Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 02, 2019

Shannon 6yo… hmm… makes me wonder how Calvin decorates his bedroom without his parents’ approval?

A point of contention for Brad and Toni. In this corner, weighing…

This is why I’ll never have kids. ✨

Oh-Oh. Looks like Brad and Toni are about to experience their first fight as a married couple. And LOOK. After “stirring the pot” Old Smiley predictably exits, stage right as he USUALLY does when his best friend is in trouble.

But THIS is interesting. Brad is going out of his way to make the kid happy, but It’s Toni trying to stop it. Uh, Toni if you didn’t indulge your bother all the time, then THIS wouldn’t happen.

But We CAN’T have these two fighting and eventually breaking up, can We?

Hey I got an idea:

1) Let Old Smiley decorate the kid’s room the way she wants.

2) When He’s done, kick him out and use his room as the Guest Room.

3) Old Smiley Buys and moves into the old Berger Homestead.

4) Gunther moves out of the Gulag and into his old home as Smiley’s Roommate, Hey. If the guy MUST live with a Manipulative “Roomie,” better Smiley than Les.

And everybody has a Happy Easter.

We have established her age and future prospects for interior designer.

Can I vote for princess dinosaurs? A T-rex in a tiara…with nail polish. Tasteful and classic. Or is that retro and vintage?

What Toni is saying is giving mixed message for Shannon. Is it her room or is she only sleeping in the GUEST room when she is at Aunt Toni’s and her REAL bedroom is at dad’s? Well, okay, Toni, we notice Shannon has many toys at YOUR house. Does she take toys back and forth between dad’s and your house or does she keep some at your house? If the latter is the case, where do you plan to store her toys while she is not in the house? Her toys will need a home and that room is the best room. Look up Joanna Gaines’s Magnolia magazine for ideas to hide her toys if you prefer to keep it a GUEST room.

Let her decorate it herself within limits.

First fight? Probably not but if it is they are really still in honeymoon phase for sure.

Oh Boy… MAKE-UP SX!* Later Baby-bump.

Why not? Toni’s let a six-year-old order her and Brad around for some time now.

Anybody out there want to try to tell us that they got to decide how to paint their room when they were 6 years old? I have to side with Toni entirely on this one.

I was a teen before I had any say on the colors in my bedroom. I was still steered towards more “normal” choices. :D I picked out yellow walls and green shag carpeting to keep the room bright and remind me of the outdoors. (My sister chose red and white! It looked like a brothel when she was done.)

I see both sides of the point of contention but i have to side with Luann on this one no 6 year old kid would say hey there mom & dad i want paint my room like a disco club.

Shannon’s been six forever and will stay six forever. Ugh.

…Or anything else ending in “-alls”.

Wasn’t this a closet? It certainly has grown over time. Now a quest room?

Brad, maybe Toni’s hinting at an, umm… “little guest” in the near future?

I remember the glitter paint and the stickers on the door with fondness. : )

The child does have a useless father (where is the Mother?) and the child is dumped on these two.

Any guests who stay there will understand that the room is mostly used by Shannon. As long as the bed is big enough for an adult, they won’t care.

Especially, THAT six year old, Brad?!?

Looks like Brad is “nesting”.

“Brad, she’s an enormous, entitled twit already! Imagine the tyranny of Shannon thinking SHE gets to call the shots?”

Message to Shannon: You are and shall always be a guest. There is no place in this world for you. Toni and Brad built this room for themselves, not you. Go ahead and self-destruct as soon as you hit your teens. Nobody cares.

Is Toni-in the back of her mind, anticipating the oft predicted big event? Will she and Brad finally “encourage” TJ to move out, and, find his own place? stay tuned to this strip.

Why SHOULDN’T you let a six-year-old decorate her own room, as long as she doesn’t want anything damaging? It’s HER room.

I honestly thought it was for Shannon but I wouldn’t let her decorate her own room.

It’s clear Toni has the brains here. After all, Shannon is a guest and will NOT be moving in permanently.

Okay, I went back and read the comments, many of which were about Shannon being an entitled brat. No, she’s a brat because she does NOT feel entitled! She’s overcompensating for an unloving father and an unstable life. She wants to be a princess because she’s nobody’s daughter, and she makes demands because she doesn’t think she’ll even be heard if she says “please”.

First thing, stabilize her. Give her one place on Planet Earth that she can consider her own. Set some groundrules—she has to stay within budget, and she can’t make decisions that would be hard to reverse when her tastes change or she moves out, but that still leaves a lot of room for it to still be Shannon’s room primarily.

Next, tighten the reins on her behavior outside the room. Expect good manners in return for having her own space. Teach her to be considerate of others—which will be easier once she gets it that she’s considered, too, without her having to demand attention any way she can. Teach her to respect other people’s spaces, which she can only do if her own is respected. And take a cue from TJ by giving her chores to do that can help her derive self-respect from actual accomplishments instead of the sort of pride which is only a blister swollen up over a sore spot in her soul.

Finally, go to court and get custody away from her worthless Dad!

I smell a “D” on the horizon.

We let my wife’s 13 year old son paint his room. And yeah, that wasn’t such a stellar idea either.

Ut Oh!!! Here comes the “iceburg” of different parenting styles. (A source of constant disagreement in a marriage. Hope the fire department offers marriage counseling.)

I always let my kids have a say in decorating their rooms. They had to stay within our budget and it couldn’t be anything that couldn’t be undone. Everyone benefits from having their own space, and our relationships benefitted from working on it together.

I allowed my 6 year old to choose the paint (with restrictions…no red walls, no black walls, etc.) as she was in her “purple phase” the walls were lavender.

Chill, Toni, and go with Old Smiley’s plan and paint the room the way the kid wants. The good news is, you WON’T any “Guests” overstaying their Welcome with the Guest Room painted up like that.

But it brings up an interesting dilemma. What happens when you have a “guest” and Jonah decides to dump the kid on you? Shannon sleeps in your room while You take the couch and Brad takes the floor? Tsk.

Maybe instead of You giving your loving husband an Ultimatum on this matter, it’s past time to give your worthless brother an Ultimatum. Especially after he promised you during your wedding that he would do “better.”

Toni, Tiffany, Gunther. There are far too many “Neville Chamberlain” cow-towing to BULLIES in this Strip and not nearly enough “Winston Churchill’s.”

7:15 in the morning, 81 comments thus far. In a way, for Luann fans, this is already late in the day!

Toni seems a little testy yester and today. Given the subject matter let’s play “What’s Going On At Greg And Karen’s Toon Shop!”

1) We’re about to experience B&T’s first published spat! This leads to make-up sex and morning sickness.

2) We’re about to experience B&T’s first published spat! This is because Toni is already prego and her hormones are zowey.

In either case it’ll be all Brad’s fault.

Notice to G&K:

In a real way, this Shannon the brat thing is getting way out of hand!

Because of the brat thing, she is a most unsympathetic character to many readers. Collectively, you can hear the eyes roll whenever Shannon is trotted out.

As presented, Shannon is a default member of Brad and Toni ’s family. Just as we never see Shannon ’s father, we never see Toni and Brad without Shannon.

And, as another commentator said today, the long shot of this story is that Shannon may be learning that she is nothing more than a piece of trash – to be dumped on whoever will take her. And we’re running out of people who can be duped into taking her.

This is the opposite of the kind of “positive” and “uplifting” story line that many of us have come to expect from Luann over the years. But then, much “negativity” has been injected recently, what with the Ann Clan (including Al and Les) and other criminals who never seem to get punished.

We’ve been given precious little, if any, back story on Shannon and her father. All we know is, mom left, and dad is rarely (if ever) around. I have already asked, numerous times, just how did this come about? Based upon personal experience, I haven’t the faintest idea how custody was ever assigned to the father. (And I’m a father who believes that I was unfairly denied custody of my children in a divorce)

I think it fair to say, G&K, that you owe us a back story on this arrangement.

And a course correction wouldn’t be bad, either.

In the real world this would be an easily resolvable issue. The appropriate adults (Toni, in this case) gets to pick the basic color scheme and Shannon gets to provide input on wall appliques, decals, pictures. Possibly choose her own bed and bedding. Within limits! She’s a niece. Not and offspring!

But then, this isn’t the real world, is it?

I think they could create for her something that was tasteful and tidy yet fun and something she could grow with at the same time. It doesn’t have to be either/or.

When we re-decorated my daughter’s room (she was 7) she totally got input into the decor – she had some pretty specific likes/dislikes. decorate the whole thing alone? NO…but it’s a great chance to include them and encourage pride in their surroundings (ie – more inclined and willing to clean up). My son was a bit older – like 9 or so – but we did the same thing with him. Now younger than 6? Yeah – no.

Ask her what her favorite color is, find some grown up versions of that color and let her choose from them. Put a picture rail in the room and have grown-up and Shannon-style framed pictures to change out. With that and a quick bedspread change, you can have both rooms. Twenty years of moving with military orders and making each new place work taught me easy quick fixes! (though we never actually got to paint, made do with every version of beige-ish!)

no more shannon

When I was in studio class where there were a small number of separate studios in one huge space, the prof from one of them suggested this, “Firm outside lines. Softer inside lines.” His point?: Establish defined boundaries between different studios, THEN let students add their own personal flair (within reason) to their personal design areas. For today’s case, I suggest this…

Give the bedroom an overall neutral color and look – one that can easily be made a guest room if need be. Then for Shannon, attach panels (not too hard to remove by an adult) or similar to the walls, and let her know she can decorate THOSE, and those ONLY, to her liking. I’ve seen it done to certain extents in homes and it seems to work. (Makes the property easier to get ready to sell, too, if needed).

I am with Toni on this one totally! They shouldn’t be making this all ’Shannon’s room’, as Jonah is still the father to her, and HE should be doing that stuff for her at his place (whatever that is)…

Side note: TJ did the wise thing here with the ‘quick exit’ thing, as would have I. :)

Brad should learn when to say Yes Dear and shut his yap

toni doesn’t want Shannon around! Gasp!

Like a lot of kids her taste changes with the wind. Suggest a neutral paint on the walls, then work with her for the decorations, color scheme of the bedding and curtains, etc. She’ll feel grown-up when she’s involved in the decorating decisions.

Also, I totally understand Toni’s point of view. She and Brad have struggled to build this room, and have gone way past the pale to do the construction properly. She’s invested in it, and doesn’t want it plastered with a lot of junk.I had stepkids who spent the weekends with us. The bedding was age-appropriate, but the rest of the room could pass for a guest room. Everyone was content with the arrangement, particularly as they didn’t spend much time in the bedroom as we were always doing things.

A person of my acquaintance is an interior decorator/painter, who designs theme rooms for kids, customized to their preferences (a recent project was a Captain America-themed room). Given that such a job runs several thousand dollars, it’s probably best to be sure that all are in agreement before proceeding!

I think a nice mural ….

The entire situation is difficult. Everyone’s viewpoint is justified because Shannon needs so much that she’s not getting, both a place in the family and plenty of discipline. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Toni ends up expecting a sweet little bundle of their own. Wouldn’t that complicate things!

I actually got to decide everything, every time my room was redecorated. My parents gave me things to choose from that were only limited by their price range. When I was 10, I was both into Irish dancing and karate and my room reflected both things. In retrospect it was TERRIBLE. but at the time it was just the most awesome thing ever.

Don’t know if anyone else asked, but where’s Luann Againn?

I’m with Toni on this one as well. Shannon can decorate by use of paper which can be hung on the walls.

Just maybe these cartoon characters are dealing with complex and controversial issues that the authors, themselves, aren’t ready to get a grip on. Pitts has become a labyrinth of dark characters. Lighten up, make the comics fun again.

When I was 16, my best friend and I got into a Lot of trouble with his Mother after we finished painting their Living Room.

She gave us the paint and the brushes and rollers, then she went Grocery Shopping.

By the time she got back, the whole room was painted.

She kept complaining that the places where we’d played Tic-Tac-Toe with the rollers could still be seen because the paint layers weren’t Even because we let the games Dry before we painted over them.

The New Year isn’t even two full days old, and the famous are already dropping like flies.

I just heard that THREE celebrities have departed:

1. The “Voice of Pro Wrestling,” better known as “Mean Gene” Okerlund, has passed on.

2. Daryl Dragon, the Captain of The Captain and Tennille, lives no longer.

3. Bob Einsteim, who we knew as “Super Dave” Osborne, the satirical stuntman, has died.

We will never forget them, and they will be missed.

Toni just referred to the room as Shannon’s own after saying it could be a guest room for others …(let a 6 yr old decorate her own room?…). The guest room line was just that. Shannon decorating the room represents chaos which Toni does not like. Remember the time leading up to the wedding when she was close to a nervous breakdown. Brad was talking on and on about the big wedding and all the trimmings. Toni said “stop the car” and she got out; she almost couldn’t go through with it; it was getting too big and too complicated. Toni likes things simple, practical, predictable; she has said this to Brad. But with kids sometimes you have to accept messiness as part of the package, a bit of chaos, the unknown. It’s part of letting kids find themselves. Brad is OK with this but I think this part may be hard for Toni.

Typical TJ. Stays around just long enough to sow chaos and discord.

Go, and stay away, trouble-maker!

Next week, “Something wicked this way comes.” Gunther volunteers to be a guinea pig in a science lab experiment studying the evil Mr. Hyde, and develops a split personality. In the meantime, Tiffany moonlights as a pole dancer in an adult club and discovers Quill also works there as a drag queen.