Elizabeth: Browse The Strips

Friday, September 17, 2010

Lynn's Comments: There were times when I actually sat down and tried to figure out what I actually accomplished during the day. With so many demands on a Mom's time, it was hard to account for the hours. I looked forward to evenings when the kids were in bed, so I could work. I looked forward to holidays and weekends, so I could work. Doing a daily comic strip took an amazing amount of time and I needed to be alone when I was writing. I could draw with life going on around me, but the kids soon learned to ask for cookies and ice cream. When I wasn't able to concentrate. I usually said "yes"! Isn't it strange that we call an actual paying job "work" and don't consider raising children hard work as well. I confess, being a good mom is one of the most challenging JOBS on the planet!!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Lynn's Comments: Like my mother, I was not a fan of chewing gum. The look, sound and storage of chewed but cherished chunks drove a wedge between me and my offspring, who had learned about the sugarless variety from television and had been given a stash by the child-free staff at the dental clinic. They chewed in secrecy, but still the occasional wad found its way into my arena and often with irremovable results.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Lynn's Comments: As a kid, I thought being grown up would be the best thing ever. I thought about the freedom I'd have ... and now that I've experienced many years of freedom... I wonder why I didn't enjoy more those years when somebody ELSE did all the work and all the worrying!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Lynn's Comments: This scenario took place word for word as I was grocery shopping with my son. I was a single mom on a very tight budget and if I went over $20.00 a week for the 2 of us, I wouldn't be able to pay my mortgage, (which was $150.00 a month at the time.) An older gentleman heard me comparing prices to those of my childhood and reminded me that times had changed for him, too. Here I am, now at the age of 63 likely the same age he was...and prices have gone beyond what any of us could have imagined. Strange then, to think that we likely waste more food now than any other generation in history.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Lynn's Comments: Back to school always meant "back to bed" as the kids bumbled home with everything from flu to pink eye. Mine had to be certifiably sick before I'd let them skip school...none of the "thermometer under the hot water bottle" stuff... I wanted proof. Proof of a certified illness usually came in the form of a shared experience, as we all came down with whatever was going 'round. "The family that's sick together sticks together" and we did...under quarantine.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Lynn's Comments: When this strip originally ran, folks asked "What in the world is a GARBURETOR?" Well, in Canada, that's what we called a garbage disposal installed in the sink. I was told it was called "insinkerator" and a variety of other things, but I was not about to change a Canadianism and so the word stayed. Whatever it's called, I have never owned one. The dog and I took care of the leftovers.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Lynn's Comments: My dad was not into discipline and ran from having to do it. He delivered his style of direction with sarcasm and humour and more often than not, won the battle hands down. This exchange I remember clearly. On a rainy day, when the cure for boredom was war, Dad intervened with a raspberry and a smile leaving my brother and me in stitches. He was the one who taught us how to pratfall like the comedians in silent films. He could make farting noises with his hand cupped into his armpit and could whistle like the guys on the ferry dock, hauling in the lines. He could burp "God Save the Queen" and he showed us how to spit off the back porch without dribbling on our chins. Stuff like this other kids had to learn from each other. We were coached by the best. Mom probably knew about our alternate studies with Dad...if she did, she didn't let on. Dad might not have been a disciplinarian, but he sure knew how to get our attention and defuse a fight!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Lynn's Comments: The small school annex that housed our grades one and two classes was 3 blocks from home. I would often forget or lose things and Mom would make me trudge down 5th street to search for whatever it was that had been left behind. It was a short distance to go, but en route were several neat houses we had to check out, hedges with secret openings in them, dog houses, a corner store and a small vacant lot. It's no wonder we were often late coming home. It's no wonder that books, jackets, lunch pails and even socks would vanish on the way home! Mrs Hardacre really did exist. This was a salute to a memorable lady and a fine teacher- with an unusual name!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Lynn's Comments: Thank goodness the days of taking your cheque book into the bank and waiting for a teller to roll her eyes are gone. My thinking was: as long as I wrote down MOST of the cheques, remembered most of the dates and never bounced one, I was doing just fine- thank you very much. Besides, my wonderful dad-in-law did the book keeping and regularly kept me from committing a serious breach. Some of us excel at keeping accurate records of things... and some of us draw cartoons. In the end, we are all good at something in this world, and it behooves us all to employ, enjoy and rely on the skills of others.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Lynn's Comments: I dressed Katie up in a "Little Bo Peep" outfit for Hallowe'en one year and she looked so cute, I couldn't stand it! Trouble is, we lived a northern community where the temperatures dipped well below zero at this time of year and every costume had to fit over a parka. I took her door to door, opening up her jacket to show off her costume to friends. Kate objected to this strenuously. I eventually resorted to explaining who she was and what she was wearing so she could go directly to the loot without preamble. She lasted for 4 blocks ...a good space for a toddler, not far enough for me. I was just getting into the swing of things. I still have her costume and some day, if I'm lucky, I'll see it worn again.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Lynn's Comments: My son, Aaron had a great cowboy costume- right down to the vest, chaps and 6-guns. He would get into this even if it wasn't Hallowe'en, bounce around the house as if he was on a horse and shoot everything in sight. We bought the hat, gun, Sheriff's star and plaid shirt in Winnipeg. I made the chaps, vest and neck scarf. He was just another kid until the outfit was on and then he turned into the wildest of the wild. This was his costume of choice until he grew out of it. This, too, I have preserved in an old trunk, waiting for someone else to make it come to life!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Lynn's Comments: During the years when my children were very young, I did not have the option of going back to school, although I would have liked to. My life in a tiny remote mining town in northern Manitoba provided an education of another kind! The character "Elly" is not me. She is someone I MIGHT have been, given other circumstances. My real life wasn't nearly as plausible as Elly Patterson's. Putting myself in her position, I imagined what it would be like to have not accomplished my educational goals and in the soap opera of life, to be playing a minor supporting role. Aside from her identity as a loving, caring and competent mom, Elly was "Mrs. Doctor so and so"...and she wanted more.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Lynn's Comments: My kids were born almost 5 years apart. When you have a little kid - one you can pick up and cart around...and one the size of a St. Bernard, the littlest always seems to get the most affection. Older kids sort of shrug off the hugs and wriggle out of cuddles, but they need them nonetheless. I guess the love wasn't being distributed evenly when Aaron asked this question and it really hit home. I put Katie down and gave him the biggest cuddle right then and there. A lesson well learned. He's almost 40, now and still not too big to hug!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Lynn's Comments: If Katie had a tricycle, I don't remember it. The town was so small, there were few sidewalks and I wouldn't have let her go too far on her own. This is really an image from my own childhood. My brother had a tricycle to which he was welded. He was on it constantly and because we didn't own a car, mom trundled us to the corner store - she and I on foot with Alan on his trike. I remember having to wait for him as he sat and watched bugs on the sidewalk or stopped to check out a parked car. It was maddening. Likewise, he would pedal like crazy down the hills and we'd have to run after him. Balancing groceries and hollering at the top of her lungs, Mom would fly at breakneck speed down to the stop sign where she'd put herself between Alan and the busy intersection ahead. It wasn't until I had kids of my own that I realized how many times we'd put Mom's life in danger as she tried to protect ours!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Lynn's Comments: Katie was fascinated by the telephone and although she didn't catch on to the art of conversation right away, she enjoyed the fun of just hearing someone's voice coming from the receiver. With this in mind, she would sometimes climb onto a chair and press all the numbers. As long as she didn't raise the hand piece, I let her have fun...until we got billed for a call to Hong Kong!!! True story!