For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 06, 2023

hate to see your boy grow up so fast, huh, John?

Is this the little girl I carried?

Is this the little boy at play?

I don’t remember growing older

When did they?

Loving panel # 4.

Hypocrite!!

Betcha it’ll be worse when Elizabeth becomes a woman.

And April has another 13 or 14 years to go. Treasure it, John.

To a kid those years passing seem to take forever. To a parent, you blink and the same years have passed. Time truly is relative.

Don’t worry Ellie. Whereever Mike goes and whatever Mike becomes, he’s still going to be your little baby boy (mother’s perogative ;D).

My parents divorced when I was five (more-or-less amicably) and I remained close to my dad. I chose a college that was close to where he lived so I could visit now and then. He took me out to dinner shortly after I started classes and told me that now that I was 18 and going to college, he considered me to be an adult and would be treating me as such. That was such a huge morale and confidence boost that it still resonates with me today, 60 years later. It was one of the best gifts he ever gave me.

Man, all three of my kids grew up fast. I mean darn fast. While sure I love them, no I do not want to go back in time and relive it. I never want to relive yesterday for that matter.

We never want our children to grow up and leave home. The saddest day is when your children leave home.

Just about the time they finally get old enough to be useful, they move out.

Regardless of Michael’s age, John will always be a Dad, his Dad and therefore will look out for him.

My kids will always be young in my heart.

If you do a good job and get lucky, they spread their wings, and they’re off.

My child and I hit a point a while back where we started talking more like friends than parent and child. It was a nice feeling, actually.

I am getting two different messages here.

I am getting two different messages here.

Always tuck your children in until they are old enough to tuck you in.

Yup. They can join the Army and take a bullet for the team. Frankly, as “adults” now, they’re more likely to sign a contract for a crappy car and still be expected to pay for it, at 20% interest.

He will always be your little boy

That’s a hard transition. I seen it with my kids, with my grandkids and now with my greats. It’s tough.

This is why I save this comic strip for last each day. Lynn knows how to endear our hearts.

Time, oh Time!/ Where have you gone?

“We have to start thinking of St. Michael as a MAN”…. ppppffffFFFFFFTTTT HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Grandpa is living with us while his homeland is being bombed by the cretin from russia. A few days ago he was taking a nap on the sofa. Our 8 YO boy grabbed a blanket, carefully covered him, patted him on the shoulder and kissed him on the forehead. Grandpa is 72. Just proves you are never too old to be tucked in.

Nothing like the joy of getting that first apartment and throwing your first party

Watch the video “Let them be Little” by Billy Dean, it’s a tearjerker.

Awwww……..

I think one’s off-spring will always be babies- – in a lot of families.

So Gordon must have flunked a year of school if he’s in the same grade as Mike and his friends. Too bad. But I’m glad he has them as friends.

Cat’s in the Cradle…. Silver Moon…

He’ll ALWAYS be your baby! <3 :’)

Practice what you preach John.

They grow up way too fast, but that is life…..

Love the way to express love to the kids approaching adulthood.

Today the Pattersons have a new King.

A man’s love for his son does not age…

Awwww.

Listen before you enter a teen dudes room, unless you want to see something no adult should.

The FBOFW rap:

Gordon got a new home

Slumped on the couch like a squid

But the whole place looks squalid

Elly looking to refurnish

After dealing with a mouse

The dropout gunna put John in the poorhouse

John went upstairs

See that Michael is tucked

Michael dreaming o’ the day he and Rhetta will get….

THAT LAST WORD IS BANNED IN THE U.S.A. AS WELL AS MULTIPLE CANADIAN PROVINCES

Jim and Marian sure do not think of their daughter as “Baby Elly”. Then again, the Greatest Generation was all about responsibility and duty. As soon as a child got basic motor skills, they were put to work doing chores. Sensitivity was not a big issue then; there was a war going on.

Don’t think of him as a little boy or a man. Send Michael to a military academy.

After graduating from a military academy everyone will think of him as a superman!

My boys are both still under ten, but I can REALLY feel this one already!!

Play with your kids. Spend time with them. Don’t tell them you’re too busy. My kid is now 25 and I’m still wondering where the time went…

My girls are 16 and 19 — I can very much relate to John and El in this strip. You’re proud to see them grow up — but at the same time, it’s hard to see them grow up.

Nothing creepy about this…A dad tucking in his adult son…Fortunately, Michael still had all his clothes on and wasn’t…doing…….right before he fell asleep.