For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 11, 2023

Well Aypo’s hair will grow back, Dolly’s won’t.

Aypo cut table cloth, Aypo cut rug, Aypo cut Farley, Aypo cuts Aypo; but she draws the line at cutting dolly, because mom will get mad. Oh, Aypo, you know your mother so well.

We all knew where this was headed.

I did that to the girl next door. She was 3 and I was 5. She had long curls, I guess I thought if I cut hers off, I could put them on my head. Unfortunately I pulled up a handful from the top of her head. Thus giving her a crew cut. Family lore, I don’t remember much of it,

This was predictable…

Geez. The Patterson family is so careless with the sharpies. They should be tucked away where April couldn’t reach.

Thankfully, I do my own haircuts and have gotten good over the years. During the summer, I just take the electric shears to it all. Don’t worry, it’s more in between a buzz cut and a bit longer.

Gotta feeling that “Aypo” is about to receive her first spanking.

That—or Elly will just shoot off her big mouth, as usual, and blame everyone but herself for not watching the kid.

Oh! So close. Aypo nearly cut off her pinkie finger!

I sure hope this comic isn’t one that was based on real life. Like an autobiography!

Scissors need to be in drawer so Aypo no touch

Oh boy… Elly is going to have kittens!

So refreshing to read a comic that is actually funny after the muck of the comments on the political ones.

Saw this one coming down Main Street with bells and whistles on……..

Like we didn’t see that coming.

Hoping the Apo arc is short and getting shorter.

I remember being about 5 and cutting my own bangs. It wasn’t pretty. My older daughter waited until she was about 12 to cut her own bangs & they came out pretty good. (My younger daughter never did.)

My mom spanked me for cutting my hair at around that age. I wanted bangs in the front. I did a terrible job.

Still remember, decades later.

yup. Saw that coming. Let the picture taking begin and may the thanksgiving dinner angst last forever.

Mom’s reaction is not going to go down well. It’ll grow back, Mom. And April doesn’t know what she’s doing. One day you’ll look back at this and laugh. Well maybe not laugh, but it won’t be a big deal years from now.

My youngest thought the cat’s whiskers needed trimming.

Here we go… been predicting this for days. LOL….Can’t wait to see April’s new ‘Do’… LOL

No, Aypo, no!

This was also seen in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume, whose protagonist was Peter Hatcher and had a younger brother nicknamed “Fudge”.

I opened the door to my bedroom. Fudge had helped himself to to scissors and markers I was using for my school project. He was sitting over the bowl which held my pet turtle, cutting off his hair. Some of it got in Dribble’s (pet’s name) bowl.

“Oooh, look, Fudgie’s a barber.” he said

I ordered Fudge out of my room and carefully cleaned the bowl of hair. Some was also on Dribble, but it looked like turtles were not bothered by it.

Mom cleaned the marker marks off of Fudge’s skin. The next issue was what to do about my brother’s self-certification as a barber. The next day we had to take Fudge to the real barber to see what could be done about his head. There was not much that could be done except wait for it to grow back.

That night Dad installed a latch on my bedroom door. It is so high up that Mom and Dad can reach it easily. I need to stand on my tiptoes to undo the lock, but there is now no way Fudge can get in my room.

Now Mom get madder…

Atta girl, Aypo…………

Who didn’t see THIS coming? Love her face in the last panel : )

I knew this is where it was going! Our daughter did this. It upset her mother far more than me.

Oh, that’s a much better alternative…

Wow, it’s…it’s….it’s like I am clairvoyant or something. I saw this coming a few days ago. Now for my next prediction, I see the sun rising in the East and setting in the West. You know there might be something in the Nostradamus thing.

Or maybe it’s because I have read this strip before.

Elly ran through the kitchen and stopped for cookies

The art work here is just superb.

Why is she being left alone that long???

The INEVITABLE conclusion of this story arc! Poor sweet little girl.:’(

Mom, you’d better hurry up and get in here!

Careful, April. The way Cru-Elly’s been treating Mike and Liz lately, she’ll use Dolly being on the floor as an excuse to kill you.

This is going to make Elly’s blood pressure go through the roof.

I tried to make it mandatory that children be equipped with electronic tracking devices, but I could not get it through a Republican Congress.

Pretty much a right of passage. Will never forget when my 5 yo niece walked into my house and I thought it was an unknown little boy.

dolly’s hair or your own hair, Aypo, Mommy will still get mad