dishes: Browse The Strips
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, September 6, 2010
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Lynn's Comments: When the kids were small, the work involved often filled a day. By suppertime when laundry, cleaning, shopping and meals were done, I wondered where the time had gone. It wasn't until the dishes were done and the kids in bed that I could sit down - without guilt - and enjoy the paper.
It's amazing how "invisible" a housekeeper's job is! For those who share the home and enjoy the fruits of "Mom's labor" things like clean clothes folded neatly in drawers, a tidy, sanitary refrigerator, vacuumed rugs, washed floors, swept and organized closets, prepared meals, answered mail, full toilet roll holders and all the other myriad details that go into running a home seem to occur like magic. If you don't see or take part in the process, you just accept it and expect it all to be done for you. In fact, unless something is NOT done, you don't notice it at all!
This revelation came to me when I hired a housekeeper. My sweet lady would come one day every week. I'd leave things for Janet to do. After awhile, dusting and ironing and clean floors just "happened". Recycling was done, mats were shaken and shelves were wiped clean...and if I wasn't there to have a coffee with her and see her work for myself - I took my clean house for granted!
Being a "housewife" is a full time job. Add parenting to this and you have an all- encompassing career - for which many of us apologize! I was lucky enough to have a job that allowed me to work at home. I had two jobs! Strips like this one were done to support all the smart, productive and caring moms I knew who were struggling to stay sane. These comic strip complaints also made me less resentful of my own responsibilities. It felt amazingly good to confide my feelings to an unseen community of friends...millions of them!!!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Lynn's Comments: The way I saw it...Ted lived with an overbearing mother. The arrangement worked well for him as she did his laundry, made his meals and also made most of his decisions. There would never be a woman good enough for her son and she saw to it that Connie was a reject, even before the relationship got off the ground. In my head I knew what had happened and how the breakup had taken place, but I never told the story to the readers. At the time, I thought I could get away with such instant info, but it's hard for an audience to buy into something they haven't witnessed for themselves. It was a "learn as you go" situation and I eventually became a better writer.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Lynn's Comments: This strip covers the sensitive topic of gossip. When is talking about someone a caring gesture and when is it mean? I confess that I am much better at keeping a secret now than when I was in my 30s.
I was always aware of my friends' feelings and their right to privacy, but from time to time, the juiciness factor overshadowed my judgment and I'd tell. The spilling of the beans is always prefaced by "I don't want to be a gossip - and don't tell her I told you" but from time to time, the leak was discovered and the result was a real test of our friendship. I learned to say I was sorry, and I was. I regained their confidence and in return, I found out what they'd been saying about ME!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Lynn's Comments: There were times when we did pull the silent treatment on each other. I don't know if it was a kind of punishment or an effort to think before saying anything else that might hurt. With so many things on our minds, small concerns like this were soon forgotten and life returned to normal.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Coincidentally, "Georgia" and Alan's future wife, Joan, looked a lot alike. I had even decided to call Georgia "Geo" for short!
Friday, May 25, 2012
Lynn's Comments: There is only one downside to having a dishwasher: it has killed kitchen conversation. Great moments can occur when people, after a good meal, enter the sanctity of the kitchen to clean up. Those who choose to do the task are at liberty to discuss anything--knowing they will be uninterrupted. I got to know my father really well because he washed and I dried. Confidences, opinions, admissions, and jokes are all part of the cleansing process now killed by the dishwasher. But, I'm still keeping mine!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Both my kids loved to go Christmas shopping. They still do! Finding the right thing for the right person is exciting, and in our family, funny gifts are the best. One of the best gifts I remember as a kid was a skipping rope. With cardboard and glue my dad made the longest, thinnest box in the world. He placed the skipping rope in it full-length, then wrapped it and put it under the tree. For the life of me, I couldn't imagine what it was, and when I opened it, I laughed and laughed. The parcel itself was almost better than the gift!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Comparing what we got for Christmas with the neighbourhood kids might have been a problem for our folks, except that everyone in our neighbourhood had just about the same stuff. None of us seemed to have more or less than anyone else, and those who were scrimping managed to look clean, healthy, well dressed, and confident. We lived on Fifth and Lonsdale. Folks living on Fourth fit into our "status," and folks on Sixth did, too. Above and below these streets, there seemed to be a marked difference. If we compared our yuletide haul with anyone on Third, for example, we were likely to be called rich. This was easier to take than comparisons with kids who lived on Eighth or Keith Road or the Boulevard. Our stash would be meagre compared to the kids who lived up there! Whenever I go home, I'm drawn to this area of North Vancouver. For the most part, the wartime houses and the tenement buildings have gone. In their places are impossibly priced condos and attached homes--hard for even the most confident buyers to afford, and I wonder if these subtle lines of "status" still exist. If so, it would be interesting to find out what the "poor" kids in this area get for Christmas!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Lynn's Comments: I guess aerobics was one of the first sort of "dancercise" workouts designed to coerce exercise-resistant pork-butts like me to get up and move. I did go to the YMCA here and sign on for one aerobics class, but, WHOA! .... It was such hard work! Still, in a group setting like this, you're far more likely to put in some effort. The downside of doing aerobics at home... is being caught in the act by someone with a lethal sense of humour.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Lynn's Comments: This statement led to several daily strips. Women rarely get to hear this kind of stuff, and I thought it was a nifty insight.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
Lynn's Comments: The great Johnston yard sale was an epic event. Everyone in Lynn Lake knew that Ruth had squirreled away some fine stuff and looked forward to seeing what would be up for grabs. Tables had to be borrowed from the church next door. It took us two days to price everything and set it out on display. As luck would have it, the event took place on the day of the high school graduation. Students in their best duds crowded around the tables, trying to score a deal ahead of the old guys.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Lynn's Comments: When I read that saying "I don't do mornings," I see someone who doesn't have kids. If you have a family, you do mornings until everyone is grown and gone. You do mornings in your pajamas and housecoat, and if you're lucky, you can swill down a coffee while you dress. The only family member with the luxury of NOT doing mornings is the family pet, who simply wonders why everything has to be so complicated.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Lynn's Comments: While the character, Uncle Phil, was starting to get serious about the character, Georgia, my brother had met Joan in real life. Since the quitting smoking story and the move in the strip closely and coincidentally paralleled his own life, Alan had me promise not to have Phil and Georgia announce their wedding plans until he had proposed to Joan!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Lynn's Comments: Again, a Sunday strip that didn't have to be invented. Word for word, this was real dialogue, and I wrote it down on a paper towel in the kitchen. I never seemed to have a notebook available. There was one in my bedside table for ideas that came in the night, but during the day, I had to grab whatever scrap of paper I could find. I learned quickly to capture an idea as soon as I could. My chequebook, which was always in my purse (before credit cards), was filled with punch lines, fast sketches, and ideas for future strips. Trying to remember these things later was impossible, and if I let a good one get away, I'd be miserable! This exchange made for a cathartic cartoon and saved my son, once again, from the wrath of Mom.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Lynn's Comments: Burps and spitballs were two of my specialties. Staying after school was almost worth the hassle--if my demonstrations went well.
