For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for July 29, 2011

This journey is truning out to be a whole lot more educational than Mum and Dad anticipated.

Wow – an immediate response of violence! I sure hope you don’t have any kids.

We took a train trip like that a few years ago across the country. One of the best ways to travel ever! The kids loved it (yes, the observation car, too), and we loved it. Especially loved eating in the dining car and being able to move around at will.

Oh, and we’ve managed to raise those kids (both now taller than me) without once resorting to more than a swat on the bottom when they were very little. And yet, the are smart, kind, obedient, and surprisingly self-giving. Anyone who resorts to a belt doesn’t know how to do the job.

Oh, lighten up. Let them have some fun.

Kids love to watch grown ups playing.

It’s a good experience for them. As long as there’s not smoking in the car for the kids to breathe, it’s fine. My kids still remember a drunk lady they saw at a restaurant at the beach last year. I talked to them about alcohol and about how to use it responsibly.

My son, when he was aabout 13, said “I love to sit and listen to Grandpa and his friends. And don’t worry, Mom, I just let the language go in one ear and out the other.”

How come no one has mentioned these little kids wandering alone on the train till mom finds them?

My uncle pointed to the observation car of a train one time and asked me, “Do you know what they call people who ride in there?” I said no. He answered, “Passengers.”

@john abrams That is assault, especially on children. Adults don’t need to hurt children or anyone for that matter.

I don’t know about Canada, but in most of the U.S. you would end up in jail and the kids in foster care. It’s not the 19th Century anymore, John.

Probably nothing made for the ears of a 7(?) and 3 year old!

Definitely not the kind of “observations” I’d like my kids to be making, that’s for sure!