For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for June 29, 2009

And so begins a mothers daily exercise of balancing house chores and kids. And I know that someday I’ll have to do this.

ladywolf17, only if you have kids. There is a lot to be said for not having them.

wndrwrthg, Few American girls seem to realize that not having kids is an option. Try suggesting that a white wedding isn’t necessary, that’s even less palatable!

A mother’s version of weight lifting.

who needs a gym when you have children, you get your on going wieght training and cardio all at once. isnt great.

It’s time Elly taught her how to pronounce the L so she quits calling herself Nizzie.

wndrwrthg and ScatteringBliss, don’t negate the idea of having children. It is hard, grueling work, but very worthwhile, also. I have two grown sons, and wouldn’t have changed it for anything. Yesterday afternoon I rocked my 19 month old granddaughter to sleep. These are the rewards for being a parent!!

World is overpopulated. Where are your kids going to find food in 50 years?

People could sort of limit the number of kids they breed too. I have one. He was sort of not entirely planned for, though he’s a cutie and I’m not sorry about having him. However nothing could entice me to do this whole thing again on purpose. People actually enjoy the process, vomit and lack of sleep and all. Those people weird me out. :)

Time to tell her “no” once in a while.

Silverpearl - If Elly said “no” then there would be no comedy in the comic strip.

I’ve been in a committed relationship for over five years and not only do I not want a white wedding and children, I even keep my own apartment and spend a few nights a week there. My friends think I’m nuts! (I’m an American girl, btw : ))

When she is 21 she will have a man to lift her of her feet!!

I didn’t realize the “kids, no kids” thing was still such a debate. I’m married with no kids and the only person who cares at all or even makes an issue of it is my mother because she wants a grandchild. My friends all have kids and I love them. But I enjoy going home to my own space and taking naps!

i’m an eldest son whose father has always wanted someone to carry on the family name (and doesn’t have a 3rd generation nameholder). he started hinting when i was 25, and still mentions it once in a long while. i’ve been a doting uncle to my siblings’ kids ever since they entered the world, but still wonder, on rare occasions, if maybe i should have done differently. still, since i’m only in my early 50’s, there would still be time

ahhh kids, i only wish i had the energy they do.

reese828 and Silverpearl, supposedly if Elly tells Lizzie no, Lizzie would be wailing too loudly! sheeshhhh!

@notinksanymore;

there was a famous author in England who was married but did NOT live with her husband, maybe 300 - 400 years ago. And I can’t remember her name. Mary Shelley maybe? Was it the author of Frankenstein? or of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

I suggest you don’t quote me as a reliable reference!

Anyway, it was considered strange, but I think it was accepted. Among their friends, that is. Artist are always given a certain leeway.

I don’t understand Nizzie either and Elly does use it too. I would think Izzie would be easier for the little one and Elly should just say it right so she can learn.

I’m well aware that having kids is an option but personally I think i would be great at being a mom and I wouldn’t want to pass up the experience. I really don’t care about the white wedding issue.

RinaFarina, I believe you mean “George Eliot”, a nom de plume used by Mary anne Evans. She wrote during the 19th century. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

They are the most wonderful aspect of my life, but kids aren’t for everyone.

I believe that the world is over-populated as well, but neither of us asked to be here, so for the ones who are happy parents, kudos, to those who are not, kudos to you as well. To each its own.

George Eliot had a relationship with George Henry Lewes, who had an open marriage. His wife, Agnes, had children both with her husband and with other men. Eliot (whose actual name was Mary Ann Evans) began calling herself Marian Evans Lewes and referring to Mr. Lewes as her husband.

The two “Georges” lived together, but largely apart from the rest of society, which shunned them not so much for the fact they had a relationship as for the fact they made no secret of the affair. After George Lewes died, Eliot finally married for real. Her husband, John Walter Cross, was twenty years her junior – which created a scandal of its own.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eliot

This is when you have to teach them that you can’t always have your way. Hubby and I had a similar discussion about our cat. Yes, I don’t want to punish her wanting attention, but she needs to know that it’s bad behavior to meow for it.

I think we finally agreed to get a water thing to spray her when she’s meowing for nothing but attention.

She gets plenty of attention. When I’m not at my computer and she’s around, I will pet and cuddle her as much as she lets me. What she needs to learn is that when we’re at the computer, let us alone.

Sure “The World” is overpopulated, but if you stopped all immigration into Europe, Australia/New Zealand and America/Canada, there would range from extremely low population growth in some areas to actual negative growth in others.

It’s Asia, Africa, South and Central America, Indonesia and India where all the heavy population growth is occurring and that’s where the idea of having fewer, or no kids needs to take hold. At least the Chinese have been working on that, but most of those other countries have far greater poverty and are the ones that need to emulate China’s attempts to curb run away population growth. That, not charitable donations from the West is what would reduce poverty in those parts of the world!

To which I respond, “The Earth is the Lord’s, and the fullnes thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Psalm 24:1

God knew what he was doing when He created the Earth, and He made sure that there would be enough and to spare for all of His children. It is man’s selfishness, not God’s design of the Earth, that is the cause of shortages. When man learns to share and not to want everything in sight for himself and himself alone, the so-called “population problem” will take care of itself.

These comics have “started over” in reruns since For Better or for Worse stopped the daily strips. Lynn ONLY does Sunday comics that are new—-basing them mostly on Michael and his kids.

When Michael was young, at one point he was calling Elizabeth “LIZARD-BREATH”. Now, THAT was cute!

Besides, the Earth’s population and the pros and cons of child-bearing aren’t the topic. The STRIP is.

Boy the discussions sure got heavy and toally off the topic. The comic reminds me of being a young Mom. It seemed hectic at the time, but in hind sight it whizzed by. Time flies when you are having fun! As John Lennon said ” life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.”

… the comments are insane… these comics are for ENTERTAINMENT… why are we talking about overpopulation