For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 07, 2017

Mike, I think El was hiding her bad mood by being cheerful

It’s called sarcasm, Michael.

That’s right…confuse the kids. Bwahahahaha!

The answer is “good mood”. As we know from years of this comic strip, when Elly is in a bad mood there’s a lot of screaming and shrieking involved. While Mike is 12 years old and might have heard this lecture before, Lizzie is only 7. With a toilet paper holder you have to balance the roll in the middle of the holder, while depressing one and inserting the other into a precise location. That’s a lot of things to handle at one time. It might not be that easy for a 7-year-old to manipulate. After all, at that age they are still working with safety scissors, because they don’t have the manual dexterity to handle sharp scissors.

Actually taking the time to explain to the kids what is wrong and how to fix it without shrieking is something Elly should be doing. Good for her. If she wanted to achieve teaching perfection, after modeling the skill to be learned, she would let each of the kids try it to make sure they can do it by themselves while she is still watching to make sure they get it right.

To get them off their butts and replace the roll when it runs out. Slovenly can be curbed and changed.

Lynn’s Notes:

This little scenario was performed by yours truly to an unappreciative audience, several times. Yet, the concept of replacing the roll seemed to elude an otherwise capable crew. I took to putting the roll on the seat in full view with the hope that it would be correctly reinserted in the aperture created for it. Eventually, I gave up. You have to pick your battles, I guess, and in the scope of large family concerns, this was not on the radar. It pleases me no end now to see my kids in their own homes replacing their rolls with skill and dexterity. I guess you can teach by example after all.

Let’s not point out to Ellie, that in her sarcasm, she put the roll on backwards.

At what age, do you suppose, does a child begin to recognize sarcasm?

She put the roll on backwards. The only time it should be put in backwards is if there are either cats or toddlers in the house. When our older daughter was a toddler we found her in the bathroom once waist-deep in Scotts 1000 roll (it was a brand-new roll, too)! We scolded her. She ran to her room, crying. My husband stepped out onto our porch…and laughed our butts off!!!

I put the roll on top of the tube many times, when company is coming then I put it in the right way.

The roll is not in backwards if you have a cat.

My wife never replaces it. Might have something to do with the 60 year old spring that will shoot both halves across the bathroom like missiles if you don’t get it placed just right.

Which is worse, not replacing an empty roll of TP, killing the pot and not making a new one (of coffee), or leaving the ice cube trays empty?

Maybe if one of them wanted a cardboard tube kazoo…

I gave up on that type of toilet paper holder about 10 years ago. Now, all they have to do is slide it over an open hook. But, then you get into the question of having the toilet paper under or over.

“Under” or “over” is not a choice if you have cats (especially young ones) in which case it’s “under” to discourage the whole roll being spun onto the floor.

We have a very smart 11 year old tom cat who has taught himself a lot of tricks but for some reason has never discovered the toilet paper roll- yet!

Yes, it is “under” if you have crawling toddlers or cats, who look for things that roll toward themselves and haven’t figured out the opposite motion….

If you have seniors living with you, it’s " over" because they don’t have manual dexterity to find the end of the roll and keep spinning it toward themselves….

If you are anywhere between 2 and 85 it doesn’t matter as long the last person replaces the roll… which is the point of today’s strip.

What the right way and the wrong way bags of toilet paper I buyDoes not have the direction with it

she’s in a ‘REPLACE THE TOILET PAPER’ mood Mike. it happens in every family dwelling with kids and men. or so I’ve heard :)

Under?? I’m so disappointed. Always over, always over!

Gosh,people are sure anal about their…er…um…bum wipe!