Preschool?
Having noticed that their noses are no longer blackened in to make them look like Whos in Whoville in today's For Better or For Worse, Elly declares Michael is well enough to back to preschool. At this point, my reaction is “Preschool? I could swear that the strip started with young Michael in kindergarten. Is Michael getting younger again?”
In my neck of the woods, preschool is before kindergarten. A little internet searching seems to indicate to me that it is the same in Canada. The only clue that in Lynn Johnston’s mind, preschool includes kindergarten, is the school bus. In Arizona, preschool is usually a private school for which there are no buses. If it is the same in Canada, then the appearance of Michael running to the bus tells us that Lynn thinks of preschool like kindergarten. Of course, the other possibility is that Lynn thinks buses run for preschool, just like kindergarten. Maybe in Corbeil, they do.
My kids were very aware of the status differences between preschool and kindergarten, even at the ages when they were in preschool or kindergarten. If my son were in kindergarten and I told him he was going back to preschool after an illness, he would have corrected me. Sadly, Lynn does not have a kindergartener to keep her straight.
The joke of the strip is that Elly is shocked that her child whom she has declared is well, acts like a child who is well, instead of a child who is sick. I remember similar shocks with my kids after they had some cold medicine, which relieved their symptoms. They would go from little sickly, miserable things to little, bouncing-off-the-wall creatures like they were healthy. Then when the medicine wore off and the symptoms returned, they would return to sickly and miserable. Adults, I have found, are much more inclined to continue to act ill, even when they feel better.
We have hit the standard clichés of jokes on kid illness with this sequence. All that’s remaining is for John to get sick after everyone else is better. The new-runs this time actually seem to be telling a story; but it is a very well-worn story. For this kind of thing to work, you need to put some kind of spin on it that makes it unique to For Better or For Worse. I suppose Elly's obsession with disease containment might be such a spin. Or perhaps her "I've never been a mom before" inappropriate reactions. Those are elements there which separate Elly from a standard mother of 5 years going on 4 years.
In my neck of the woods, preschool is before kindergarten. A little internet searching seems to indicate to me that it is the same in Canada. The only clue that in Lynn Johnston’s mind, preschool includes kindergarten, is the school bus. In Arizona, preschool is usually a private school for which there are no buses. If it is the same in Canada, then the appearance of Michael running to the bus tells us that Lynn thinks of preschool like kindergarten. Of course, the other possibility is that Lynn thinks buses run for preschool, just like kindergarten. Maybe in Corbeil, they do.
My kids were very aware of the status differences between preschool and kindergarten, even at the ages when they were in preschool or kindergarten. If my son were in kindergarten and I told him he was going back to preschool after an illness, he would have corrected me. Sadly, Lynn does not have a kindergartener to keep her straight.
The joke of the strip is that Elly is shocked that her child whom she has declared is well, acts like a child who is well, instead of a child who is sick. I remember similar shocks with my kids after they had some cold medicine, which relieved their symptoms. They would go from little sickly, miserable things to little, bouncing-off-the-wall creatures like they were healthy. Then when the medicine wore off and the symptoms returned, they would return to sickly and miserable. Adults, I have found, are much more inclined to continue to act ill, even when they feel better.
We have hit the standard clichés of jokes on kid illness with this sequence. All that’s remaining is for John to get sick after everyone else is better. The new-runs this time actually seem to be telling a story; but it is a very well-worn story. For this kind of thing to work, you need to put some kind of spin on it that makes it unique to For Better or For Worse. I suppose Elly's obsession with disease containment might be such a spin. Or perhaps her "I've never been a mom before" inappropriate reactions. Those are elements there which separate Elly from a standard mother of 5 years going on 4 years.
posted by howard at 1:45 AM
12 Comments:
howard,
We have hit the standard clichés of jokes on kid illness with this sequence. All that’s remaining is for John to get sick after everyone else is better. The new-runs this time actually seem to be telling a story; but it is a very well-worn story. For this kind of thing to work, you need to put some kind of spin on it that makes it unique to For Better or For Worse. I suppose Elly's obsession with disease containment might be such a spin. Or perhaps her "I've never been a mom before" inappropriate reactions. Those are elements there which separate Elly from a standard mother of 5 years going on 4 years.
That's true; Elly's weird behavior adds an odd and disturbing undercurrent to an old stand-by plot. It's almost as odd as her insistence on either thinking that Mike is in preschool or that preschool and kindergarten are the same thing. If Mike is 4 going on 5, that would make his later devotion to Dee even crazier than it was before this week.
I clicked over here right after reading the strip, and here's what I was thinking as I did: "PRE-SCHOOL?" Then I saw that was the title of this entry. I am baffled.
dreadedcandiru2,
If Mike is 4 going on 5, that would make his later devotion to Dee even crazier than it was before this week.
Very true. I remember getting little crushes on girls starting in Grade 1. In preschool and kindergarten, girls were just another kid. An obsession with a girl which leads to violence in preschool shows a kid with some mental problems.
aprilp_katje,
Baffled is right? The mention of preschool sets the strip action before the beginning of the strip and makes the gap in age between Mike and Lizzie smaller than ever, assuming she can still walk.
Everything you mentioned about preschool in the US is the same in Canada. Lynn has just lost it. Plain and simple.
Other problems with this strip:
1. In preschool, kindergarten, and/or first grade, a child is not allowed access to unlimited drinks during the day. Usually the kid is restricted to whatever juice box is in his/her lunch, and/or milk at snack time. Going to the water fountain is usually something you can do only once a day. If Elly doesn't talk to the school nurse and send extra liquids with Mike, he's not going to get them. So why is she giving these stupid instructions?
2. Ditto with hand washing. It usually only happens in the bathroom, or if the kid gets really messy. Teachers have other things to do than to supervise a kid who thinks he needs to wash his hands 100 times a day. So it won't happen even if Mike wants to do it. Which he won't.
I think Elly just feels she's doing something if she flaps her gums. Truth is, if a parent really wants this stuff to happen, they have to call the school and talk to the teacher, the nurse, and/or the administration, and then actually provide things like a water bottle and/or hand sanitizer.
Biggest problem with these new strips on illness:
3. Real moms do not go around spouting off instructions that sound like they came straight from WebMD. They take action themselves to make sure the kid does the proper things, and usually don't expect a young kid to understand why. Of course, this is in line with Lynn's biggest problem: she tells, rather than shows.
qnjones,
Real moms do not go around spouting off instructions that sound like they came straight from WebMD. They take action themselves to make sure the kid does the proper things, and usually don't expect a young kid to understand why.
AS you said, Elly seems to think that she's doing all right by her kids if she simply runs her mouth; doing things for them is just too much to ask of her.
Anonymous,
Everything you mentioned about preschool in the US is the same in Canada. Lynn has just lost it.
That’s what I thought from internet searching on Canadian preschools. Thanks for the confirmation.
qnjones,
In preschool, kindergarten, and/or first grade, a child is not allowed access to unlimited drinks during the day.
Thinking back to my kids’ preschool days, I think this is mostly true. My kid’s preschool had a sink in the room and disposable paper cups available if the kid really wanted an extra drink. I am sure the preschool teacher had a restriction on how often that was allowed.
Teachers have other things to do than to supervise a kid who thinks he needs to wash his hands 100 times a day. So it won't happen even if Mike wants to do it. Which he won't.
I think you are right about Mike; although considering his preschool obsession with Deanna Sobinski, there is no telling. That kid is not right in the head. My kids’ preschool had a sink and I am sure the kids could have washed their hands in between activities if they wanted. There was probably some limit on that which was rarely tested.
Real moms do not go around spouting off instructions that sound like they came straight from WebMD. They take action themselves to make sure the kid does the proper things, and usually don't expect a young kid to understand why.
Absolutely. I remember my kids’ preschool had a long laundry list of medical requirements for each kid posted in a prominent area.
DreadedCandiru2,
AS you said, Elly seems to think that she's doing all right by her kids if she simply runs her mouth; doing things for them is just too much to ask of her.
I think this may be to retaliate for all those times Lynn was criticized for the things Elly did not do. She may be hypersensitive to making sure Elly covers all her bases verbally.
I think Howard is right on the money here. Lynn is responding to all the complaints about how many of the parents in the strip do things that are downright negligent. Lynn wants to show Elly as being competent and cautious, so now we have to listen to her blab about health and germ control in a way that sounds very much like that one monthly letter of Dee's. Not realistic, and it's boring! I prefer negligent, it's funnier.
howtheduck, I came across a little detail I thought you'd enjoy. I'm looking for strips related to Elly taking night classes (for FOOBAR purposes). I found one featuring Elly in her class--and I noticed that Lynn made her left-handed. I'm guessing this happened because Lynn looked in the mirror and didn't consider the whole "mirror" effect. From the "making of" feature, it's evident that Lynn herself is right handed, and I would imagine she'd intend her avatar to match her on that.
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