Arizona State Chess Championship

That’s what I was doing for the last 2 days. It was my boy’s first state tournament in chess. He won 2 games, got a bye for the early Sunday game (church activity interference), and lost 4 games. I was excited he won any games, because my fear was that the state level competition would be so rough he would get brutalized in every game.

I did take my kids to see some Roller Derby, since we learned that my boy’s Pediatric Physical Therapist skates for the Furious Truckstop Waitresses. She was the star of the game, and my son was quite excited to know a sports celebrity personally.

As for For Better or For Worse, we get to explore the idea that seeing someone suffer with bratty kids is funny. This is a pretty common theme in Hollywood kids movies, although it is usually the father or father figure who takes the abuse, and not the baby-sitter. The thing I find amusing is that with this strip, since Mike’s family moved in with Elly and company, we have now seen more strips of April taking care of the children than anyone else taking care of them. I know that among polygamous societies, where there is more than one wife, there is a pecking order of certain tasks to be performed usually based on the order of the wife’s entrance into the family. I wonder if this is some sort of subtle thing where Lynn Johnston is saying that because April is now the youngest semi-adult female, raising the children now falls to her.

Tomorrow’s strip: Liz dresses to kill for Warren Blackwood at Mike’s party. I find it interesting that after a single appearance by Warren, he jumps to the top of Liz’s list for dates. Anthony should consider it a slap on the face; after all he has done for Liz by testifying at her trial and showing her his house and his kid, and going to the verdict with her. If Anthony is not at Mike’s party, too, then I will be shocked (and severely disappointed).