hat: Browse The Strips
Wednesday, November 8, 1995
Sunday, September 30, 2001
Foreign-Language Versions:
If there's a non-English version of this strip available, it'll show up below. Or, you can browse our entire collection on this page.
Spanish Strip:
Sunday, August 24, 2003
Sunday, December 28, 2003
Foreign-Language Versions:
If there's a non-English version of this strip available, it'll show up below. Or, you can browse our entire collection on this page.
Spanish Strip:
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Lynn's Comments: Katie was an attractive little kid and I fell into the "momtrap" of wanting her to look as cute as possible at all times. I had the adorable outfits, the velvet dresses, hats, scarves and mittens that matched her "girlie" snowsuits. I combed her hair just so and awaited the gooey compliments that come while showing off a preened and perfect princess.
Kate, however wanted nothing to do with looking cute. Being comfortable was far more important. So was wearing what she darned well wanted to wear! She was determined and stubborn and it was abundantly clear by the time she was three, that what she wore would be a compromise. The red hat was actually a patterned toque and I would have drawn it that way, except that the pattern was too hard to draw and too hard to colour!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Lynn's Comments: When I go somewhere new, I want to see as much as I can. I want to take tours, ride the local buses, check out the markets and explore. Rod was content to relax on the beach and didn't mind if I went off on my own.
The Tamarind Cove was an intimate little hotel. We had met some interesting folks on the beach and in the dining room - which often required that we share a table with other guests. I soon connected with a couple of eager shoppers wanting to go to adventuring. We collected our hats, strapped on our sandals and set out for Bridgetown.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Eddy King, our local barber, was a neighbour and friend. Our cabins on Berge Lake were side by side. Whenever Rod had a chance to talk to Eddie, it was usually a long conversation. When it came to giving a haircut, Eddie would cut for as long as the conversation lasted. Occasionally, Rod would come home with almost no hair left --I hated it! I kept hoping that next time he had his hair cut, they would have much less to say!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Lynn's Comments: The problem was also compounded by the fact that the kids never liked those odd-coloured, molasses tasting, wax paper wrapped toffees that you only see during the last days of October--they'd always leave them for me. These ugly things are still given out at Halloween, they still taste the same, and I still like them!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Lynn's Comments: I rarely saw my parents kissing. Sometimes they held hands but it was a discreet show of affection--which was quickly over if someone drew attention to it. Still, they were very romantic. They thought about each other and did things for each other easily and naturally. They were husband and wife, but they were also the best of friends. I often made fun of the two of them and their mushy ways, but in the end, I wish for all the world I could have had a marriage like theirs.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Lynn's Comments: There is a lot being said these days about bullies and being bullied. I was picked on pretty viciously at school and I was guilty of bullying, too. We picked on each other because of our looks, our families, our clothes, and our income. We said mean things, wrote mean things, and passed on mean information--which was mostly untrue. Why? I can only guess. The thing is, we all grew up. The kids I went to school with have all lead full lives. With the perspective that only comes with age and experience, we have faced some of the kids we bullied. We can see now who they really are and they too can get to know us. With mature understanding comes respect and I confess, misgiving. As kids, we spoiled so many chances to connect with and enjoy one another. Because we were too young, too naïve, and too selfish to see past our own need for acceptance, we lost the chance to enjoy the friendship of some truly wonderful people!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Lynn's Comments: I continued to fight and make up and fight all through elementary school. It was just the way things were. I was too young to see the whole picture, and I'd often wind up looking at negatives.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Lynn's Comments: I remember taking my mother's advice and being nice to one of the kids I "hated." It worked like a charm. After my enemy was certain that my efforts were genuine, the feud ended. This didn't keep me from fighting, though. I still needed the occasional pounding... and I gave a few in return. It's interesting to know now, having talked to some of the kids with whom I had serious differences, that we had all come from families where discipline was strong and physical. If "a pounding" was commonplace at home, then this is how we resolved our differences outside!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Lynn's Comments: There was a time I'd go into a house like this--where the people took scattered toys, dog hair, and mangled furniture for granted. I'd step over Tinker Toys and half eaten sandwiches wondering how in the world they could live like that! I'd see crusts on tabletops and a sink full of dishes, and I'd think to myself, "How can she stand to live in a house that isn't clean, tidy, and well organized?!!" ... Then I had kids.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Lynn's Comments: We didn't have a chainsaw--we didn't need a chainsaw ... but for some reason known only to men, my husband bought a big one, with all the safety gear that went with it!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Lynn's Comments: I have always wondered why gymnasiums didn't harness all the energy that is wasted by wheels on exercycles and the like as they spin all day long. With that in mind, I think hamster wheels could be installed in homes where kids tear around relentlessly. If this energy was being put to good use, such as running the vacuum, perhaps we wouldn't resent the mess and the dust they create quite so much!
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Lynn's Comments: My dad took us to the Hudson's Bay store one year to see Santa. We were a bit too old to do the Santa thing, but this was something we felt we were doing for Dad. He was in a great mood and enthusiastically encouraged us to wait in a long line. As we stood there, he went on and on about the decorations and the scene in which Santa had been placed. I remember thinking that he was way more excited about this than we were. Eventually, Alan and I had our turns on Santa's lap, were photographed, given a candy cane, and allowed to go. Dad was beaming, and on the bus heading home, he quizzed us about our Santa experience. "Well," I said, "he was greasy and smelled like cigarettes and needed to use a toothbrush really badly."
Alan added, "His beard wasn't real and didn't fit right, and I didn't like the way he said 'Ho, Ho, Ho'." Dad looked out the window of the bus for a while and said little else about our trip to see the great Claus. When we got home, I overheard Dad talking to Mom about our excursion. As it turned out ... the man who was dressed as Santa was a great pal of our dad's!
Alan added, "His beard wasn't real and didn't fit right, and I didn't like the way he said 'Ho, Ho, Ho'." Dad looked out the window of the bus for a while and said little else about our trip to see the great Claus. When we got home, I overheard Dad talking to Mom about our excursion. As it turned out ... the man who was dressed as Santa was a great pal of our dad's!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Lynn's Comments: The path from our front door to the driveway on Tally-Ho Road was perhaps 25 feet long, but it seemed much longer when you shovelled it. When I did this strip, we were all living in Northern Ontario, but shovelling snow is the same wherever you are. No matter how often you create a clean space, within minutes something always manages to fill it in.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Lynn's Comments: I can't add anything to this punch line--other than to say that nothing has changed: the day I decide to get dressed late and to wear no makeup, is the day that all the delivery guys show up! This is something I hope a good iPhone application will someday eradicate.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Lynn's Comments: I hear folks talking about kids and their relationships, and it surprises me when they say that real "love" doesn't happen until you're physically mature. I disagree. I remember being head over heels "in love" with a boy in my grade three class. I remember it clearly, and the feeling was as strong and as passionate as if I was 16. I had no concept of the physical stuff then--but the desperate need to be near him and to be cared for in return was overwhelming. Likewise, his rejection was painful and devastating. I hated him for showing my notes to his friends and I said so. Like Deanna Sobinski, he was attractive and popular, and he made me feel that I wasn't good enough. In retrospect, I think he just didn't know how to handle an ardent admirer.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Lynn's Comments: Like my mom, I welcomed my kids' friends into the house all the time. On the odd occasion when it just wasn't convenient, I was the villain. It was "No fair!" I wondered what the kids said about moms who never let friends come in--even to use the bathroom.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Lynn's Comments: Whenever I left my family on their own for dinner, I made sure there was a really good meal just waiting to be heated up. It was my way of showing how much I cared (and how guilty I felt as well). I kind of knew they'd take off to a fast food joint in my absence, which didn't hurt too much--it meant I didn't have to prepare a meal the next day!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Lynn's Comments: Like me, Aaron and Katie truly appreciate good costumes. Every year at Halloween, they just had to look in the costume box or make a suggestion, and we had a plan. We would all get into the spirit of making wearable art. There was nothing too complicated or too farfetched for us to make and, our kids had the best homemade outfits ever (if I do say so myself). We had a Sherlock Holmes hat, pipe, and cape, but the year this strip was done, Aaron didn't want to dress as Sherlock. I was insistent and said that all I had to do was make the jacket, but no deal. Instead, he painted himself green and went out as the Hulk. Left to mourn for Holmes, I did this series of strips in his honour.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Friday, January 10, 2014
Lynn's Comments: Looking for a wayward mutt on a night like this is one of the downsides of dog ownership. When our small spaniel, Willy, wandered off, it was usually "Mom" who put on the boots and jacket and went out into the gale to find him. I was convinced he could hear me quite well and was just ignoring me. This was something the kids did too. It infuriated me. At least kids understand a mother's wrath. When a dog comes home to a fuming human, he just pants and wags.
