Baby Blues by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott for September 04, 2023

On gossiper wings

Don’t worry Zoe! She’ll change her mind!

Out of context quotes causes shock and confusion. Tale old as time.

Makes sense, Wanda takes Zoe and Darryl takes Hammie. A win win situation.

Ah, the place where rumors begin……

Shock and dismay.

Uh-oh. Widen eyes taken out of context.

Oh no! Zoe thinks her parents are getting a divorce. Not to worry Zoe, before they do that they’ll have to be fighting all the time like my parents did before my dad left.

Uh, oh. Week’s storyline started. So much for getting back to sleep.

Zoes little mind is churning on that, thinking something opposite than what Wanda was talking about!

Poor Zoe…now she’ll be so upset she won’t be able to go to sleep. She will probably wake up Hammie and tell him. Going to be and up and down week coming.

Wren goes with Wanda, and Hammie goes with Daryl. Zoe? You’re old enough to be on your own. See ya!

This is how sitcoms work, a misunderstanding.

AND let the misunderstandings begin!

cue the dark ambient music with discordant overtones which, although broadly tonal, is inflected with chromatic and polytonal passages representing the archetypal example of a florid, melodramatic style without being interpreted as an overly heavy-handed metaphor within the context of the thematic material a bit on the frenetic and frantic side

trust me Zoe, it’s not what you think she said.

I loved how, in the first episode of “This Is Us”, Beth & Randall were watching their daughters during the oldest’s soccer game. They stood side-by-side, one facing the game, the other facing the younger one. After a while, they’d switch. I thought that was so cute.

Zoe didn’t hear the whole conversation and now thinks her parents are divorcing?

Innocent statements interpreted by innocent ears….

When Hammie’s running late:“Oh no Wanda, I don’t think Hammie’s gonna make it!!”

No, poor Zoe!

At least she didn’t say “spit up”, which was my parents’ phrase for “vomit”.

Awww……

Zoe only heard the last sentence. She thinks her parents are going to divorce

… and it’s the kid’s fault.

We once had 3 sons in 3 soccer games in 3 towns at the same time.

Who gets stuck with who? That is the important question.

Typically, a child might be able to distinguish the differentiation in tones, but since this is a comic strip, Zoe is not so fortunate!

Great expressive art, I love it…

The foundation of a long marriage:

“We are not splitting up unless you agree to take Hammie.”

“No, we are not splitting up until you agree to take him.”

Since Zoe was heading to go pee, I imagine that there’s a wee bit of cleanup after that out of context snippet she heard.

Something no kid wants to hear.

So many people make a wrong conclusion because of things like this. Life is rife with misunderstandings and misdirection etc.

Uh oh …

Oh, dear…

Well, the fuse has been lit for Zoe to totally upset Wren and Hammie and when the truth comes out, see look like a total @ss and still smell like a rose.

Is the toilet in their bedroom?

I think we all see how this nickel is going to drop.

The word a child fears most!

Uh-oh, misunderstanding time

The words most children hope to never hear.

Zoe only hears the “we’ll have to split up” part. She thinks they’re going to divorce.

Guess she didn’t need to go potty any more?

Uh oh…

thats not what they mean Zoe