The Year of Spittle
I would like to say in today's For Better or For Worse that little Lizzie is too young to relate the comments Elly was making about young Farley the dog to herself. I would also like to say that little Lizzie is too young to understand what raspberries mean. However, in new-runs on 9/13/2008 and also 9/22/2008; she clearly understands them and what they mean. There is a precedence for her understanding, which is good, since the humour of the strip relies on it.
In fact, just for jollies I thought I would check the number of raspberries this year and there were quite a few of them. 2008 had raspberries used also on 2/7/2008 and on 7/25/2008. Using the AMU reprints search website I believe we have a winner in For Better or For Worse with the most raspberries used for humourous effect in a single year at 4. 1997 was the next highest with 2 occurrences. In Milborough this is the year of the spittle.
As for the strip itself, we are seeing once again a theme of Lynn Johnston with the new-runs, which is, Elly is not as incompetent as she once appeared back in 1980. In today’s strip she actually gives young Michael instructions on how to handle young Farley the dog and she even uses a metaphor that Michael is likely to be able to understand. Elly is such a good mother now. If we get enough of these new-runs correcting Elly’s formerly bad behaviour, I will no longer know what to make of the woman.
The downside of the strip is that although the setup depends on little Lizzie being extremely smart for her age, it does mean that 3 of the 4 panels are completely devoted to a lecture by Elly. Elly may be a better mom, but her strip is deathly dull. Call it For Better by Lecture. On the other hand, one of the nice touches is that young Farley the dog appears to fall asleep after listening to Elly deliver this lecture. I knew there was something I liked about that dog.
In fact, just for jollies I thought I would check the number of raspberries this year and there were quite a few of them. 2008 had raspberries used also on 2/7/2008 and on 7/25/2008. Using the AMU reprints search website I believe we have a winner in For Better or For Worse with the most raspberries used for humourous effect in a single year at 4. 1997 was the next highest with 2 occurrences. In Milborough this is the year of the spittle.
As for the strip itself, we are seeing once again a theme of Lynn Johnston with the new-runs, which is, Elly is not as incompetent as she once appeared back in 1980. In today’s strip she actually gives young Michael instructions on how to handle young Farley the dog and she even uses a metaphor that Michael is likely to be able to understand. Elly is such a good mother now. If we get enough of these new-runs correcting Elly’s formerly bad behaviour, I will no longer know what to make of the woman.
The downside of the strip is that although the setup depends on little Lizzie being extremely smart for her age, it does mean that 3 of the 4 panels are completely devoted to a lecture by Elly. Elly may be a better mom, but her strip is deathly dull. Call it For Better by Lecture. On the other hand, one of the nice touches is that young Farley the dog appears to fall asleep after listening to Elly deliver this lecture. I knew there was something I liked about that dog.
posted by howard at 9:59 PM
13 Comments:
How strange it is that a woman raised two kids without figuring out how they think. You'd think she'd remember that a toddler doesn't know what a raspberry means or why she's bing treated better but there it is. Lynn can't not think of a child as a shrunken grown-up.
Actually, I thought Elly's boring lecture was mediocre at best. IMHO and IME, if you want little kids to understand and obey the "be gentle" rule with pets, you need to tell them what the consequences of rough treatment are. You need to tell them that roughness can hurt an animal, and/or cause it to die. Otherwise, there is not really any gravity to an adult's admonishments to be gentle.
I can still remember my mother admonishing me with the "hurt/dead" lecture when I got to babysit my first grade class's gerbil. Unfortunately, she failed to give that same lecture to my two youngest sisters. My sister Katie got to keep her first grade class's chameleon at the end of the year. She took wonderful care of it for many months. Then, one day, Katie went to play at a friend's house, and the two youngest sisters decided to play with the chameleon. They were too rough, tore his tail off by accident, and he died.
After seeing the grief that resulted from her negligence, my mother sorely regretted not having impressed upon the "little kids" of the family the HURT or DEAD speech. Sparing little kids the "trauma" of such bluntness often leads to the real trauma of learning the lesson the hard way.
So I still think Elly sucks here. Plus, she's boring.
qnjones,
You need to tell them that roughness can hurt an animal, and/or cause it to die. Otherwise, there is not really any gravity to an adult's admonishments to be gentle.
That's not something Elly can do. She simply doesn't have the moral fiber in her to tell her kids about the blood-red consequences of their negligence. This is a sadly common thing: animals getting injured or killed because weak parents don't want to make their kids worry.
qnjones,
Actually, I thought Elly's boring lecture was mediocre at best. IMHO and IME, if you want little kids to understand and obey the "be gentle" rule with pets, you need to tell them what the consequences of rough treatment are. You need to tell them that roughness can hurt an animal, and/or cause it to die. Otherwise, there is not really any gravity to an adult's admonishments to be gentle.
With Elly Patterson and her history of parenting, to even get a lecture that is not complete nonsense is an improvement. Remember her lecture to April about how to treat Shannon Lake and deal with Becky McGuire’s attitude toward Shannon? Shannon is a present waiting to be opened or something like that.
As for younger kids, a lecture on death for an animal only works, if the kid is old enough to have seen death and understand it. I know from raising my kids that this was one of the big things in their growing up. I don’t think my son really “got it” until his pet goldfish died (not from neglect). I don’t know how old your younger sisters were at the time, but I know that with my son prior to that point, a lecture on killing an animal would have meant nothing to him.
DreadedCandiru2,
You'd think she'd remember that a toddler doesn't know what a raspberry means or why she's bing treated better but there it is. Lynn can't not think of a child as a shrunken grown-up.
Raspberry is in Lynn’s arsenal of humour, which is to say she must automatically think they are funny. When I think about it that way, I realize now that when Elizabeth raspberried the phone after Warren Blackwood was canceling on his date with her, I was supposed to think that was funny instead of thinking Elizabeth was being extraordinarily immature.
That's not something Elly can do. She simply doesn't have the moral fiber in her to tell her kids about the blood-red consequences of their negligence.
Lynn is trying to make a joke about how you treat babies being taken to heart by Lizzie, and probably the joke would not go over as well if Elly said, “Treat the puppy like it was a baby that you could kill.” It would be a better lecture, but we should remember that lectures are less important than humourous wordplay.
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/002797.php
This newrun/hybrid strip also features Liz raspberrying Mike. Although she's just a baby here, the commentary implies that she DOES understand what a raspberry means, something I have a hard tmie acceptnig.
Cedar,
You are quite right. If you count the new runs occurring during the hybrid year, there would 3 examples of youthful raspberry humour. When you get right down to it, the slinging of spittle via a rapidly-moving tongue is comedy gold. I can't wait until we see young Farley the dog take up the practice. If babies can do it, why not puppies too?
True, most if not all kids can't grasp the real meaning of "dead," but most kids who can talk know that "dead" is bad, or means "really hurt," or "will make Pet go away."
Since Liz used to be a grown woman, she remembers what raspberries mean.
qnjones,
True, most if not all kids can't grasp the real meaning of "dead," but most kids who can talk know that "dead" is bad, or means "really hurt," or "will make Pet go away."
Maybe your experience is different from mine; but with my son coming to the realization that things could die or would not be there forever, was a big development step in his understanding how the world operates. He was certainly there by the time he reached Michael Pattersons’ new-run age of 5-6 years old. But when he was little Lizzie’s age of about 1-2 years old, he was blissfully unaware of such things. If he were that age playing with a puppy, I would have to have watched him very carefully.
Muzition,
Since Liz used to be a grown woman, she remembers what raspberries mean.
Exactly. I can’t wait until she starts talking about love and marriage and childbirth when she is 2 or 3 years old.
Oh yeah, no way Lizzie is older than 18 months, and no way a kid under 2 would understand anything so nuanced. I'm talking about Mike. Elly is definitely being negligent re: supervising Lizzie, but Mike could have put a stop to the dangerous situation by simply not fighting with Lizzie over the puppy. He's old enough to understand.
qnjones,
I agree. Mike could get the lecture and probably would understand it. Although this is the same kid who was out setting traps for birds, so maybe he would get it. Maybe he wouldn't.
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