For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for June 13, 2020

Lucy and Ricky’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do with Li’l Ricky.

First of all: No honey for babies. That leads to infant botulism. Bad Michael.

The rest of this one is going to require a little explanation. You may be wondering what in the world Elly is talking about when she says April isn’t used to a bottle. After all, April is over 2 months old and Elly has been pumping since practically Day 1. How could April not be used to a bottle yet?

You may remember the Tuesday April 21, 2020 comic strip when we first learned Elly was using a pump. This is one where Elly told John not to use the milk in the measuring cup in the refrigerator because it was hers. Of course she says that after John has already put some in his coffee. It would be natural to assume that Elly meant that milk was meant for April’s bottle, but what if it was actually meant for Elly’s coffee? That could explain why April is not used to a bottle. Momma doesn’t take her coffee black.

Next you see Michael trying to give April honey to entice her to take the bottle. Why would Mike try this? The answer is that the Pattersons have a long history of eating peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Michael is simply trying a trick that would have worked for him.

As for why the car in panel 3 is hovering in the air over a world that seems to be about 15 degrees off to the left, I don’t know. The Pattersons typically drive hover cars, but the angle of the world is a mystery to me.

It is not easy to comfort a fussy baby. You need to distract her with some singing, some rocking, give her a bath or find something. Be creative.

I give Michael credit for not giving up trying to get April to eat.

Geez… Not honey.

Diaper change?

At least he’s trying, even if it’s not working. :D

The first time my husband and I had an evening out, I couldn’t keep my eyes off my watch.

Why is he using honey?

rotten parents; she’s too young for them to be out at night

I will say he’s thinking outside the box, probably due to desperation at this point!

I remember once babysitting my baby nephew. I was a teenager. At one point, he started crying. I tried rocking & singing to him (which he usually loved); nothing. I checked his diaper; nothing. I tried feeding him; nothing. He just wouldn’t stop crying! Suddenly, I felt so sick! I ran into the bathroom, propped him up next to the tub, opened the toilet, and BLERP Suddenly…he stopped crying! I picked him up, rocked him for a little bit, and he went back to sleep. He’s 40 now, and I still tease him about how MY throwing up made HIM feel better.

The kid is doing the best he can and hasn’t drowned the baby yet. I’m thinking this bit of brother sister bonding time is over.

Drinking and driving is very dangerous, and a family man wouldn`t take such a risk.

You must be full of fun…all you do is criticize.

Michael was doing very well with his baby sister until she got hungry. Time got away from Elly and John. It happens. April will be fine.

April may have some gas or dirty diaper, but Michael is not experienced enough to know baby troubleshooting methods yet. Nothing like taking a kid and throwing them into the deep end of the pool for a swimming lesson.

“Michael is a smart kid?” Is that so? Let us look at some of the things he has done…

*Attempted to get in the house by jimmying the basement window, shattering it.

*Neglected his trumpet lessons.

*Ran a lemonade stand then sold the chair he was using, not realizing that was his parents’ property and not for sale.

*Gave into peer pressure to spy on the girls’ shower hut at camp, then got his head stuck in a hole. (Too bad there was not a sympathetic voodoo priestess there to get him out by shrinking his head!)

To be fair, I realize we are dealing with flawed kids. The Pattersons are not the First Family, unlike Masha, Salia, and my son (who looks like Trayvon).

My brother and I were given very small doses of raw honey from our father’s bee hives from the time we were born. The problem is with pasteurized honey that has been boiled to the point of having absolutely NO nutrients and natural allergens; not to mention the preservative additives. Pots of raw honey have been found in tombs that are thousands of years old. The honey is still good.

Well, my two cents. I nursed all six of my kids, and I know that it is very difficult—if not impossible—to get a breast-fed baby to take a bottle. The tongue action is different, for one thing, and the shape is strange. Most breast fed babies will NOT be fooled by regular bottle nipples.

So why was Ellie pumping? She was hoping for a night out. But she already knew April would have some difficulty.

So yikes. Get home, Mama! April will survive. But it may be a long, long time before Mike is ready to take on babysitting again. Just thinking about it will give him the willies—and make him think that babies are just too hard to take care of. End result: it might be a long, long time before grandchildren put in an appearance. :-(

For those who don’t know – honey wasn’t considered bad for babies until after 1978, and that trend started in California. This strip ended in 2008 and by then, Michael was an adult with his own kids.