Takes the Grand out of Grandmother
In Today's For Better or For Worse, we saw something in the strip, which had been previously done in the monthly letters. I felt certain it was going to be one of those instances where the monthly letters did not match the strip, but much to my surprise it did. That thing was Elly Patterson expressing a desire to move out of her own house in order to escape from Mike, Deanna and their children.
In the March, 2007 monthly for Elly she said:
Elizabeth has rekindled something with her pilot. We don't know if it's a spark or a flame. Whatever it is, it should be kept away from the hand sanitizer. She has talked about getting an apartment but hasn't yet made the move to do so. There are days when I feel like looking for one of my own.
For years now we have had to endure Elly's comparison of herself with Mira Sobinski and her rationale that she is the vastly superiour grandmother of the two of them. I used to make the observation that Mira appeared to be much better, because she visited her grandchildren. However, in Elly Patterson's mind, that made her the worse grandmother. Elly's time with her grandchildren was limited to times when the grandchildren were brought to her for babysitting or holidays, or whenever they were sick and she would step in to help. Elly had a strict policy of noninterference with grandchildren who lived other places, and this was to be a sign she was better than Mira.
Nevertheless, Elly's grandchildren have been in her house since December 24th, and the only time when Elly Patterson has been in the same room interacting with her grandchildren was when they first arrived. The monthly letters even mentioned Connie Poirier taking care of the grandchildren, an idea which thankfully, never made it to the strip. 2 1/2 months later, and Elly wants to sneak out of the house with April. Elly is not putting the grand in grandmother with those kinds of actions or statements. And the odd thing about it is, that the projection of Elly as a grandchild-hater could have been so easily eliminated and used to Lynn's advantage. Just one strip with Elly taking care of the kids as Mike and Deanna come home from apartment or house-hunting. That's all it would have taken to make Elly look like a good grandmother again, and for Mike and Deanna not to look like such idiots for not going house-hunting already.
As for me, like Jeremy Jones, I and my family are going Sea World in California for our Spring Break. I leave on Monday and will be back on Thursday, and as usual, people can feel free to post as any of my characters, except Jeremy, who is out of town.
In the March, 2007 monthly for Elly she said:
Elizabeth has rekindled something with her pilot. We don't know if it's a spark or a flame. Whatever it is, it should be kept away from the hand sanitizer. She has talked about getting an apartment but hasn't yet made the move to do so. There are days when I feel like looking for one of my own.
For years now we have had to endure Elly's comparison of herself with Mira Sobinski and her rationale that she is the vastly superiour grandmother of the two of them. I used to make the observation that Mira appeared to be much better, because she visited her grandchildren. However, in Elly Patterson's mind, that made her the worse grandmother. Elly's time with her grandchildren was limited to times when the grandchildren were brought to her for babysitting or holidays, or whenever they were sick and she would step in to help. Elly had a strict policy of noninterference with grandchildren who lived other places, and this was to be a sign she was better than Mira.
Nevertheless, Elly's grandchildren have been in her house since December 24th, and the only time when Elly Patterson has been in the same room interacting with her grandchildren was when they first arrived. The monthly letters even mentioned Connie Poirier taking care of the grandchildren, an idea which thankfully, never made it to the strip. 2 1/2 months later, and Elly wants to sneak out of the house with April. Elly is not putting the grand in grandmother with those kinds of actions or statements. And the odd thing about it is, that the projection of Elly as a grandchild-hater could have been so easily eliminated and used to Lynn's advantage. Just one strip with Elly taking care of the kids as Mike and Deanna come home from apartment or house-hunting. That's all it would have taken to make Elly look like a good grandmother again, and for Mike and Deanna not to look like such idiots for not going house-hunting already.
As for me, like Jeremy Jones, I and my family are going Sea World in California for our Spring Break. I leave on Monday and will be back on Thursday, and as usual, people can feel free to post as any of my characters, except Jeremy, who is out of town.
posted by howard at 9:10 PM
9 Comments:
Ooh, Sea World! Have a fantastic trip. April is very, very jealous. :)
As you and others have pointed out, there's been a lot of untapped potential in the whole crowded-house scenario. LJ has still, for the most part, kept the storylines separate, despite the physical proximity of all these Pattersons.
True. Imagine the comedic possibilities if Grandma Elly had to explain to her grandkids why she was taking a razor to her bedsheets. Or if Elizabeth asked Elly if she could borrow that razor after Elly was done with it.
LJ writes: "Whatever it is, it should be kept away from the hand sanitizer."
What does this line mean?
LJ thinks hand sanitizer is flammable, Anon #1.
Anonymous #2's explanation is correct. If you read the full letter in context, it is more easily understood.
Oh yea, LJ is referring to those alcohol-based hand sanitizer packets and gels! I never use those things, so I couldn't make the connection.
Thanks for the clarification - I'll sleep better tonight!
Welcome back Howtheduck! I assume the awesome Shannon post was yours. :)
Yes. Shannon was me. I got back late last night, and decided to write up a Shannon.
Funny thing--when I read the strip this morning, my first thought was that today's entry needed Shannon's perspective. Then I checked last night's comments and there it was. I was so happy! :)
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