What Connie Poirier Doesn’t Know
Back on January 4, Connie Poirier was speaking about gray hairs, lines on the face and exclaims, “And there isn’t an exercise of a diet or cram—There’ s nothing you can do to make yourself look the way you feel!” Then in today's For Better or For Worse, Connie claims that her wrinkled grizzled face is due to raising children and is a sign of the hard work that it was to bring forth a “healthy, bright new generation”. What doesn’t Connie know?
First off, Connie doesn’t know what causes people’s skins to wrinkle when they get old.
Connie’s self-congratulatory point about parenting is based upon the idea that she is now a grandparent, something I am pretty sure her son Lawrence did not provide for her. I would feel bad for Lawrence Poirier, except I know that Connie is not truly talking about herself, but giving a straight line to Elly. On the other hand, Lynn should know that Connie’s grandparent status only comes from her husband’s daughter’s kids, and she can take very little credit for the hard work she spent on them.
Lynn Johnston has gone through a great deal of effort to get Mike and Deanna back in the ancestral home. There is no validation of parenting through that, but getting the kids to make kids, that is the question of parental satisfaction. I wonder if Katie or Aaron Johnston is going to take this subtle hint.
First off, Connie doesn’t know what causes people’s skins to wrinkle when they get old.
Connie’s self-congratulatory point about parenting is based upon the idea that she is now a grandparent, something I am pretty sure her son Lawrence did not provide for her. I would feel bad for Lawrence Poirier, except I know that Connie is not truly talking about herself, but giving a straight line to Elly. On the other hand, Lynn should know that Connie’s grandparent status only comes from her husband’s daughter’s kids, and she can take very little credit for the hard work she spent on them.
Lynn Johnston has gone through a great deal of effort to get Mike and Deanna back in the ancestral home. There is no validation of parenting through that, but getting the kids to make kids, that is the question of parental satisfaction. I wonder if Katie or Aaron Johnston is going to take this subtle hint.
posted by howard at 11:51 PM
11 Comments:
Well, it's not really much of a surprise that Lynn wants grandchildren to show off, is it? I'd say she was raised to believe that she needed living proof (in the form of married children with kids of her own) that she was a good mother. It doesn't matter much to her that her children are happy with themselves as they are as such. Also, she wants children around her to see how they act nowadays. In her mind, she has a simple request: validation as a good parent and someone to base jokes on.
DreadedCandiru2
In her mind, she has a simple request: validation as a good parent and someone to base jokes on.
All these are likely. Lynn certainly could have used those jokes.
I know from my own experience as a father, there is part of me that wants grandchildren, even though my kids are still little, which doesn’t have anything to do with validation of good parenting. Part of it is carrying on the family name which, due to tradition, neither of my sisters can do and only my son can do. Part of it is the desire to see familial traits carried into another generation. And part of it is that there is a limited time with kids where you can pick them up and play with them. My giant kids have passed that point.
How can Lynn seriously make a week of the same line? "I'm old." We get it. Way to make good use of the time you have left with this strip!
Howard: I guess that's why they say cherish every moment with your children. You don't have much time when they're young.
I'm really put off by the entire strip and it's sentiments. All this "Oh, we sacrificed so much for our children!"
Maybe it's because I felt like having children was a "choice" not a "have to" that I seldom thought of "sacrifice" in the way of my kids. Like any relationship, there is frustration and effort, but I was so enriched by my kids and the joy of seeing them develop into self-fulfilled happy adults, that I consider those years some of the best times, ever.
And after Sunday's strip, we are now told that Elly did a great job as a mother?
What kills me about the attitude Elly showed in today's strip is inspired by an almost inhuman sense of entitlement. She wants high honors for doing all these things she was supposed to do. I just hope that's not the spirit in which Lynn parented her children; doing a needful task solely because you expect something in return betrays a meanness of spirit that doesn't do her any credit.
James,
How can Lynn seriously make a week of the same line? "I'm old."
After years of riveting stories, it’s depressing to see the strip ending with a whine. So far, the Christmas dinner strip disappointed me the most.
Anon NYC
James
How can Lynn seriously make a week of the same line? "I'm old."
If only it were a week. I hate to break it to you, but this is week #2 of this business. It started on January 3.
debjyn
I'm really put off by the entire strip and its sentiments. All this "Oh, we sacrificed so much for our children!"
When I hear that line, I expect to hear some story after it about a parent who had to work 3 minimum wage jobs and raise 3 kids with no help, and yet still managed to get all the kids through university. The story of a dentist’s wife, who never had to work except for a toy business she sold the moment it started to turn a profit, doesn’t really make that list. For Better or For Worse is usually at a low point, when its characters started praising themselves.
DreadedCandiru2,
What kills me about the attitude Elly showed in today's strip is inspired by an almost inhuman sense of entitlement. She wants high honors for doing all these things she was supposed to do.
There is a Chris Rock comedy routine on the subject, which is pretty amusing and basically exposes people who say things with pride that they are supposed to do, like “I pay my child support.” In other words, “I am a bad parent, but I justify myself in my own eyes by claiming the moments in my parenting life when I did what I was supposed to do.”
Anon NYC,
So far, the Christmas dinner strip disappointed me the most.
I agree with you there. There was so much of an opportunity to show things like:
a. How has the dynamic of Anthony and Elizabeth’s family has changed, now he is a serious suitor?
b. How did the kids really get along?
c. What does Mira Sobinski really think about Deanna living in Milborough?
d. How has the dynamic of Elly and Deanna changed, now Deanna was in charge of dinner?
Anon NYC:
All those questions are very good ones. In the real world, we'd want to know how the Pattersons feel about Anthony now that he's more or less Liz's fiancé. We'd want to know if all the kids got along as well as how Mira and Elly really feel about Deanna living in the Pattermanse. Too bad the crazy cat ladies don't give a toss about any of those questions. Since Lynn is writing the strip to please deluded women who think she has spy gear in their living rooms, we'll never know the answers.
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