For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 25, 2014

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    Templo S.U.D.  almost 11 years ago

    Promises, promises. Better go and make your mother and uncle happy, Mikey (specially your uncle), by practicing your trumpet.

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    JanLC  almost 11 years ago

    I learned to play the flute because I begged to be allowed to do so when I started 7th grade. I played in the marching and concert bands through my first year of college. It was always great fun and I made a lot of friends through music. For a little while I had a private teacher who was a clarinetist that played flute occasionally. He tried to get me to play the flute with a clarinet embouchure (the position of the mouth). It doesn’t work. He discouraged me almost to the point of quitting entirely until I told my parents the problem and they rescued me from this fool. I still have my flute & piccolo.

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    psychlady  almost 11 years ago

    You call that a choice?

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    IndyMan  almost 11 years ago

    Michael sounds like me but I got back at my parents—in college, I started kissing girls and my lip for playing the trumpet went ‘out the window’ I also got married which they didn’t appreciate !

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    jeanie5448  almost 11 years ago

    wish I had taken an instrument in school, love to hear music. My grandsons, the 3 oldest, all played the trumpet in the band in Jr high and one played all 4 years of high school but they all stopped.

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    stncrst  almost 11 years ago

    elly is not accomplishing anything by making him practice something he doesn’t enjoy

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    rshive  almost 11 years ago

    Ellie certainly can be frustrating. But the thing is that she’s so dang human. I think that each of us as parents have things that we’d like for our children. One of them is to have them be good at something—beyond merely passable. Hence the trumpet, piano, athletics, etc. Another thing we’d like is to have them grow up and be able to make decisions for themselves. Sometimes these two things conflict. Here Lynn has hit one of those occasions on the nose. All of us who are parents have probably had moments like this. And, sometimes years later they still stick in our minds and we wonder whether we did the right thing.

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    hippogriff  almost 11 years ago

    JanCinLV: Get them out, get your lip back, find a local community band and bring back the fun.

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    danlarios  almost 11 years ago

    death before dishonor

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    westny77  almost 11 years ago

    Elli you hypocrite. You can’t force a kid to do something he or she does not want. As a kid I hated to exercise and work out.As an adult I work out now and go to the gym 4 times a week.Not that I’m bragging but I’m hot. The point is if Mike has a passion for music he will be motivated. Also his Uncle needs to earn a decent living. Playing the trumpet is a good hobby.Phil seems to have a few gigs. Grow up and get a real job.

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    David Huie Green LoveJoyAndPeace  almost 11 years ago

    I bought a recorder years ago. I learned to play it since it was so simple by looking at the fingering chart and playing the songs I knew from an old hymnal. I also learned some new-to-me hymns. Whenever I got stuck in traffic, I would pull it out from between the seats and play it. (It was German Hohner, $3 and still good. perfect pitch as best I can tell.)

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    Guilty Bystander  almost 11 years ago

    The only musical instrument I ever learned to play was the stereo and I was really good at it…and Mom never had to force me to practice.

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    USN1977  almost 11 years ago

    Elly was trying to get Michael devoted to the lessons by playing mind games. When that failed she just resorted to shouting.

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    dvdoates Premium Member almost 11 years ago

    Lynn, I miss new strips

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