For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for March 08, 2022

tough, isn’t it?

I guess it’s true that, for as much as a kid drives a parent up the wall over the years, the parent feels kind of empty and lonely when the kid moves out to start his or her own life (as a kid must, true, but the feeling’s always there).

The nest is not empty! You’re still there! You’d enjoy all those things Elly mentioned.

Now is not the time for “feathering the nest”. Now is the time for downsizing. OR stay put and focus on yourself: Take those trips you couldn’t do with kids, immerse yourself in a new or held-off passion (sport, art, etc). This is YOUR time and it can be the best time of your life.

This is the same woman who used to dump her son at the Pattersons so that she could chase after Phil.

The same woman whose stepdaughters hated her.

Now, she’s a self-pitying drama queen!!

Just wait until Lawrence outs himself as gay!!

I remember my parents driving me crazy for years, constantly wanting to bunch up all 4 kids in the van and drive around to check out new houses. It struck me as the most asinine thing ever, but I guess they were house-hunting, looking for a bigger place… then I moved out, then my brother did (then moved back in), then my sisters did… and mom & dad were like “Well, why bother moving to a bigger house? There’s nobody IN it now!”

Maybe Elly’s three kids can live at Connie’s house for a while…

All three of our kids had to return home for a spell as a result of bumps in their roads. Our oldest has been with us for about ten years now and will probably be fore the rest of his life. He has become progressively more disabled (the result of prednisone dependence in childhood) and would find it very hard to make it on his own, even aside from money issues. It is pretty certain I will survive him and my wife. It is not a bad life, all told.

Yeah, BUT……..doesn’t matter how big or old or how far away they get…….they are still ‘YOUR KIDS’

I recently came across a quote (author unknown) that helped me put life into perspective: “Think of all the things you DON’T have that you DON’T want.”

The first thing you should is change all of the locks.

It’s not empty. You’re there.

I sense the “you need a pet” talk coming.

I left home at 17 and never looked back. My two boys, on the other hand, had to be damn near catapulted into the next county before they got the hint in their mid 20’s.

That’s the best time to feather! Toss the old, bring in the new. Make the space you always wanted when they were all home and you said “what is the point of getting nice stuff when the kids will just leave a trail of stains?”

I sense that Lynn was going through some of that empty-nesting when she drew this.

She does have point…but that’s why while the kids aree growing up you prepare for what I call the “afterlife”. In 2004-05 I attended media broadcasting school. Now that I’m retired I can focus on that.

I don’t feel like an empty nester. My daughter and her kids now live on our place, and the son in our house.

I bought my youngest, bachelor son a small house down the street when he was 27, just so he had a place of his own. First thing he did was move in his girlfriend. Now at 50 he’s still there, and still a bachelor, despite several other live in girlfriends along the way. A house of his own may seem extreme, but it was worth every penny.

There are a number of troubling things about Connie’s statements. First of all, her son is 17 years old and not out of high school. She still has responsibility for him. Why does she say that he is never home. Where is he going that would cause him not to be at home and why does this not bother Connie? (We are going to find out the answer to this question and it does not make Connie’s lack of interest look any better.)

Second is the news that Gayle has gone to stay with her mother. Long time readers will remember that Gayle’s mother was such a deadbeat mom that the court gave custody of her daughters to her father. When the question came up of his relocating his daughters from Thunder Bay to Milborough to appease Connie’s desire to move there, the courts could not find Gayle’s mother because no one had seen her for over two years (at that time). Why in the world would Gayle even be allowed to stay with her? Remember at this time, Gayle would be a senior in high school and still a minor.

I thought Lawrence was Michael’s age. Wouldn’t that make him a little young to be “never home”?

Since they are empty nesters, maybe they need a change and look for a smaller house.

Gayle and Molly must not have clicked with the readers,They were out of the strip almost as soon as they were introduced.

the point is to flip the house, take the money and run off with the pool boy.

Different attitude from the World War 2 generation. As soon as their kids left home for college or their first apartment, the parents often transformed the kid’s bedroom into a drawing room or den.

sell the house and move into a Seniors condo. That will stop the kids from moving back!!!

♫Late at night a big old house gets lonely.I guess every form of refuge has its price♫

Not me… I was glad to seem them able to fly and I enjoy all their flying now.

Good time to move out of state and don’t leave your new address.

wait.. what??

Since there’s also no point in feathering the nest when the kids are there because they’re going to trash it, forget the nest! Go on that trip you’ve always wanted!

Because it’s YOUR nest now?

Ellie, that’s not focusing on Connie…it’s focusing on the house!

Maybe Connie could use a pet.

That’s Elly for you. The kids aren’t even within a mile of her and she’s STILL popping off comments that would make them feel unwanted. Let’s face it, Elly is so obsessed with her image and what other people think, that if she had her way, she’d have skipped the kids and just given birth to FURNITURE!

She has a point there, Elly.

Ouch! hard, but true!