(Strip Number 5113, Original Publication Date, 6 April 1989)
Panel 1: A few minutes later, we find ourselves watching Mike tell Elly that something is really cool. Since she's a weirdo with a bottomless appetite for flattery, she puffs herself up and asks him if he thinks so because she thinks he's admiring the new do.
Panel 2: We continue to talk at cross purposes when Mike tells her about how John was right to say that there was a surprise in the kitchen.
Panel 3: When Elly says that she didn't think that he'd notice, Mike assures her that of course, he's gonna notice.
Panel 4: Her smile and self-confidence collapse when he says that she hasn't made tacos for months.
Summary: If you expect that Elly's reaction to Mike's indifference to her hairstyle is over-the-top despair because she's so fragile that she needs the approval of her pre-teen son, you'd be right. After all, she only did this because he said she looked like an aging hippie and she does go on to let him decide if she can wear shorts because she stupidly hands him power he doesn't deserve and shouldn't have been allowed to expect.