The Last Straw: Browse The Strips

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Because Aaron was four years older than Katie, she was left out of a lot of activities. She couldn't race away on her bike or cross the street alone or camp out with the boys in the backyard. She became attached to her dad (since I was working full time in the house) and spent hours with him in his workshop learning how to glue things and make stuff. I think this is why she is so comfortable with tools and to this day can build or fix just about anything!

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This is one of the most reprinted strips I ever did. Many dads received a signed copy for Father's Day, and others received it "just because." It pleased me to think that dads who spent real, quality time with their children were getting the thanks they deserved.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The thought of not allowing my kids to dress like punk rockers makes me smile. Unlike some other moms, I encouraged my kids to dye their hair and wear crazy outfits. They wouldn't go for it. Perhaps it's because I insisted, or maybe they weren't into that kind of stuff. Either way, they never did the punk thing, and I'm OK with that, too!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Because I didn't want to juggle a whole team of characters in the dental office, I made Jean both the receptionist and dental assistant. This is impossible! I then added the situation many companies dread: maternity leave.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I don't think I had talked about Jean's private life. Whether she was married or not had never come up, and so this pregnancy was something readers just had to accept. I was still learning how to create a believable and consistent storyline.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Lynn's Comments: For a while, in Rod's clinic, both patient and assistant wore protective garb when x-rays were taken. It was soon evident that the on-off switch could be placed outside the operatory behind a permanent protective shield. This made things much easier.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This storyline was really about the hiring of a new receptionist for the clinic. Our ad in the paper resulted in over a hundred applications. Many of these were instantly set aside due to the reasons I put in this strip!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Lynn's Comments: After the applications for a new receptionist had been whittled down to a few, we called each girl out of the blue to see what her telephone attitude was like. An answer like, "Who? Who's calling? Hey, you kids shut the H*** up, I'm on the %#*&@^ phone!" was a definite "no."

Monday, November 18, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The Lynn Lake arena had a row of heat lamps along the ceiling, but the warmth dissipated long before it reached the bleachers. Parents who sat through hours of practice and many games shivered miserably despite blankets, parkas and warm winter gloves. We were grateful for rotgut coffee and the occasional shouting match, which kept us pliable.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Boys really can smell terrible. A girls' locker room might have its ambient whiff, but a room full of young male hockey players can be downright asphyxiating. When it was decided that moms were no longer required for skate tie-ups and supportive hugs, women rejoiced all over town. The news made rink-side hot dogs and all-day coffee taste fine. It was, let me put it this way, "A breath of fresh air!"

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Lynn's Comments: One of the best ideas ever was the annual hockey exchange. As our kids grew out of their skates and uniforms, we gladly exchanged them for larger gear--used and still useable. Parents came to the Anglican United Church basement with everything that didn't fit and the bargaining began. This event made it possible for many of our kids to remain in the game. For a lot of families, hockey was just unaffordable.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The room-cleaning scenario always reminded me of my own childhood. My mother made the exact same demands of me and I made the exact same excuses. This realization didn't mean that I went easier on my kids, it made me even more determined to "win" a losing battle.