For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 09, 2022

Why do toddlers always want to destroy things? :/

How nice of Michael to give Farley some time off from raising April.

Power! Actually, it may just be a fascination with sounds made by wood, metal, plastic, paper, etc. When my son was still crawling, he would stop where the living-room and dining area met. For long spans of time, he’d alternate patting the carpet, and the floor tiles, apparently delighted with both textures and sounds.

The same reason cats push things off tables, shelves, etc. Because they can.

Michael’s finally growing up. He never had such patience with that PITA before.

3 strikes and he’s out of there

Knocking stuff over is more fun.

When me and my friends were older kids, we liked to build model cities in my backyard. It was fascinating running railroad tracks, roads and canals between the cities. The local little kids also liked our work, but mostly for destroying. About that time, we discovered banishment.

Panel 2: Why is St. Michael crawling around the house?

When you’re playing hangman clunk, you really don’t need any help, but watching other people play with your toys can be entertaining too.

Yes, at that age, it’s incredibly fun to knock down the intricately built tower of blocks.

A work colleague used to do failure testing for Boeing. IOW, she got paid to break things.

@Susan00100: “Michael’s finally growing up. He never had such patience with that PITA before.”

April is not being a “pain in the ass”. She knows what she wants, but Michael is clueless, and so (IMO) is Susan00100. April’s goal is not to admire a “finished product”. She wants to have the pleasure of doing the building, even if it never results in a “finished product”.

April has her mother’s closed eyes look in the first and last panels.

You would think that Michael would realize, that the fun part for his sister is the knocking down. I first thought he was doing it for her to enjoy knocking them down…but, nope.

You were stacking blocks like that when you were April’s age, Mike. Don’t get so frustrated that you still don’t have the knack as a teenager.

This is so accurate. I have been in Michael’s shoes many times. LOL

I used to build card houses and my uncle would come and kick them down when I was finished. I went and got a brick and rebuilt it. He came in and kicked it in his stocking feet and that was the end of it.

Yup.

Oh PLEASE. How many of us guys built model cars, planes, tanks, etc. just to blow them up with some firecrackers? That was half the fun…..

When my son was almost a year old, we visited my aunt & uncle. My 13 year old cousin was building a tower out of plastic interlocking blocks (no, not Lego’s, more flower shaped). Mike came along and knocked the 3 foot tower over, but it didn’t break up. I have photos of the tower before, during & after the fall.

At her age it is all about simplicity!

Oh no! There goes Tokyo! Go, go Godzilla!

Looks like what my niece and nephew of toddler age do!

April has all that it takes to be the annoying sibling.

There are none so dumb as those who REFUSE to learn.You need anymore proof that she’s Elly’s kid?