For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for September 14, 2019

“I’ll have to quit – or work part time. I’ll be tied down again. – This is awful.”

I wonder how long it took after writing this particular comic strip before someone took Lynn Johnston aside and told her about the wonders of maternity leave. And then after being told about maternity leave, I wonder how long it took for Lynn to believe the person who told her about maternity leave. We know that Elly is back at work full-time in 5 months, so it is no longer than 5 months.

just not on the same frequency

Funny. The mother is not thrilled and called it “tied down again” while John apparently enjoyed the first children’s babyhoods he’s getting excited. Well, as a mother, I know most women do the raising hence the “I’ll be tied down again”. It frustrated me so that my husband was always the fun parent. He worked the evening shift so our sons did not see much of him growing up and when he came home, they were excited to see him, happy he was home and they did things together. Me? Nah. I was just the nag. Still true today even though both sons are all grown up, and one is married with children of his own. Now HIS children think I am a fun grandma. I gotta find condolences in that.

not by a long shot, mother-to-be!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every couple could consider the prospect of another child as a very happy event? The earlier years of raising kids can certainly be epensive and hectic, but the later ones could be the reverse situation where your children look after your needs and try really hard to keep you happy. I have one son, so far, out of six kiddoes, who is showing signs he truly cares. Already, I feel that I am ‘batting a hundred’…..

I wonder if that was my parents when they found out I was on the way. They were in their 40s and had 5 kids already, age 7-16.

The mom has all the work, makes most of the sacrifice but the dad worries about the money. It’s good this time money doesn’t appear to be the first thing on Jon’s mind.

I loved being a mother and wish I could have had more than two.

Just tell John you are going to continue working full time and he can work part time. It’s only fair.

To be fair, Elly is being a pragmatist, thinking about those initial weeks/months when it’s so much work and so draining, and she’s also trying to raise two other children. When it’s not planned or prepared for, this is all very daunting. John’s not the one who’s going to be up all night with feedings and dealing with the day in/day out of the hard work and stress, and that after having gone through childbirth and needing to recover. It’s a lot, and it’s fair that she’s worried and upset.

If you both work full-time both should take care of the baby equally, but that will never happen. Men just don’t have that mothering instinct. My ‘alert’ button goes on every time I see a guy by himself with real little ones, especially when they are loose in a parking lot.

I would rather be thoroughly beaten with a big stick every day for the rest of my life rather than find myself knocked up. Can’t think of a worse fate than being sentenced to go through horrible labor and then have to raise a screaming sh*t factory. And it always falls to the woman to do so. NO THANKS.

Sigh. Been there.

And yes, I gave up my job because he made a lot more money. But today I have no regrets. Most young couples don’t realize that the most precious things in life are not things but people. Sons and daughters—families—are great wealth. You will never be as wealthy, as happy as you are when you hold your newborn baby. It’s worth all the trouble, all the broken sleep, all the lost earnings.

I suspect men and women are never thinking the same thing. They just get to the same city on different highways.

This is off subject. But, I have noticed ever since Liz started wearing glasses, Lynn doesn’t seem to draw the ear piece in consistently. See John in this strip, the nurse yesterday and Liz most of the time. I know I’m not missing it, because I have enlarged the copy as large as I can.

Lynn’s Comments:

I became a little obsessed by the idea of having another baby.

one of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t give my mother a grandkid that she could spoil and then give back to me to do everything else!

One of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t give my mother a grandkid that she could spoil and then give back to me to do everything else as payback for my behavior when growing up!

It’s Elly’s choice, not John’s, whether to have the baby. If she doesn’t want another, she should have an abortion. Of course, this is an old storyline, so we know she doesn’t. But, just as a matter of principle, it is entirely up to her. Over 50% of abortions are to women who already have at least one child and don’t want or can’t afford another. It’s the responsible choice in most cases, although we know that everything turns out all right for this comic strip family.

in your own ways, you are, actually

But not the word that will end you problems.

Even knowing that the majority of Americans do, in fact, approve of abortion (https://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/public-opinion-on-abortion/) , I wonder if any comic strip would actually dare to depict Elly as making a choice to abort.

NO!

My daughter has one year paid maternity leave I believe it is 70% of her earned wages. My son in law has a 7 month paternity leave from the Canadian Navy. Now that is amazing. The baby came early by c-section. Spent 2 weeks in the nic u. They didn’t pay a dime. Canada is a good country to live in.

At least some parts of Canada provide a “mother’s allowance” or whatever they call it there.

Life would not be interesting if both the spouses think the same.

John is thinking the dream while she has her mind of the reality. Just wait until he has to give up his precious trains.