(Strip Number 4908, Original Publication Date, 28 December 1987)
Panel 1: We start things off with a panicky Elly on the phone telling someone named Roy that she doesn't know if she and John can go to his New Years' Eve bash 'cause they don't have a baby-sitter lined up.
Panel 2: As Lizzie's silhouette approaches the foreground, Mike steps right up and offers to do so. He's old enough and he's reliable and honest...just ask anybody.
Panel 3: Since we're making yesterday's thing canon and since Lizzie hates Mike anyway, she yells that he's a rat-fink.
Panel 4: When he asks who asked for her opinion, Elly tells Roy that she'll get back to him.
Summary: Elly seems to like to use her 'awful' children as an excuse to duck social obligations that make her feel anxious. This is just the first real instance of that trend.