For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 27, 2010

A little dirt doesn’t hurt any one.

MrsLukeSkywalker, you are a party pooper ain’t ya. It’s a comic, you read it and smile or laugh. But you seem to take it seriously. Lighten up, please.

Peace to you. \\//_

I love how the pot likes to call the kettle black.

The part I like best is not having to get into coats and socks and shoes whenever we want to go out. Just throw on sandals and let’s go!

We’ve been through this argument many times before, but the constant bashing is tiring. You don’t have to agree with every comic all the time, but if your joy is criticizing, then we don’t want to hear it nonstop.

Mom could throw me outside for hours and I’d eat dirt, get pricked by thorns and otherwise learn about the world. Now they worry the kid will get kidnapped. Better watch out for those lightning strikes too.

My upbringing was similar to Lewreader’s… I’d play in the ravine at the end of my street, eat dirt/bugs, whatever, play with snakes and frogs and explore the drain pipe… lol I wouldn’t trade that for how kids are being brought up nowadays…

our town has a road that runs for about a half mile over top of a creek. the creek runs through a tunnel under the roadway and, as kids, we named it Frankenstein’s Tunnel. i am surprised at how many memories posted for our town’s 50 year anniversary include Frankie’s Tunnel. it’s too bad today’s over-supervised, over-scheduled, kids won’t make those kinds of memories.

as long as the yard is fenced in,, which i believe Elly’s is,, back in those days,, letting them run in the yard while you sip coffee watching out the kitchen window was they way i remember my kiddie days.

I got a GoComics account just so I could say this to Ellie’s critics: If you don’t like this comic strip, delete it and stop sucking the joy from those of us who DO like it. Geez. Get a friggin’ life.

I believe that this is far more a comment about Lynn’s setting of this in Canada. You know, the land of 8 months of winter and 4 months of ‘tough sledding’!

we used to go outside at 9 am every day we were off school and not come home until time for dinner (supper) and the folks never complained

after the evening meal it was back outside until the street lights came on

What Tomyris0 said. Stop griping about a 10+ year old comic strip.

Positive posts, negative posts, blah, blah, blah. Everyone gets their own brand of enjoyment out of these strips. If you don’t agree with what someone wrote, just skip it. No point whatsoever to complain about each other’s attitude. (BTW by the time I got here, Mrs Luke’s comment had been deleted, so all that is left is a bunch of complaints about nothing.)

enjoy those moments ladies!! :-)

I so agree! I, and my kids, love to be able to wear light clothing, run outside and play all day. And I’m with Elly- it is GREAT to be able to get the house straight without the kids whining and hanging on me all day. I’m happier when they get to play outside- and so are they.

As for the folks who think Elly is all horrid and negative- I don’t. I think that all humor is based in what is real and the shock value of saying what is true, but not necessarily politically correct. I think that is what Lynn does with Elly. The stuff Elly says and does- it is true! That is how many mothers (I’ve got 4 under 10) really feel! It doesn’t mean we are negative or horrid, but moms. As for Elly, it is like the media, the strip emphasizes the humor and therefore really can’t focus on constant sweetness and light (which Lynn does include sometimes!)

And I have to say, the comment of don’t read the posts if you don’t like them- how are you supposed to know if you didn’t like it or not until after you have read it? I mean, even Mrs. Luke, who is consistently negative, still has some pertinent and interesting posts sometimes!

So there’s my two cents worth. At most!

Well said, Kristen!

Dawn to dusk and later we ran and played and sometimes got into minor trouble and boy did we have fun!! I particularly remember the stupid risks we would take with fireworks. Can you imagine firing exploding bottle-rockets at each other? Boy did we have fun

I know we were stupid and could have seriously injured each other but the memories are still very very fond.

Mrs. Luke and her cohorts have been particularly nasty posters. Every time I took them to task they responded by calling ME and other posters trolls. They positively WEPT at the TERRIBLE way they were treated by us. They are experts at consoling each other.

I have given up on calling them out, but it still rankles me that they feel free to disparage a comic character and then feel outraged when anyone complains.

BTW Given Mrs. Luke’s previous behavior I can imagine her post on today’s comic. But good grief, was it so bad that it needed to be flagged and deleted?

I’m with you Poohbear.

Spending my childhood in the 60’s, I was outside from dawn to dusk when the weather was warm enough. I hardly ever watched tv. I spent two years in a wheelchair and two years on crutches (age 8 to 12) because of a rare bone disease in my hips, but I was still out climbing trees or riding my hand-powered scooter. I could hop as fast on one foot as other kids could run. I didn’t let my handicap stop me one bit.

Nobody locked their doors in those days. And my hubby said that he and his friends would be out on their bikes, miles away from home all day. I don’t think that parents knew half the time exactly where their kids were!

I have very fond memories of those carefree days.

@eocene- in a way you are correct. However I have to agree with the posters general dislike of the constant negative postings by a few. Not just once in awhile, but regularly, every day. Personally, I don’t see Ellie as being totally negative. I do see her as being somewhat hysterical, and hysterically funny. I love this strip because it highlights day to day life in a very real way.

Paul Jones you are correct. I live in Connecticut and, depending on the winter it is GREAT to see the warm weather come. Especially no more putting the kids into the layers, boots, etc. and having them say, just when you are about to go out the door to go sledding “Mommy, I have to go pee”. All the layers off and all the layers on once again Is it a pain, yes. But I think Lynn exaggerates it big time to show how you feel. We all do it and then go and have fun with our kids. I Loved summer with the kids, they could play in the dirt, have a wonderful time and then come in for a nice bath. (They were usually so dirty there were no complaints and they were usually so tired there were no bedtime arguments. A bedtime story and they were goners! I also grew up in a time when we were allowed to wander and play games from 9 am to supper time. It was a wonderful time and, boy, were we physically fit from all that running around all day.

I wish that I could go outside without socks, shoes, a coat, and long-sleeved shirt on. It is still cold and rainy here in Western Washington. yuk!

I’m looking forward to wearing my flip flops!!!

Happiest day of my life was when my son learned to put on his own outside clothes. I am Alaskan.

MrsLukeSkywalker simply refeneced a previous strip where Elly and Anne left the babies outside and they ate dirt, which Michael promptly reported. There was no reason to delete her comment, except that you people are so ridiculously hateful around here. What she said was true, and it happened in the strip, so I guess this strip is what is really the offensive thing around here if a factual comment about what happens in it is considered to be something deletable. Poohbear, you are the one who is “particulary nasty” around here. I don’t see anybody ripping into you, but you just can’t stop doing it to her and gloating about it. You certainly are high and mighy, aren’t you? Since I joined here, I’ve seen MrsLuke post plenty of positive comments on this so called comic, which go unnoticed. I also see her having fun on this site elsewhwhere, she is not negative anywhere but here, so maybe that says something about what she reads here more than it says about her. I find nothing but truth in what she says.

Anne really could use a makeover. Flag away!

Does anybody notice that Howtheduck has quite a bit to say against the strip, and you all agree with him, or do you blame MrsLiuke for that too? I’m still sorry I joined this site, which condones and seems to enjoy this lynch mob mentality.

ses1066 – I always thought that it was 2 seasons – winter & July.

Don’t know what happened with Mrs Luke, but it couldn’t have been any worse than the spam I’ve been flagging on every site and can’t seem to get rid of.

You know, I don’t care WHO is doing it. I HATE all the personal attacks on people because someone doesn’t like what they have to say. Critique the comment, and that is fine with me. BUT PLEASE DON’T BASH THE PERSON, who you really don’t know at all.

“Mara Jade” (the name of the “real” Mrs. Luke Skywalker, according to the official novels) can be rather negative about this strip, but she also makes some entertaining comments and insightful notes here and elsewhere.

I suspect MrsLuke deleted her own comment because she is beginning to see she is disliked almost as much as she dislikes Elly. Sometimes you just have to stand up to the bullies.

And Howtheduck is getting more critical. His in-depth knowledge of the strip is appreciated, but the negativity is not.

Sounds like MrsLuke and JAD ought to hook up - oh, wait…

It’s funny how the people who complain about a truthfully negative comment are the same people I see insulting people constantly , arguing with and bullying everyone, and always making their own negative comments about comics all over this site. You’re really a pathetic lot.