For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for August 26, 2015

Not helpful.

And you won’t ever get it Mike, even when Mom has her ooops pregnancy in a few years.

That was mean of him to say that.. But he is an older brother.Mine was mean to me growing up, I sure do miss him now.

When my parents were expecting me, they asked my older brother (older by 3-1/2 years) if he wanted a little brother or sister. He said, “I want a Danny…or a doggie.” I disappointed him on both counts. We still kid each other about that.

Michael, it’s not as though your parents deliberately ignored your wishes — or did they? I asked my parents for a little sister two times (I already had a little brother), but did THEY listen? Noooooo! Each time, I ended up with another little brother (although I do remember that before the youngest was born, my mother asked my brothers what THEY wanted. One asked for a teddy bear, and the other asked for a pony)!

I wanted a sister but my Dad promised me a bicycle if we got a boy. So I wished for a boy. When my sister came I cried because I wouldn’t get my bicycle. Memaw made Dad get the bike anyway. :-)

Why is Elizabeth in a swimsuit when she is not shown going to the beach? Did she wear it so she can better inspect herself in the mirror?

You had better change your tune, Mike, for I predict another sister for you in the future.

Angels didn’t make a mistake; Michael did.

At least in the last frame, Elizabeth looks annoyed and not depressed.

My brother wanted a brother or a pony….got neither….

My brother wanted a puppy but he got me, his sister, instead.

I think my parents wanted a boy, after all there was already two girls, but after a few years I think they felt they got more than they bargained for. The next child was a girl, with three sisters, I often wished for a brother if nothing more as an ally in the eternal sibling war.

Actually, Michael, the angels got it wrong the first time. They corrected that mistake by sending Lizzie…

If looks could kill…

Is there some prevailing belief that all families have to have children of both sexes for the sake of the kids? Some have said families that have all girls or all boys will be putting their kids at a developmental disadvantage.No. That has been regurgitated due to a stereotype that the “typical family” has children of both sexes. Other arguments have been that “every boy needs a sister” or else he will fail to grow up to understand women. Time and time again that has been disproven, as there has been no evidence to show that children who have siblings of the opposite sex have any distinct advantage. This idea likely goes back a long way, as Johnathan Swift wrote of it in Gulliver’s Travels, in the chapter about the land of the intelligent horses. Their law was that every family was to produce two children, one of each sex. In the case where parents had two girls or two boys, they met up with another family at their annual convention and traded one for the other. As Swift was known for parody, he was likely spoofing the idea of the “proper British family” is to have both boys and girls.

I wanted the surprise third child to be healthy. My brother required a transfusion. My sister was a preemie, required two complete transfusions, and a month and a half in an incubator.She’s still with us. 59 years later

My oldest sister had a boy and a girl.My oldest brother had 3 boys.My next brother had 2 girls and a boy.My next sister had a girl.My next brother had a boy and a girl.I have 2 girls.We’re pretty even.

My parents wanted a boy for their third child – because they already had two girls. They got me. Third daughter, not a son. But then they had three more kids, all boys.

Even battlefield…

Her face in the last panel! XD

My sister wanted a little brother, and was so disappointed when I was born a girl. After our parents brought me back from the hospital, she looked me over and said, “Well, I guess we’ll keep her.” Gee, thanks for that decision, Sis! (Despite her inicial disappointment, we grew quite close.)