(Strip Number 619, Original Publication Date, 29 May 1984)
Panel 1: As Mike eats his breakfast, Elly complains that she's all ready to go out but Elizabeth is sick.
Panel 2: There she is, all ready to go to work and now, she has to call playcare, call the library, change her plans and so on and so forth.
Panel 3: Back when she was chained to the house she views as a combination between a penitentiary and a graveyard for her hopes, this sort of thing wasn't a problem.
Panel 4: Since Mike never quite realized that Elly wanted more out of life being his mother, he has no idea why his saying "Yeah... you were a real mom then!" might be taken as badly as Elly does here.
Summary: As I've said before, the Mike who's currently out of his depth dealing with his own placid imbecile children never seems to have figured out that his behavior constituted a problem. He simply isn't aware that he is part of why Elly is the frustrated mess he warned Rhetta about when he brought her over to meet the family. Granted, he's also not aware of why he's been programmed to think that way but to explain is not to excuse.