For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for August 30, 2009

Michael is turning into one little jealous brat.

I never could stand Michael. Maybe it’s because I was born the same year as Lizzy (the first time).

It’s the nature of all siblings. LOL I can remember me torturing my older brother too. Now I see my grandkids going at it. LOL

This is so my brother Ronny and me when we were little. He’s two years older.

My sisb** did that to me, and I in turn did it to the bratty younger brother… as Comic-Nut said - it’s the nature of siblings. When you can start to read, you receive “The book of being an _ sibling” (blank is either older, middle or younger)… LOL

My son does that on his bad days. In fact, I think there are days when everything on that panel happened, in that order.

Way to psychologically abuse your son John.

I love John’s “face of doom” in the third-to-last panel. Sometimes I’ve been sorry to be an only, but this is a reminder of what I missed out on (both sides!)

No, psychological abuse is what Michael was doing to Elizabeth. Simply giving Michael a time-out doesn’t even begin to compare.

And it goes back to what I said the other day about how Michael has to accept from within that his behavior is inappropriate. Sure, siblings tease one another; as others have said, it’s just the nature of the relationship (and yes, I do believe that Michael is jealous of the baby who can get away with pretty much anything because she’s a cute girl), but we eventually grow out of it once we realize just why it’s inappropriate and unworthy of us. Michael’s comment in the last panel shows that he still just doesn’t get it.

I suspect that Michael DOES get it, and was trying to avoid punishment on a technicality. However, in his defense, he might not truly have known that his parents could punish him on a “judgement” call. He didn’t know the full extent of his “restraint order”.

Abuse is abuse is abuse.

my brother never seem to know when to stop… so when parents stopped him….his fury was always over the top…he never ‘got it”. until he was about 16 or so….

I have to agree…. there is no “abuse” here.

Kid’s will be kids. and sibling rivalvary will exist.

CHILL OUT PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!! It’s a toon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i always tortured my sister, but never this bad……

See, when my little sister was real little, she’d pinch herself and start crying and I’d get yelled at. This happened like 2 or 3 times before my parents saw her do it, while I was in another room.

My older brother may have teased me and at times it felt like torture… but heaven help the other kids in the neighborhood if my brother saw them teasing me.

Mike has a bit of a comb over on his bald spot in the first panel. It goes well with his calculating, evil eye look.

I had three older sisters, and two of them would do a whole lot more than Michael.

One still apologizes for the way she used to wail on me and she’s almost 60!

and I turned out just fine

My older brother (18 months) was so rotten, he grabbed me when I was about 6 an put me in clothes hamper. Then sat on the top and read comics books. I was scared to death. Mom and Dad were not there at the time. I am almost 70 now and we still don’t get along. Thank God he lives on the other side of the country!!!

I grew up with seven siblings. The older two tormented me and then later turned their torment on the younger kids. I was again the target when I would step between and tell the younger ones to run. Eventually the oldest one seemed to outgrow it or had better things to do.

We are all still close—some closer than others but we all get along and spend time together with all of our kids and grandkids.

No “buts”, Michael.

Still, when are going to see Michael about to have speech balloon where he nicknames Elizabeth “Lizard-breath”?

“Lizard-breath”got the short-end even after adulthood . This miss directed love is the great paradox & mystery of humankind .

Abuse & Abuser is established by the end of the stick .

@summerdog

I thought I was the only one who had noticed that, lol

my sister’s youngest daughter was the “baby” of our extended family until my sister-in-law had her little girl. even though the baby seemed to adore her, the jealousy at no longer being youngest lasted years. (and, even though the “baby” is turning 13 while the next youngest is almost 19, i’m not sure it’s completely gone even now.)

You are absolutely right, Devonshade. Bring back the paddle! Obviously the pop psychology approach didn’t work (gee, what a surprise).

And good grief, nobody is talking about beating the kid into oblivion. LIGHTEN UP!!!! But a couple of judiciously administered swats will definitely be a reminder that does the job much better than “time out” (and who invented that ridiculous concept, anyway?).

Looks like dad here is one step away from doing just that, anyhow……

Well…he DIDN’T exactly touch her…

Oh, brother with the abuse. You either have no children or were an only child yourself. This is sibling stuff, pure and simple.

BlitzMcD wrote:

You are absolutely right, Devonshade. Bring back the paddle! Obviously the pop psychology approach didn’t work (gee, what a surprise).

And good grief, nobody is talking about beating the kid into oblivion. LIGHTEN UP!!!! But a couple of judiciously administered swats will definitely be a reminder that does the job much better than “time out” (and who invented that ridiculous concept, anyway?)

I don’t care, BlitzMcD. It is never – and I mean, NEVER – OK to hit a child, no matter what the reason and no matter where the blow lands. If you wouldn’t do that to an adult (who at least can arguably fight back in self-defense), why in hell would you ever do that to a child (who can’t and wouldn’t)? Just because you’re bigger and because you can, and because “the end justifies the means”? That’s not good enough!

God help any children that you may have, because He’s the only one who could. Frankly, if I caught you paddling one of your kids, we’d have an impromptu intervention, and it wouldn’t be pretty, I can assure you!

I got me one a those….

In fact that kind of provocative behavior is very common among siblings. Psychological abuse is the kind of grandiose psychobabble the childless pseudo-professional class will apply to normal healthy children who are sorting themselves out and looking for limits. Good job, fictional dad; realistic comeback fictional Mike.

Oh Michael, you are naughty brat!

LegalEagle, you raise your kids your way, and we’ll raise ours to be productive members of society. My 3 year old granddaughter already knows that “time-out” is not any kind of deterrent to her misbehavior, but a quick swat gets desired results.

I gave my sister who is younger problems. She would give it back. Mom would sometimes use a switch. Now I’m a parent I have two what would work for one something else would work fo the other. We all survived.

Thank you MisngNOLA for being the voice of reason. Again, I could not have said it better. “Productive members of society” indeed. And yes a “quick swat” (rather than beating the daylights out of the kid; BIG difference, as you are obviously aware). Brilliant!

You know, those who continue to harbor and hold grudges over their unresolved issues from childhood need a lot more help than they’re going to get from a discussion board for a comic strip. But somehow it doesn’t seem to deter them from being belligerent and confrontational with total strangers in such a format, does it?

Anyway, thanks again MisngNOLA. Look forward to your thoughtful and insightful posts in days to come!

Hmm, never hit in my life. Neither were any of my close friends.

Not a day in detention, not one of us finished high school with less than a B average. We all went to college and the only one not working in a profession- usually a helping one- is me. I’m disabled.

And a lot of folks we knew, knew they were facing physical punishment at home for what they did but didn’t care. They weren’t doing as well either.

And no, it wasn’t what a lot of you are saying isn’t abuse. It was a good spanking. I time out makes you think, get in control of yourself. If you have to be quiet for 5 minutes you learn 5 minutes of self-control. That adds up.

A swat lasts a second, the pain goes quickly- if you feel it a half hour later it’s not a swat. Loosing your allowance, watching your friends and siblings have fun without you for a week, etc means you think about it when you can’t buy the thing that’s normally nothing or are sitting in your room.

In prisons it’s the length of time that gets the hard-core ones. The pain from fights is nothing- it heals and planning revenge fills up the time it takes. A lot of them were spanked.

You’re thinking of the parents who don’t bother to explain that things are inappropriate and expect the child to do better. Next time the time-out can be longer, the TV banned, dessert taken away- there will be consequences again, and the parents more disappointed.

Never hit. And no, my friends didn’t all naturally do well in school and did have rough patches. But we were taught to control ourselves, not to accept a 5 minute punishment that in this case is ironic- if he had touched her it’d be the same sentence!- that has no consequence that matters later!

That very thinghappens here with the grandkids. He is 10 she is 4 and he makes her screem by just looking at her.

Huey

legaleagal48, it’s because of your mamby pamby attitude that has ruined this country. Parents are afraid of even say anything to their misbeaheaving child because they are afraid someone is going to yell abuse. Yes it is ok to swat and spank. Spanking is not hitting. Hitting is an uncontrolled act meant to phyically hurt someone. Spanking is a controlled act to disicpline a child. You are right it is never right to hit a child, as with an adult. But children are not adults and don’t understand the idea of consenquences. You have to teach them and then punish them for for not obeying. And yes if an adult acts like Michael is acting maybe spanking them would make them act better.

Okay, I NEVER did that to my sister, and my brother, according to my baby book, LOVED me. No wonder our parents never grounded us ever in our lives….