For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for July 30, 2023

Well, he tries to play with his kid

Imaginations are way better!

Which one is having more fun? Anyway, as the old saying goes “All work and no play makes John a very dull boy.”

He regressed. But he looks happy!

I love this!

(Spoiler) Very similar To playing with the train setup he eventually has.

She’s creating a new world. He’s just into the tools. The heavier the machinery the better.

Quality time with his daughter is always better than work. Stop mowing that lawn and take your kid for a horse back (pony) ride.

When I see heavy construction equipment, (bulldozers, etc). I think, bigger toys in a bigger sandbox.

I can see that…..

One of my neighbours was like that when the kids were little. Every toy under the sun, and Dad right in the middle. All stacked up next to the garage now since the kids are in college and every inflatable that ever existed is in that pile. Except for Superman. YES. He can fly. Ask my horses, if they ever land again.

I wonder if this was an early anti-sexism attempt to show toys are designed for every gender?

It seems to end back in the day implying that boys still played with boy toys and girls still were happy to plant sticks and flowers in gardens.

This has nothing to do with model trains… Just what the heck is John doing??

It’s nice to see father and daughter playing together.

More fun without the automation.

After the onomatopoeia comes … ‘’Okay, Joe, back ’er up.’’

Spent a few hours, as a little panda, playing in the dirt.

Boys and toys

Parallel play. But they’re having fun.

Elly was coming outdoors to say “John, the interior decorating plans are on hold. I have seen the writing on the wall. The government is laying off civilians left and right, and it looks like my work at the library is next.”

Reminds me of an old Donald Duck comic from the 1950s where Huey, Dewey and Louie admire construction work and ask for a steam shovel for Christmas, which enrages Donald. He goes to Uncle Scrooge for the money to get one, to which Scrooge remarks he has to pay and Santa Claus gets the credit?

The story was funny in that they try to acquire steam shovels, where a construction foreman thinks they are crackpots. They also get in trouble with the law, as well as trying to explain to the nephews they cannot get a steam shovel so Scrooge enlists Donald to impersonate Santa to give them the bad news. The nephews realize Santa never got their letter as Donald did not even know how to mail it. The real Santa Claus then appears, and says he will set everything right, claiming he has a steam shovel for them. Scrooge and Donald look at each other dumbfounded how Santa can carry heavy construction equipment with him, only to produce a toy steam shovel from his sack! Santa is about to leave when Donald asks for a book to learn about the U.S. Postal Service so he will understand mailing letters.

Uncle Scrooge: “In case you can’t do that Santa, I will buy Donald that gift. In fact, I will give him the title to the publisher who prints that book!”

Yep that’s old age for you, one just getting out of diapers and one getting ready to go back into diapers.

BE the truck, April!

I want to see if Elly is fired from the Library….

It’s what Dads do…..

Now Elly is thinking she has FOUR kids, not three.

Reminds me of this video. A street is being reconstructed. Two small kids ask an excavator operator to put some of the dirt into their toy dump trucks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPIUTxVSmys

You know, John? I bet April would have a blast with those toys if YOU’D LET HER TOUCH THEM!

I was sitting on the back porch with 2 boys, aged 4 and 5, when a truck and trailer drove by towing a smaller version of a backhoe and a front end loader, not toys but small. I exclaimed “Look at those toys!” The boys replied, “YEAH!” Good times.

The best thing to play with in the dirt? A big old spoon!

Jon is just reacquainting himself with his inner child. Elly’s probably thinking “This can’t be happening! He’s too young!”

What is the joke? That is so uncommon for Elly to see John spending time with the kids she has a look on her face like she is witnessing a UFO landing?

At first I thought this was a little kid sandbox, but with John and April both in it and room for both of them to play, I am beginning to think this is just a giant mound of dirt that doesn’t look all that sandy.

This one is cute!

Spent a lot of time in the sandbox. Wet the sand to make tunnels and all sorts of stuff. Good Times.