For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for November 30, 2021

Whoa.

I like your style lady, very clever and cunning in my opinion, of course!

All smoke and mirrors

“Because I wanted you to let your guard down, so you’ll feel like a fool.”

Yeah, I have used that method of getting the kids to admit to something on their own by just tossing out a few subtle hints in the same fashion…

Gotcha !

Mom’s got skills.

God Liz! Didn’t you see Greg Brady get caught with “Friends” smokes in his letterman jacket?

Busted !

Lynn’s Comments:

In every panel here, I wanted to show Elly doing what moms do when they have a little one to care for. There is movement and action going on all the time. I have rarely done a strip where “talking head”” carry the gag forward. I wanted to show what real life is like.

Admit nothing. Deny everything. Demand proof. Or just suck it up, get it over with and move on.

Parenting 101

Our kids think we’re clueless.

GOTCHA!

Dragging her for something she did 6 years ago

Sneaky Mom

No matter how well you Dress up if you smokeYou stink.

I like how Elly handles the situation. She doesn’t go ballistic. She just calmly explains to Elizabeth how wrong it was to be smoking especially with her friends. And that’s the age when most teenagers start smoking. Also when you tell and scream, often times the child isn’t going to listen to you and is going to wind up doing it anyway.

Well, she didn’t find papers, so at least she’s not rolling them.

Lynn’s (Cartoonist) Comments for today’s strip which first appeared on 12-1-92 (https://fborfw.com/strip_fix/):In every panel here, I wanted to show Elly doing what moms do when they have a little one to care for. There is movement and action going on all the time. I have rarely done a strip where “talking head”” carry the gag forward. I wanted to show what real life is like.

Finding the matches and butts under the porch begs the question of why Elly was looking there.

You’re lucky Elly didn’t make you smoke a whole pack of cigarettes to teach you a lesson!

that is how us parents confirm suspensions. We wait instead of confronting because we know our children will “spill the beans” without realizing we are fishing for answers.

My mom always said she had eyes in the back of her head…I believed her!

I love Liz’s expression in the last panel. I think she just figured out that Mom is smarter than she thought.

You have the right to remain silent…

Burn!

That’s what my daughter used to say, when she got the upper hand.

I really like it when Elly ends up with the final punch line. I’ve been missing this for a while, what with the previous story lines not including the home life.

And yes, Lynn is most excellent at showing motion in her strips. That’s the best feature of FBFW, in my opinion: no talking heads.

The one I stopped reading long time ago was Garfield where you have the same drawing for eight panels (on Sunday, because our paper carried that one only then) and only the word baloon has different words in it.

The story you are reading is true.The guilty expressions have been changed to protect the innocent baby.

Wait! I thought there was a law against self-incrimination. Oh, that’s right: this is Canada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soiw4Bh6lig

That was already done with John and Ted. Ted boasted of his adultery, and John denounced Ted’s sin, saying his wife must suspect.

Ted: “Oh, suspicion I can handle…the trick is never letting them know for sure!”

Yes indeed. Candace is bad news.

Or a funny strip could be like this, where John comes in:

John: “Hi Elly!”

John then realizes Elizabeth is smoky

John: “Hi Smelly!”

BUSTED!

Well, all mothers are sort of detectives, alright. Not only for the kids but for the man in the house.

brilliant!

Well played, Elly. Well played.