For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 15, 2014

It’s just like the old daying: The grass is always greener where you don’t have to mow the lawn

Fiction is the form of any work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not real, but rather, imaginary and theoretical—that is, invented by the author. ~Wiki

Give it a rest.

What kind of fun did Micheal expect to have at the dance, he is still scared of the girls.

@howtheduckI think he’s still smarting from the fact that his mother is going to be chaperoning at a party he was really looking forward to. Elly had the chance to walk away the better person yesterday after Michael openly complained about her being at the party but instead she took a cheap shot, but Michael doesn’t seem like the kind of kid to let wisecracks get to him.

Perception is so key, here. I thought my father was hard on us, but my cousins adored him. I adored their father, but they said he was a tyrant.

Everyone thought my father was some sort of saint. Different story at home.

When I wanted to volunteer at one of my daughter’s school events when she was Michael’s age, her reaction was the same. My grandson had the same reaction at his mother or me volunteering at his school.

Good point!

Michael is more like his mother every day.

So, subscribe to it, already. It’s like $10 per year. Pretty cheap entertainment and nooooooo popup ads. Or do you just like to whine?

So, subscribe to it, already. It’s like $10 per year. Pretty cheap entertainment and nooooooo popup ads. Or do you just like to whine?

I have a good popup blocker for my browser (Firefox). Those ads make the comics free.

Instead of pop-ups, I’m getting ads that appear on the left side of the page, and push the comic and the posted comments way over to the right. While the ad is loading, the comic freezes. GoComics should consider how many of us might just switch over to ArcaMax to avoid this nuisance….

“Exploited”? Wow, you sure don’t know much about writing. (And you sure seem to hate Lynn Johnston.)Every writer bases their work on people, events, locations, etc. that are real and inspires them. By your definition, every writer “exploits” reality every day.“Peanuts’” Charles Schultz often said that his childhood experiences shaped Charlie Brown. Cathy Guisewite used her experiences as a young single for “Cathy.”“Dennis the Menace” was Hank Ketcham’s real son, Dennis. Even Dick Tracy’s creator Chester Gould used Al Capone as the model for gangster Big Boy Capice.You are singling out Lynn Johnston as evil for doing something that every writer does.Maybe you’ve heard of A.A. Milne’s little boy, Christopher Robin? (Yes, he was real.)

You have the same mis-perception that Aaron & Katy’s schoolmates had. Sure she got a lot of inspiration from her family and those around her, but Michael and Lizzie are NOT Aaron and Katy. All cartoonists get inspiration from the world around them, and if Lynn’s were more realistic than most, it does not mean that she was exploiting anyone.

Lynn’s Notes:

When I was a kid, my friends would come to my house to talk to my mother. She and I didn’t always see eye to eye, so it surprised me when my friends considered her advice worth seeking. I accepted her relationship with them with admiration and jealousy: admiration for her, jealousy because I couldn’t confide in her the way they did.

I have heard this story from the other perspective many times. A lot of my son’s friends parents thought he was a wonderful kid with perfect manners, etc. I wondered if they were really talking about my kid because that’s not how he was at home. I had never thought about it from the child’s angle.

MisterMean must be a troll; I counted at least 5 strips on my page where that avatar used the same complaint.

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What kid is happy when a parent intrudes into what they consider “their” world? The dynamic is almost always going to change when you co-mingle your parents with your friends because those are usually two very different points of reference for a kid…especially when your friends know things about you that you think your parents would punish you for. I believe Mike’s reaction is pretty normal.

Plus she’s hot,Mike!

It could be that with Elly’s past behavior being critical of her kids every time they are in public, Michael probably will not be enjoying himself if she is watching him like a hawk. He will be anticipating the lecture afterwards, probably about being nervous in public.

@howtheduckWait, what? Are we on the same page here? What does Lawrence have to do with Michael’s resilience to wisecracks? Missing a friend doesn’t mean someone lacks toughness, it means caring for someone other than oneself which is a sign of strength.Also, “mourning the loss”? Lawrence just moved away, he didn’t pass away.

Michael said sometime last week that he didn’t want his Mom as a chaperone — I think all the boys agreed it wouldn’t be “cool” to have their Mom at the party.

I’m pretty sure I remember Schultz saying that some of the characters in Peanuts were based on real folks — particularly the little red haired girl.