Pushing 40: Browse The Strips

Tuesday October 4, 2016

Lynn's Comments: The complex business of when to tell and when not to stymies everyone. Sometimes you're a tattletale; sometimes you're a hero. When I wrote for the kids, I could feel the inconsistency and the unfairness, and it occurred to me that "telling" is a tattletale when said with a whine, and information when said with anxiety.

Wednesday October 5, 2016

Lynn's Comments: A kid in my neighbourhood taunted us all with a bowl of ice cream--just the way Richard is doing here. I went home and asked for ice cream and my mother told me I should have something healthy instead. She gave me a big carrot. I went outside, chewing the carrot. When the kid came up to me to taunt me again, I spat my mouthful of pulverized carrot into his ice cream. I still feel good about that today.

Sunday October 9, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Another true story. The fact that this happened to me more than once suggests a rather startling lack of intuition. A night-light was installed around the same time as the offending male trained himself to kindly put down the seat.

Monday October 10, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I had fun with this story. It occurred to me that in her later years after being alone for so long, Mrs. Baird should find a loving and considerate partner. Why not!

Tuesday October 11, 2016

Lynn's Comments: When my marriage dissolved, I was on my own wondering if I would ever find someone to share my life with again. When I did go out with a gentleman, I always wanted to know if they met with my children's approval!

Wednesday October 12, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Last year, I met someone with whom I have a lot in common. We have been seeing each other for almost a year, now. My children approve.

Thursday October 13, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I have friends who live in seniors' homes, and the number of connections made between the residents is heartwarming. What I never knew when I was young is that relationships can be exciting and fulfilling and romantic at any age. Thank goodness for that!

Friday October 14, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I have a friend who was forced to break away from a man she dearly loved because his children were afraid she would get some of their inheritance. It was the saddest thing.

Monday October 17, 2016

Lynn's Comments: My job sometimes required me to work all hours; weekends, evenings, and sometimes, holidays. Even though Kate and Aaron understood what it meant to be working on a deadline, they often wished I'd break away from my drafting table and be mom for a while.

Tuesday October 18, 2016

Lynn's Comments: As a kid, I was on my own a lot. My folks had a gift and jewellery store, which meant that they worked all day, every day, weekends and evenings, too. It was my job to get the dinners ready. My mom would put all the ingredients together and leave a detailed description of what to do. After awhile, I considered myself the chief cook! By the age of 13, I was proud of myself for being able to make meals for everyone, and I still use the recipes my mother wrote for me then!

Thursday October 20, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I wanted to be a teenager so badly. Ten wasn't good enough, and twelve was agonizingly close. When I finally added the "teen" to my age, I felt I had achieved something wonderful. I know I had an attitude. Like all my friends, I suffered the ups and downs of fitting into a new body with all the hormones raging. But it was a time of great positivity as well. I guess it was confidence that made being thirteen so wonderful. I had a supportive and loving family, I was doing well in school, I had confidence, education and security. I never knew how lucky I was.

Saturday October 22, 2016

Lynn's Comments: As I wrote and drew these strips, the angst and the fury came back to me. It's so hard to be in the body of a young adult, with the imagination of a child and the knowledge of an adult. I knew a lot more than my folks did, and yet, I was trapped, unable to drive or be out past 10 in the evening, or make important decisions on my own. I was also embarrassed when times got tough and I desperately needed my dad!

Friday October 28, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I was glad that the fireworks tradition wasn't part of an Ontario or Manitoba Halloween. On more than one occasion, we were threatened by big kids who wanted to ignite our paper costumes with "lady fingers" (small, red, tube-shaped fireworks) or sparklers. Every year, someone got hurt.

Tuesday November 1, 2016

Lynn's Comments: When my son, Aaron, was about two and a half years old, I enticed him into the bath, telling him he could have any colour water he wanted. I put a box of food colouring on the edge of the tub and he chose blue. I let him put a few drops into the water, and just as his blue bath was ready, the phone rang. The kitchen phone was right around the corner. I briefly talked to a friend as I listened to Aaron playing in the bath. I couldn't, however, see what he was doing.

Wednesday November 2, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I soon returned to the bathroom. I'd left the box of dye where he could reach it, and he had emptied every bottle into the tub. My son was sitting in a dark, murky swamp happy as a clam. I lifted him out of the water, and was surprised to see that his small behind had been dyed a dark, greenish-blue like an Easter egg. I thought it was funny, but Aaron was terrified. "I've got a green BUM!" He wailed. "I got a green bum!!!!" The colour lasted for over a week. He went to daycare afraid to ask for help in the bathroom in case someone saw. Fortunately, the staff had been forewarned and had the courtesy not to laugh out loud! This is a story I haven't let him forget.