(Original Publication Date, 6 December 1990)
Panel 1: We find Elly at the counter of what I'll call an Audio Hut telling the cashier "Hi....I'd like to get a set of (what used to be specifically called Walkman) headphones for my son for Christmas."
This is not what I'd call good parenting as it rewards being a careless dimwit. If he can't be bothered to keep track of where his headphones are, he shouldn't be allowed to have them.
Also, Elly clearly doesn't know how shopping for electronics works because all she'd need to do is ask where the headsets are. The clerk isn't her freaking genie, you know.
Panel 2: Instead of telling her where they are and what they cost, our boy holds up a pair and asks her how much she's willing to spend.
Panel 3: She makes her Patented Patterson Pious Face when she says that she's willing to spend up to thirty dollars on something completely unbreakable.
Panel 4: A little while later, Anne asks Elly what she got. Since this is the real world and not whatever moron fantasy land Elly lives in, she has the Bangs Of Utter Defeat™ over her eyes when she says "Three ten-dollar sets."
Summary: This one is the one I expect notes for. They'll be in the key of "In my day, they made things to last!" in order to shout down the people who complain about the dubious parenting choices being made here.