For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for April 25, 2013

Of course we do, Elly — because we’ve seen the mistakes that you make, and we know that we’d never make them ourselves (go ahead and roll your eyes, parents out there — even I don’t really believe that!).

When you don’t have children you can see what should be done but after you have them, sometimes you’re just too tired to do it.

templo SUD: Thanks for the spoiler alert.

@rollsroyce: If the time span for this repeat is as long as the original, many of us may not live to see Elizabeth married, so I see nothing wrong with any old time fans revealing, at times, what will happen in the future.

Relax screaming capital boy!! It won;t happen for at least another 20 years, and by then you either will have forgotten, or get into a horrible car wreck that leaves you brain dead. So cheer up!

I’m fortunate: none of my child-less acquaintances ever pull that “if they were MY kids” bit. If anything, they usually tell my husband and me that we should write a book on child-raising! We do have one dear friend who is an early-education professional and such a wonderful instinctive “mom” (even though she is child-less) that we will ask her for the occasional advice.

Amen!

My Mom always said unless there was blood or broken bones she didn’t want to hear about it.

Children definitely make one humble!

I had kids for many reasons, one of which was that I wanted to see if I could raise kids the same way I thought others should raise theirs. While there are some things that I haven’t done well, I feel pretty good that I was able to do some things right that others complain about.And yes, if you have no kids, you have no idea how easy or how difficult it is, especially since every kid is different. So while you may have a valid opinion, most will ignore you because you haven’t proved that your way is a good way.

or priests and nuns…

How true Elly!

like i can remember much of anything from the long history of this strip. i’d like to see Elly get a divorce from the idiot John though.

Did Georgia and Phil’s marriage produce any children?

When you’re a parent you can’t stop being a referee. You can be tired of it, but you can’t stop. I guess tomorrow’s strip will have someone injured or something valuable broken because Elly can’t bother to be responsible. At least ask John to look into it.

You need a license to participate or do almost anything in our modern society. Oh right, except breed, any moron is allowed to do that.

Walk in the shoes!!!!!! Every child is individual and that’s what makes life so great!!!!!

Georgia’s an idiot who I think is planning to have kids one day. As a childfree, it never occurred to me to give advice to parents. (OH HELL NO) In this moment, I’d be thinking: ‘Thank goodness that’s YOUR problem, and not MINE!’

..“I try not to judge how others live their lives, but from some of the commentary I see here at least a few people are not very happy and that’s what they seem to read into the comic”-I couldn’t agree more.

My sister used to have lots to say about my child rearing….then she had kids of her own. BWAHAHAHA

I remember a friend who said that “her kids wouldn’t bother the display of magazines on her coffee table” Her only son was the worst brat I ever met – she didn’t even have a coffee table in her house. BWAHAHAHA

Children have learn where they stand in the pecking order – like it or not – we are not all equal and we fight and scramble for every supposed bonus(status symbol) – it goes on for life. Frustrate a child by stopping this all the time and this retards development – he never learns that both get hurt in a fight(no one wins) so, maybe he will have to pick up a gun since he has never learned to defend himself.

It is not the bullies that do this, it is the ones that are picked on who never get to learn how to get even.

All theories on how to raise kids fall apart when the little pests actually arrive!

Reminds me of what my mother used to say, “I used to say I’d do this and that different when I became a mother, but once I did, I started eating my words, one at a time!”

I remember an article about this where the author knew a couple who before they had kids would recite “The Ten Commandments Of Parenting.” After they had a couple of preschoolers it became “Eight Rules Of Parenting.” By the time they had three teenagers, it had become “Three Suggestions For Parenting” LOL!

This not not just with kids. It is with everything. People that do no have a clue as to what someone is dealing with thinks they know all about what should be done. And those same people get mad if you try to tell them anything. My boss id like that.

Any idiot can have kids. It doesn’t require any education, skills, testing, license, or training. There are a lot of morons who are parents. So, a childless or childfree person could very well know better than the parent. It annoys me when people say you shouldn’t give advice unless you have kids. I’ll give advice if it seems needed for someone’s well-being, whether it is wanted or not.