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1. 

   Gweedo Murray said, about 15 hours ago

   Ones that make you feel even more down in the dumps.

2. 

   GEE1A said, about 15 hours ago

   Elly, try cartooning! Start your own comic strip.

3. 

   howtheduck said, about 14 hours ago

   I am not sure what to make of these excuses. We saw Elly was sick, but these other excuses look like sabotage by John Patterson:

   
   

   1. Why wouldn’t John, a medical professional, be able to handle Lizzie when she is sick? A doctor shouldn’t need his wife to help him handle a sick kid for the few hours Elly is in class.

   
   

   2. Why would John, who owns his own business, have a meeting at night during the same night when Elly has her class? Moreover, why would John schedule such a meeting without enough advance notice for Elly to be able to find a sitter?

   
   

4. 

   luckylouie said, about 14 hours ago

   Actually, John is a dentist. Quite a difference between a dentist and a doctor.

5. 

   Phil Bartle said, about 14 hours ago

   At least Elly did not have Man Flu!

6. 

   green_engineer said, about 11 hours ago

   howtheduck - because if things went smoothly there’d be no comic strip that’s why!

7. 

   myhaircut said, about 11 hours ago

   This whole lame comic strip is like a 30-year-long Christmas newsletter from a really boring family.

8. 

   Oberon12 said, about 10 hours ago

   Then why do you bother to read it?

9. 

   pearlandpeach said, about 10 hours ago

   Dentist have continuing education and could not reschedule. AND..Connie is being a Good Friend.

10. 

    gbwooden said, about 9 hours ago

    I can relate to this [so-called] boring family. Most families aren’t the stuff of reality TV shows. This strip finds humor in the everyday humdrum of life and it is reassuring to see that ours is not the only family with everyday crises, teenage drama, frustrated ambitions, miscommunication, self-centered behavior, guilt, angst, etc.

11. 

    Ji2m said, about 9 hours ago

    I want to write what I want to write…

12. 

    csscougar said, about 8 hours ago

    howtheduck:

    My dad is a dentist and has been involved in the local dental society for years. More recently, he has been involved in the leadership in said society. That said, he would often have meetings in the evening, but they were never directly associated with his own practice. Perhaps it was the same with John, where the meeting was not his own and therefore the scheduling was beyond his control.

13. 

    Macushlalondra said, about 8 hours ago

    I hope you’re right. From what howtheduck said it sounds like John may be subconsciously trying to sabotage Elly so she can’t attend her classes. Maybe he just wants her to stay home and take care of the kids. I hope not.

14. 

    dalbino83 said, about 5 hours ago

    howtheduck:

    Maybe John’s meeting has nothing to do with work. Maybe he’s part of a local organization like the Masons and they had a meeting that night.

15. 

    Susan001 said, about 5 hours ago

    It seems that in the family dynamic, it’s the wife and mother who has to make the most sacrifices and compromising.
    She’s the one who has to shelve her own dreams and ambitions in order to tend the needs of others.
    Marriage is definately NOT an equal partnership–at least when this strip was drawn.
    It could explain Elly’s temper tantrums and her continual screaming at the kids (and Farley).

    Mind you, I still dislike Elly more than anyone on this strip (except, maybe, Ted), but I think I can understand her a little.

16. 

    Gweedo Murray said, about 4 hours ago

    If the Mom was the primary income things would be different. Even John Lennon took time out to be a Dad. (second time around )

17. 

    bald 716 said, about 4 hours ago

    there are never days off for moms, almost like the old creed of the postman

    neither rain,snow, sleet or hail…

    a mom’s work is never done.

18. 

    mroberts88 said, about 3 hours ago

    Duck, Johns a dentist. Dentist =/= doctor.

    Susan, even though the mom has a larger share of the work, the dad also has to pitch in.

19. 

    Joe Allen Doty said, about 2 hours ago

    My parents did not fit the stereotypical mold that other parents seem to want to fit into.

    I really don’t remember Mom being sick when I was growing up. I don’t doubt that she wasn’t.

    But, my father would have made sure that us children were properly taken care of if Mom was too sick to do anything.

    One winter when I was either in the 7th or 8th Grade and lived in the country, we ran out of hay for the milk cow. Dad worked the swing shift at a plant about 50 miles away in Tulsa. There was snow on the ground and it was snowing. Mom decided to drive the car across country on rural roads to get hay from Dad’s brother while Dad was sleeping his regular weekday hours. Mom never did get a driver’s license but, since she knew how to properly drive a car no matter what the weather, Dad should have convinced her to get her license.

    When we were growing up, Dad never did things that only a mother should do and Mom never did things that only a father should do. But, otherwise, they were just co-equal when it came to being parents and even grandparents later.

20. 

    Taylorboo98 said, about 1 hour ago

    Maybe she cant have a family

21. 

    howtheduck said, 43 minutes ago

    I see some very good responses to my question. John could have continuing education, a dental society or be a member of the Masons. I have never seen John do anything like that in the comic strip; so it’s anyone’s guess what the reason for the meeting is.

    I am surprised by the “a dentist is not a doctor” responses. Ouch! Are dentists so medically incompetent that Elly has to stay home to help John with Lizzie?

    I think the real issue is that Elly has the same problem many full-time professional writers have. She likes the idea of being a writer; but that doesn’t mean she wants to do the work. That’s human nature. She’s making a bunch of excuses (I missed class because Lizzie was sick, John had a meeting, etc.) to Connie, but Connie is not buying it. Elly is thinking, “I want to be writing art, not a Christmas newsletter.” Connie is thinking, “If you can’t take the time to write a Christmas newsletter, then you won’t take the time to write art.” The nice thing about seeing this stuff at the beginning of the story is we know in the next 30 years Elly Patterson never writes that Christmas newsletter. Year after year, we will see Elly struggling just to get the Christmas cards done.