Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 01, 2016

you sure are going to be an amazing uncle, guardian, or even new father figure to Shannon alright, Brad

Time for Brad to chill & be glad Shannon is happy.

Let it go for now, Brad. There’s an old saying about little pitchers having big ears. Shannon doesn’t need to hear this.

If he was really at an audition, the crown probably came from the prop box and Jonah will have to give it back. I don’t believe he took the time to purchase it. At least he thought of her.

In car sales, we talk about Car Karma. He’ll have Acting Karma.

So, ease up Brad. Life has a way of getting even and it is always sad.

Nobody ever thinks new parents are up to it.Some grow into it.Some of us muddled through.Some really aren’t.Intentions count muchly.Those who intend to do their best usually manage.

He may not be father of the year, but apparently he cares enough to at least come back for the show. Maybe one day his eyes will open to what is really important.

So What if Jonah takes Full Credit for the Little Tyke, Brad? The BOTTOM Line IS, Shannon is Jonah’s child, and therefore, HIS Responsibility.

Just Keep THAT In Mind the Next Time the DEADBEAT tries to Pawn the Kid off on You and Toni…..,

After Bwads’ rant after getting seated, I thought this issue was over – but apparently not … others have already called it, and now I concur: In about 9-12 months (real time, not Luanntime), I see Shannon’s mother stepping back into the picture just as the new couple start the adoption papers. Since Luann’s town is, based on prior clues, located in California, mother’s rights trump all … maybe it will be a double whammy – Jonah and ex get back together … either way, the dark-side of Brad will emerge …

Hey, there. A bit of unnecessary roughness re the tire treads…

This strip sure spends a lot of energy hating on its designated villains. Self-righteousness isn’t as attractive a character trait as the Evanses seem to think.

No one is more smug about bad parents than the childless.

Then again, smugness is the defining trait of the “good guys” in this strip.

Brad – Give it up! Lotsa stuff doesn’t sort out. Get used to it before you get married…

As has been said, the important thing is that Shannon is happy. Now, someone wash the kid’s face, that makeup looks terrible :p

He thinks he can get away with it because he is blond! Well, excuse me!

A lot of comments today but none seem to notice that Toni said that she and Brad do not have a license. Does that mean she and Brad will soon be parents?

notice, the “dad” isn’t even holding his daughter’s hand…she’s just holding onto his arm…

-Oy….

“License And Resignation”“Not A(p)-Parent To Everyone”“Convenience In Store”“Ingrate Expectations”“Joker Trumps A Pair”“Complaint By Numbers”“Two Scoops And A Golden Flake”“Gone With The Wind, Returned In A Breeze”“Usurp, For That Pancake”“Whim-One, For The Gypper”“No Further Than Father”“Cut Scene, Roll With Credits”“Some Folk Invoke The Revoke”“Never Apparent, But Always A Dad”“Father Figure Of Speech”or “The Duke Of Haphazard”

So, is today the setup strip for Brad/Toni to discuss adopting Shannon? Talking about licenses, etc…

???

Poor Brad, instead of being angry, he should have " It’s a Small World After All " stuck in his head the way I do.

I’m kind of disappointed that we didn’t see a continuation of the situation with Prudence, Les and the Magically Shrinking funds for the ‘Knox Theatrical School for Kids’…

Kymberleigh and Sukie: Returned a response, left them in the WAYBAC….

He’s blonde,Shannon is dark-haired,maybe a DNA test is in order.

willy52: Fishbait has been brunet most of the times we’ve seen him before. The blond coloring is clearly artificial.

At 6, Shannon is a bit young to see what’s going on with her Dad, but she’s far less obnoxious and immature since Brad took on a more active role in her life. She’ll figure things out in time.

Brad is annoyed in the moment, but both he and Toni are well aware of how much Shannon relies on them for things she’ll never get from her father. I’m hoping this arc sets up the conversation B&T should have had long ago, about adopting Shannon. Not to take Fishbait out of the picture, he could still see Shannon whenever he had the time, but Brad and Toni would be the first people notified in case of emergency.

This relates to my wondering how much time Shannon actually spends with her dad in a typical week. Does she sleep at his place most of the time, or at Brad and Toni’s? Fishbait may be perfectly happy with a different arrangement that more closely fits his “busy schedule”.

Brad is not making himself look good here. If this is indeed leading to an “adoption” story line, it’s going about it in the wrong way, by making Brad seem petty, irritable, selfish, and jealous.

like I can be her best friend ,her minter I can be any thing to her but her Dad for good or bad she only has one and she will always love him .

Don’t you just hate it when people verb a noun? It’s “…licence to be a parent” please. Uncle-ing is not a word. Parent-ing is not a word. Teaching your kids to speak correct English is just a part of ‘being a parent’.

In a twist of an old saying, “Time wounds all heels”. Jonah will get his comeuppance one day for sure.

And Jonah is still Toni’s brother, so Brad ought to ease up on the griping or risk pushing Toni away.

@DavidDid you think that English sprang into existence fully formed? Try reading Chaucer in middle English. Even newspaper accounts from the 19th century seem oddly written.

Languages evolve, words come and go and rules change, either from need or laziness. Even alphabets change. Know how ‘thou’ got to be ‘you’? Check dictionary.com. If I were a betting man, I’d say that the English alphabet will change in the next generation, probably as a reaction to spell checkers.

So chill, dude, and enjoy the communication without choking on the form.

Kids figure this stuff out for themselves…eventually.

@notbornyesterdayYes they do. My children’s mother took off for the horizon when they were young and dropped into their lives from time to time, cultivating the ‘poor Mommy’ view. When they became parents themselves, they came to realize the nature of the situation.Patience and love are the attributes called for from Toni and Brad.

The point has been made; let’s move on.

Jonah is almost as good a villain as AE— Shannon’s love for him just adds to the way Team Evans can irritate us. What fun.

should have been “award” not “ward”.

It would be nice if the parents each had to take a birth control pill in order to HAVE a child.

So what does Brad think should happen if a flaky parent loses their parenting license? Do they lose the child? There are way too many kids in foster care already. Jonah is a decent parent, not the greatest, but better than an awful lot of real parents in real life. As far as we know he doesn’t hit her or verbally abuse her, she is not hungry or left home alone. She has on clean clothes that fit. He doesn’t smoke or use drugs around her. I think Jonah is probably in the top half of parents in this country.

@Kymberleigh

I’ve always liked reading your comments but I do not understand the necessity or repetition of “the recurring list of answers for recurring questions”!

The problem from the adult needs viewpoint does not seems to be in itself that Toni and Brad spend a lot of time raising Jonah’s child, but instead that Jonah has an extremely inflated sense of personal entitlement. Toni and Brad care about Shannon as well as caring for her, but they have their own needs and demands in life, too.From Shannon’s viewpoint the problem, which she seems to be beginning to recognize, is that her father often just ignores her, an emotional burden though physical neglect has not yet been seen. That, too, goes back to Jonah having too large a sense of personal entitlement.If or when Jonah gets past this then the sadness and frictions coukd be reduced. He needs to realize that he is supposed to be an adult in the equation and that children have needs, including those of emotional support, trust, and reliability from adults.Other adults need their own versions of these things. Jonah can not keep just handing Shannon over to others without even asking first (and waiting to listen for an answer) if they can care for her at that time. He needs to work up a childcare schedule that is fair to all, and hire babysitters himself. When family or friends care for Shannon he should thank then and at times surprise them with a little gift to thank them. It does not have to be large: some groceries including an appreciated treat would say a lot, for example. If he is delayed then he shoukd call, and if his battery is low then he should ask someone else if a quick local call on tgat person’s phone would be okay.The best solution is not clear, short of Jonah somehow getting over himself. And of course, there is the mystery figure, the mother who abandoned her baby.

But what kind of flake is he Brad? Corn flake or frosted flake?

P.S. Glad to assist.

“If you are a new commenter or one who does not follow the strip regularly, please read this before posting.”

Who put you in charge? Nobody has any obligation to plow through your FAQ before posting. Pretty darn arrogant.

6While I can certainly understand and concur with Brad’s comments today (they sound eerily like what I was saying about the damn “flake” last week)…. I think Brad really, really needs to be a bit more careful. He is probably out of earshot of Shannon and Jonah…. and I hope he is. But, sometimes, what would seem out of normal hearing range, sometimes is not quite….. and I would really hate for either a) Shannon to hear Brad bad-mouthing her dad and b) for Jonah to hear Brad bad-mouthing him (because Jonah could potentially further escalate the situation by turning around and getting into an argument). Again, Brad’s reaction seems utterly normal to me…. I just wish he would hold his mouth shut UNTIL he is 100% certain he is far enough away…. like in his car or some such thing. It is just a safer way to handle this at the moment. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Now for some other thoughts…. about Jonah:1. I still think he is a damn “flake”.2. But, that said…. right at this moment, if I think really globally about what we have seen transpire…. Jonah ended up doing what he said he would do (come back to perform with Shannon). He is awfully lucky their performance was last, of course.3. There is a slight possibility that Jonah my be so oblivious that he does not realize much if any of the behind- the-scene things that have transpired. He may simply be thinking that Shannon was hanging around at the Fuse until Toni showed up, she helped her get her costume on and then he showed up. Even though I and virtually any reasonably aware person would intuit that a lot has happened and would also be aware that Brad was going to step in…. I can say that I have known a few people who were so unaware of their surroundings and circumstances (they were always in “their head” so-to-speak) that they would not notice the most obvious things around them.So, I guess it is possible that Jonah is just clueless. My gut reaction does not believe it however. My gut tells me Jonah knows that he put a helluva lot of people into “high stress”…. including Shannon…. but that he doesn’t really care. I am hoping that in some fashion, Greg is going to have Toni and Brad find a way to discuss and air this whole situation out with Jonah… but, please, it has to be in some fashion that is completely out of Shannon’s ability to observe or hear.

N-G49….. true, if there is a lot of background noise, Shannon and Jonah will not hear Brad’s grousing. And, there could be a lot of background noise. But, it may also be quiet. To me, it is always very tricky in judging acoustics and sound penetration. I try to live by the motto of being extra cautious…. perhaps more cautious than needed…. about when I say things that are negative. I guess in regards to the comic, I am just hoping that Greg doesn’t have the arc proceed where Jonah or Shannon catch part or all of what Brad is currently saying. It could be too hurtful to Shannon in many ways.

Gee Brad.. I think there is one thing you are forgetting,.. Jonah (no doubt) originated and was actually part of the act, the other half of the duo who would play and sing a song while Shannon danced. However much encouragement you gave Shannon, you were not capable of doing that part. You should be relieved that Jonah (however irresponsible) showed up and kept you from embarrassing yourself and Shannon…..

Quite so. We have no idea how much Shannon and Jonah had worked on this duet before they showed up at the Fuse, but obviously they had to have spent some time developing the act and rehearsing it at least a few times. Brad’s contribution to the performance was holding a guitar for 5 seconds, offering to make a fool of himself onstage, and them no having to do it. Say what you will, Jonah did a lot more here than Brad did.

Brad needs know when to choose his battles.

Jonah was probably quite content to let Shannon flop around, since it made her happy. He’s treating this as just a fun game for Shannon rather than as an actual theatrical performance that matters (like auditioning for “Cats”). That doesn’t mean they didn’t do their duet several times, just to enjoy themselves.

TL; DR

I suspect that when Jonah came up with the plan and the music, he worked out a rough dance routine which Shannon needed to practice… hence the initial flopping around. Pru helped her spruce it up while Luann sang to help her keep time. After that it was Shannon who did all the practicing on her own (and with great intensity). But Pru and Luann were the only ones to actually help and coach Shannon with the routine. But they are not angry at Jonah or jealous that Shannon idolizes him. Brad and Toni were the soccer mom and dad, providing transportation and place to stay, food etc. They were enablers but neither had any role in the act itself except to worry what they would do if Jonah never showed up. Of course Shannon is thrilled with her Dad because he was the one who performed with her. The issue of who takes care of Shannon on a regular basis is another matter entirely.

Bottom line: Break out the BENADRYL, Brad just got stung. Follow that with some TLC from Toni.

It is still my hope that, if Shannon’s status changes, it is either one of two ways: one, through some sort of shared custody arrangement (where Shannon gets to spend part of her time in each household). Or, two, through a situation where Brad and Toni build an addition to their house, or what’s called a ‘granny flat’ (a guest house in the backyard, usually), and Shannon lives there with Jonah while he is in town.

This avoids ugly court fights that scar kids

Now, tell me this volcano was not reading the comments here ;-)http://abcnews.go.com/US/mysterious-smiley-face-appears-hawaiian-volcano-eruption/story?id=41039508

at this moment.

That only happens in fiction..

A little harmless banter between Toni and Brad should help to defuse his smoldering anger….

Let’s look at Karen’s take on today’s strip, from the LuAnn Facebook page:.Brad’s upset, Shannon’s happy, Jonah’s oblivious, Toni’s used to it.

Do you think it could be possible that Jonah has the condition known as Asperger’s Syndrome .only if “perger” translates roughly as “hole”.

For me the biggest issue that is being implicated here is how this problem of Jonah’s somewhat ambivilent parenting is affecting the relationship between Toni and Brad. Brad, who has gotten close to Shannon, in a very productive way, is an observer to the family issue that Toni has been facing with her brother and niece. Brad is disturbed and frustrated, and Toni is as well, but Jonah is her brother, and he is Shannon’s father. I think the causes of Jonah’s problem relate to the circumstances that had to do with Shannon having a single parent in the first place, but the main point for us now is what affect that will have on Toni and Brad, and their marriage plans. That will be interesting to see.

Spoiler alert: dandruff shampoo will not work

Spoiler Alert 2:Head and Smolders

Can’t get ArcaMax to load using any of my browsers. Disappointing; can’t sit up to 2 am waiting for August 2 comix. Maybe I’ll try again next week. See ya’ll