

Elly and Anne are such wonderful, misunderstood parents, but it’s JUST a COMIC STRIP! Go live your lives and get off the internet. Your real kids need you, while you’re busy acting like the comics mafia for hour on end, day and night.

Didn’t all those liberal child rearing books tell you this? Oprah? Dr. Phil? Who is taking care of all your kids while you’re so “busy”?

MrsLuke: I feel sorry for you. Someone says to you “why” and you read “HATE”. Someone says “maybe” and you shout “HATE”. As Lynn herself said, what has happened to you that you react this way to a comic strip. As others have advised, this is the last time I will directly speak to you, and I will not read your posts. It’s a shame, really as you are an articulate, intelligent woman and I used to enjoy and even agree with some of what you wrote.

Looks like Elly could be stifling a laugh in that last panel to me. I still think this was the era when kids were beginning to be thought of as much more important than they had ever been before and the bounty of books on how to raise them was everywhere.

It is amusing to note that Anne’s efforts at telling Elly how to raise kids is failing miserably. And tho I never had kids, I did have friends (during this era) that just knew everything there was to know about raising their own kids and wanted nothing to do with their mom’s advice on any count. Somehow the kids all survived.

Put yourself in my shoes and tell me how you would take the PERSONAL comments and insults if they were AIMED AT YOU.

Should I read them as expressed with love?

There’s a page of hate speech yesterday, minus my comments, personally aimed at me, because I commented on a comic strip, and you don’t happen to like my opinion.

Tell me it’s ok for those people to say what they say about me personally when I’m commenting on a comic, not on them.

You approve of that? You joined right in with the poersonal insults JanCin, so you must.

Follow your own rules. They go both ways.

Mrs. Luke:

I read this strip because it reminds me of when my kids were small. It brings back memories of some of the stuff they did. Today it reminded me of when my son had his first bowl of spaghetti. He was so curious and excited that he basically stuck his whole head into it, ignored the utensils and ate directly from the bowl. I have pictures of the happiest kid, face covered with tomato sauce, having his first spaghetti. Was it messy, yes. Should I have demanded that he have better manners in his high chair, no. I saved the respect, good manners, being a good citizen of the world, being a good global citizen for later when he could understand it. The kids are grown now and, Thanks Be To God, have excellent work ethics, good jobs that they love (my only wish for them was that they were happy going to work) and are happy. Did we make mistakes, you bet. Did we pray a lot over them, you bet. Are we thankful they turned out well and are HAPPY, you bet.

This strip brings back so many memories and makes me laugh a lot. I thing sometimes you take it too seriously, along with some others. BTW do you have children? Only curious. You may have a lot of nieces, nephews, etc. who really count for the same thing if you are close to them.

Lastly, I read the comics daily because: 1. I am retired and temporarily disabled. 2. My kids are all grown and living on their own and this strip brings memories.

BTW I never had a nannie or other permanent caregiver. Usually, if I needed a sitter it was one of the Grandmas (that can be frightening too) or an aunt or sister in law (that can be doubly frightening, especially if they don’t pay attention).

They do MrsLuke, they certainly do go both ways. So why do you only go one way?

I only ask that because yes, you have your opinion, and you passionately stand by that opinion. But no matter how well written, how well thought out, how un-insulting, or even how slightly it differs from yours, you Seem to go on a tangent. A rather negative one at that.

I’m sorry if anything I said upset you. But then again, if it upset you..perhaps that’s a good thing. I struck a nerve. But that would be rather self righteous of me to think that.

all I wanted to do was to help you see the other side of the coin. You’re far to quick to judge.

Now, to answer those that ask why we debate about a comic strip.

There is another comic done by a personal friend of mine, it is similar in a sense to FBoFW…and there are characters that rise the war in some of us, while others we love dearly.

And there are some heated debates about them and their actions. Why? Because much like this comic, it’s very “real” meaning, we go through the very same things these characters are going through, we know the very same kinds of people and so on. So it hits closer to home. We Relate to it.

And lets face it…it’s Fun to have a “Friendly” debate. It shouldn’t be an all out war mind you. It is just a comic with opinions.

But also look what this comic and others like it has done? It has brought people together right? We’ve got to learn stories of their experiences, good and bad.

So….in the end, it’s a very Good thing that we all go on our lil tangents about the strip. It brings out our inner story teller :)

Again, however, i do apologize for upsetting anyone, but not for what I said.

Oh by the way, I really love reading everyone’s comments. So many of you are so wonderfully insightful, and share wonderful stories. Thank you. :)

I dont know, I dont think the kid cares, or understands.

Not that you’re looking for one, but if anyone wants a moderator’s opinion of what goes on on this page on a daily basis, it seems there are a lot of people who enjoy the fun of this comic strip, which has always been intended to resonate with families and help people laugh at the kinds of situations they might find themselves in from time to time with their kids, their parents, etc.; and there are a few people who seem to want to nitpick and over-analyze every action the characters take as though this is meant to be research rather than entertainment.

[Edit: I removed this section in order to avoid any confusion it might have caused. I myself am a huge fan of comic strips and comic books, and am a firm believer that they have far more to offer than mere amusement. The point I attempted (and admittedly failed) to make was that it is foolhardy to take these comics and their subject matter so seriously as to forget all good sense and civility in trying to debate them with other users. There is a practical concern to be weighed here, and that is whether or not your criticisms of the strips or vitriol toward others would violate the terms of use you agreed to when you signed up for your GoComics account, which could result in their removal and your banishment from this site. In short, it’s good to care and to take their subject matter seriously, but don’t get so caught up in your own feelings that you lose all civility, or you could lose the privilege of posting as well.]

When the haters come here to offer their criticisms, they’re basically bashing the home team in front of the home crowd. They’re going to ruffle feathers and meet with some opposition. If they don’t like it, they should find somewhere else to air their criticisms, i.e. their own blog or website. This is first and foremost a site for fans.

Three days of comic strip story=one cup of tea hour.

Ok this is exactly the kind of thing my nieces do and it’s also the point when I usually start laughing even though I shouldn’t. I spend a lot of time with my hand clamped over my mouth with those two and I probably will with my own kids if I ever have any.

She SAID don’t spill it on the FLOOR anymore. Technically he’s not putting it on the floor ;) I think she should be grateful for the fact that he’s showing some brains there. hehe

Howtheduck, re: the article you posted yesterday, thanks for putting that up, it was very interesting to read and it actually sheds some light on some of the characters I think.

I’m just reading the comic and not the comments from now on. OMG, the comments, especially the negatives. Mrs. Luke probably just likes the attention. No one could be so hateful, and toward a fictional character. I wonder how she treats real folk?

I once knew someone who very proudly pointed out how she was training her child to behave properly when he was eating. If he started to throw food on the floor, she immediately took him out of his high-chair, and that was the end of the meal.

I pointed out that he* had trained *her to take him out of the high-chair when he felt he was finished eating - he just had to throw some food on the floor! I found it very funny!

They were both very intelligent people, but there’s nobody who can think of everything!

What is it about this strip that raises so many emotions and touches so many nerves?

Ophelia/Mrs. Luke: (I really think you are the same person on a different computer.) Mrs. Luke came out of nowhere saying that everyone commenting on the strip was neglecting their kids, should get a life, stop following Oprah and Dr. Phil and get off the internet altogether. I looked back to see who she was answering and couldn’t find anyone who mentioned her at all. If you are going to post insulting stuff like that you should be ready for the replies you are going to get. Good Night.

@GeneralMod had some very salient things to say, worth reading more than once.

Thanks Ophelia, but don’t get yourself involved with these bottom dwellers. They wallow in muck. That’s what a troll is.

@howtheduck: You still missed my point, that Lynn Johnston’s purpose is to entertain, with humor. The fact that 3 days’ topic is child-rearing does not make the strip about child-rearing. That is only a means to an end. For those agree with Anne’s perspective, there is humor in today’s strip - if they can laugh at themselves. For those who agree with Elly’s approach, they can laugh too, with or without cynicism. The point is to LAUGH!

In answer to your question, 0phelia, you are being granted the privilege of posting material on a privately owned website. Not only is it entirely within our rights to remove any posted material that we find objectionable as proprietors of this site, but you also agreed to our site’s terms and conditions when you signed up for your account.

Feel free to refresh your memory by clicking the “About GoComics” link at the bottom of this page and then clicking the “Terms and Conditions” link on that page. Section 3 will provide the answers you’re looking for.

And while we do allow fair criticism of the comics posted on our site, we also seek to protect the interests of our cartoonists. Criticism that crosses the line into daily harassment is removed, as it should be.

wow, moderators finally getting sick of the spewed hate around here, cool!