For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 23, 2018

History of Sexual Practices in North America. Gone are the days when this would be a part of the curriculum for dental school.

Shouldn’t that last book be kept under lock and key out of kids’ sights?

This particular comic strip does give us an idea why Michael doesn’t read books and spends his time watching TV, if his best choices are his father’s old text books. It implies there are no age-appropriate books in the house for Mike.

Reminds me of when I found a copy of “Everything you wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask” hiding in the towels in the bathroom closet. I thought I was sneaking to read it but later found out my parents left it there for me to read so I’d get answers without asking them all the questions.

Hoo boy, I remember those days. Don’t tell on yourself, Mike – your mom will pitch a fit!

If there’s nothing age-appropriate for Michael to read, then what about Lizzie? She was reading from the start. It’s a possibility she went to the library with Elly, but why didn’t Elly just buy the books or checked them out for the library if she was going through with the punishment.

Red flag, Elly. There’s a red flag right there!

I remember babysitting for one couple in my neighborhood while a young teenager. They had every dirty book you can imagine on the bookshelf in their rec room. I always wondered if they moved those books once their toddlers were old enough to read and understand them. LOL

My dad belonged to the Book of the Month Club when it first started. He was a Science Fiction and Fantasy fan. We kids grew up reading Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison etc… Not to mention early Marvel comics. I am almost 70, still a Trekkie and still love the genre.

& yet Mike becomes a writer,….

What? No NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC?

My grandmother had all the National Geographic magazines, and made them available for bedtime reading when we were still in elementary school. Thought nothing of the bare breasts, etc. Saw that as simply being a part of the world that I did not happen to live in. I believe the whole experience was very healthy for us as children.

Canada joke of the day:

A Canadian man and woman go to the doctor’s office. They said “Will you watch us have intercourse?”

The doctor was perplexed but agreed. After coitus he said “There is nothing wrong with the way you have intercourse” and charged them $224.

This went on for several weeks. At this point the doctor wondered what was going on and asked “Just what are you trying to find out?”

The man replied “We are not trying to find out anything. She is married and we can’t go to her house. I am married and we can’t go to my house. The Super 8 charges $109 for a room and the Howard Johnson’s charges $77. We do it here and get back $196 from OHIP for a visit to the doctor’s office.”

Anyone else remember “Grandfather Bibles?” Kids were encouraged to read the Bible, but parents didn’t want them reading certain sections, so they merely glued some of the pages together. Never underestimate kids – some merely noted the censored pages and looked it up in another Bible! (Bet for some kids, these were the only parts they ever read!) Similar case with the Ann Landers column – mom would cut out articles she didn’t want the kids reading. Found out later they merely went to the neighbors house to read the columns!

Friend at work: "I told my boy it was time to have a talk about sex, and he responded “Sure dad, what do you want to know?”"

I did my practicing in the 60’s and 70’s,then got married only to find out the game was already over.

Well Michael one hand to other hand have fun

I remember that age and those kind of readings.

Was in a univ. library looking for some something to read, ran across American Journal of Psychiatry’s Sexual Deviance: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment..

Unless it has pictues it will probably be as dry as dirt.

what year was this shown originally? Does anyone know?

For years we kept our copies of both parts of the Kinsey Report on an unobtrusive shelf in the library. And then it disappeared (it being the part about the female) Then it reappeared. The girls wanted something “less dry.” And we said “Wait until you are 18.”

And to think some people actually detested the idea of children reading from the Harry Potter series, when the first chapter of the Bible has two people running around buck-bald naked until a serpent convinced them to eat forbidden fruit.

Well, at least he’ll learn something.

Hmmm.."wonder if he’ll share some of the info he learns from this book with his classmates…..’.

Normally I think making a joke using the different meanings of the word “novel” would be beyond Michael Patterson, so maybe Elly’s trick with the thesaurus last year is finally paying dividends.

I had several “Playgirl” magazines back in the 70’s when they first came out. I hid them every time the teen female babysitter came to watch my boys. Turns out I didn’t hide them deep enough….at least on one occasion I know about.

I actually have the original artwork from today’s strip. I got it at the gift shop at Mort Walker’s old Museum of Cartoon Art that used to be in this cement castle (the William E. Ward House) in Rye Brook, NY. I also got a few Beetle Bailey idea sketches at the same time.