Friday, August 14, 2009

Nothing to Do or Bad Parenting?

In today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse, we see young Michael walking around while other people are doing things. Ultimately he says, “I hate camping, Mom. There's nothing to do." The joke is supposed to be that there is plenty to do, only Michael has decided not to do it. This is a pretty standard kid joke, when the kids are in familiar surroundings and make this declaration while sitting in a pile of toys. However, because Michael is in unfamiliar surrounding and does not know anyone, the joke doesn't make any sense.

Some kids are naturally social and outgoing. If they saw a lake full of kids swimming, they would jump in and make new friends. If they saw kids swinging on the swingset, they would jump on a swingset and go to it. If they saw a family going fishing they would probably not rudely intrude on the family, so I don’t know what the point is with that as an example in today’s strip.

My children, on the other hand, are not naturally outgoing. If we go to a beach to swim, one of their parents has to be in the water with them, or they do not feel comfortable jumping in with kids they do not know. I remember taking my kids to fast food playlands when they were little, where there would be a lot of kids running around. My kids would not play with the other kids, unless one of those other kids was naturally outgoing and invited them to play with them. My kids don’t like to go on the swingsets unless someone they know is on them. As for the fishing example, with little kids you really need an adult there to bait hooks and untangle lines. At least that’s what I spent my time doing when I went fishing with my son.

For any parents of shy children, the joke of today’s strip is that young Michael Patterson is not an outgoing kid, needs his parents in order to enjoy camping; but expresses his need by saying there is nothing to do. John is too busy ogling women to spend time with the kids, and Elly is too busy cooking and cleaning to spend time with the kids. Each parent is busy with their obsessions, and they expect their children to fend for themselves. The author apparently agrees with these attitudes, otherwise there would be no joke. I guess both Lynn Johnston's kids were outgoing.

On a side note, in the last panel, Elly is holding a frying pan and a bucket at the same time. What could she possibly be doing?

a. The bucket holds soup she taking off the camp stove before she starts cooking the entree.
b. Elly is unfamiliar with how to turn off camp stoves, and usually douses the stove with a bucket of water to accomplish the task.
c. Elly is startled by the Mike’s sudden change into a giant, and plans to use the bucket and the frying pan to defend herself.
d. Elly has lost her legs and is using the bucket as a balance.
e. Lizzie is swimming in the bucket, but Elly still has to cook.

9 Comments:

Blogger Clio said...

If they saw a family going fishing they would probably not rudely intrude on the family, so I don’t know what the point is with that as an example in today’s strip.

Yeah, that is strange. It's like Lynn's condemning Mike's parents for not spending time with him, by showing that family, but she wouldn't do that.

I'm not so sure Lynn's kids were outgoing. She wrote a lot of strips with Robin and Merrie being told to go fend for themselves, and the "joke" wasn't that the parents were stupid to do this, but that kids were naturally mischievous or something. Mike and Lizzie's needs never seem important to their parents, particularly Elly.

This strip, with Mike's posture and expressions, make me see him as a sad, lonely little kid, the victim of neglectful parents. I'm surprised he didn't get lost in the woods. And why is Elly STILL doing "housework"? Stupid woman.

12:03 AM  
Blogger DreadedCandiru2 said...

howard,

For any parents of shy children, the joke of today’s strip is that young Michael Patterson is not an outgoing kid, needs his parents in order to enjoy camping; but expresses his need by saying there is nothing to do. John is too busy ogling women to spend time with the kids, and Elly is too busy cooking and cleaning to spend time with the kids.

The problem with this is the one Clio identified: Mike's need to have his parents around to help him enjoy life is seen as a horrible imposition. This is probably why April was never taken on a real vacation and only dragged along on things she didn't want to go to: her perceived need to be engaged was seen as a horrible and unjustifiable demand on their precious free time. If they were to take her to a place where she wouldn't be bored, frustrated and confused, she's won and they've lost time ogling women and drinking cervesa.

3:14 AM  
Blogger howard said...

Clio,

She wrote a lot of strips with Robin and Merrie being told to go fend for themselves, and the "joke" wasn't that the parents were stupid to do this, but that kids were naturally mischievous or something.

There have been plenty of those kinds of strips with Mike too, but usually he was in his own house and yard.

And why is Elly STILL doing "housework"? Stupid woman.

That’s what she does at home too. Elly is so in tune with doing housework, that even out camping that’s what she does.

6:08 AM  
Blogger howard said...

DreadedCandiru2,

This is probably why April was never taken on a real vacation and only dragged along on things she didn't want to go to: her perceived need to be engaged was seen as a horrible and unjustifiable demand on their precious free time.

True. In the April and John fishing trip strips, John always ends it in a bad mood.

6:10 AM  
Blogger April Patterson said...

f. Elly plans to wash the pan in the bucket. There are always dishes to do! Elly's work is never done! ::cue violins::

John is too busy ogling women to spend time with the kids, and Elly is too busy cooking and cleaning to spend time with the kids. Each parent is busy with their obsessions, and they expect their children to fend for themselves.

Exactly. Even when John and Elly did still take family vacations, they never really did a true family vacation. Because they were unwilling to find ways to make the vacation a fun getaway for everyone, the kids inevitably complained. Then when they started excluding the children from their vacations, they could justify it by claiming their offspring are complainers who never enjoy vacations, anyway. Gah, what truly awful people.

6:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I remember when I was very small, my parents would take me to visit my grandparents in their cottage by the lake.

I learned to swim, to fish, watched fireworks, rode on the paddleboat, went to the carnival...

As I grew older, grandpa would take is tubing, speed boating, skiing, out to summer movies, grandma taught us how to play cards...

The adults were actively interested in making sure the kids had a good experience. What's more, they WANTED to spend time with us. Dad worked, constantly. Mom worked. We were at school much of the year. Grandma and Grandpa lived off in another state. These lake visits were our chance to just enjoy each other.

Maybe that's the real joke here. That Elly so obviously loathes her own firstborn son so much, she'd rather boil water by the bucketful than spend time with him!

7:38 AM  
Blogger howard said...

aprilp_katje,

Even when John and Elly did still take family vacations, they never really did a true family vacation. Because they were unwilling to find ways to make the vacation a fun getaway for everyone, the kids inevitably complained.

This is what made Grandpa Jim one of the most unusual characters in the strip, because he would actually play with his grandkids. In the reprints from the hybrid year of Elly and the kids going to visit her mother and father, it was Grandpa Jim playing with the kids. When Grandpa Jim came to live with the Pattersons, there were quite a few strips of Grandpa Jim playing with April. I wonder why it is that Lynn would write it in that this character would play with kids while Elly and John seem to avoid doing that at all costs.

3:39 PM  
Blogger howard said...

Anonymous,

Maybe that's the real joke here. That Elly so obviously loathes her own firstborn son so much, she'd rather boil water by the bucketful than spend time with him!

At the same time, she considers him to be a whiner, complaining that there is nothing to do, while there is plenty to do.

3:39 PM  
Blogger April Patterson said...

I wonder why it is that Lynn would write it in that this character [Grandpa Jim] would play with kids while Elly and John seem to avoid doing that at all costs.

My guess would be that Lynn's father was the same way with kids. And while there are strips where Elly calls Marian for parenting advice or tells Anne that she does so, Elly doesn't seem to be much for consulting Jim for this purpose. That might explain a lot.

6:28 PM  

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