For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 11, 2020

oh, the blessings and curses of about to be the middle child

Yup. You’ll be the baby’s second mom. After all, you’re 10 years older.

I like how Farley senses the girl’s discomfort and instinctively commiserates…

Of course years later you will have this experiance with your daughter.

And that’s why Liz is my favorite.

The hardest hit by a new baby is the previous baby

I’ve always had a problem with the term babysit applied to family members. But that’s just me.

Just pray it won’t be a cry-baby.

Did Lynn Johnston do a disclaimer: “This baby is a fictional character. The similarity to the fact that in 1990 an American prime-time cartoon show had three children, one of whom was a baby, is purely coincidental.”

And that’s this archive finished. 4 comics still to finish catching up on.

I guess this is the only positive thing about my Mom not having a second baby. My Dad on the other hand got another woman pregnant and I got another sister but I hardly see either of them now.

I was almost 7 when my sister was born and then my brother came along 13 months later. Dad was in the Navy and gone half the year so yeah, little shoulders carried a big burden.

Uh oh. Middle child blues beginning to set in. Just think of all the fun you will have teaching the little ankle biter about grass hoppers, worms, and farts. It will be great.

Older boys rarely had to sit unless they were going to be home anyway. When the oldest went away to school, the middle one told us not to expect him to babysit. The “baby” was so independent, he didn’t ever need much of anything from either of his brothers. Nothing much has changed now that they have their own families except that the oldest and youngest work hard at their relationship and get a lot out of it.

I was a middle child, with an older sister, but for some reason I ended up doing most of the babysitting, even though I was only 11. Years later in counseling, my psychologist told me that families draft someone when there is a need, especially if there is an extreme need. Yes, in my family there was an extreme need, and my sister did not respond to being drafted (she told my parents that she had to study, she was 14). So at age eleven, I became the baby sitter. At age 14, I became the mom for almost a year when my mother was hospitalized. At age 19, I was told that I was never to marry but stay home and take care of the family instead. I rebelled. I eloped with the love of my life….and was dammed for years after that for being a “disobedient child” ( their words). Today I have five sons and a daughter, all of whom had a mother who loved them and showed it, because I loved my little sister when I was just eleven, and I took responsibility when other family members didn’t. I have no regrets.

Looks like Elizabeth has “mixed” emotions!

You’re also the “built in baby sitter”. Forget about having a life of your own.

My kids are 6 years apart and the older one never changed a diaper. I would never expect an older sibling to do that much child care. That is the parent’s job.

Good practice for a decade and a half out….

I couldn’t wait till my mom had my brother and I was in that 9 year old range too. I took care of him a lot.

This one does raise an interesting question for me.

When they reprinted the comic strip from Thursday, June 22, 1989 where Michael kicked Elizabeth’s bassinet in Thursday June 21, 2018, the kicking was redrawn to be removed. I figured that someone decided that a kid kicking at babies in bassinets was not that funny.

I wonder if they will do the same with Elizabeth and her younger sister after she is born. Will they redraw all the comic strips where Elizabeth is violent with her?

They did a strip where Elizabeth was born. I am curious if there will be a flashback such as when John met Elly, or it could be something like Elly is pregnant with Michael; John marries Elly (not necessarily in that order)! :P

Another issue at stake is that Elizabeth is getting less and less cutesy-pootsy as this strip is going on, which is natural for children who grow up. With the advent of the new baby, she is going to lose her coveted status as “daddy’s little girl”.