(Original Publication Date, 23 December 1990)
Panel 1: We start things off with John and Elly getting dressed for an evening out.
Panel 2: Elly smiles as she puts on her make-up.
Panel 3: The strip proper begins with telling Mike and Liz that she and John will be at the Fribleys until nine when they have to go over to the Blacks.
Panel 4: We start to set up the last panel when Elly says that there are so many Christmas parties that it's hard to get to half of them. This tells me that they only make the scene to avoid disappointing people and yearn for a solution.
Panel 5: As she leaves, she tells the kids to take care of themselves and that there's cake and pop in the fridge.
Panel 6: Now that they're out the door, Elly says that despite the chaos, she loves this time of year. John is in agreement.
Panel 7: The reason is that this is the time of year that you stop what you're doing and spend time with people you really care about.
Panel 8: John and Elly stand around shocked into silence by what he has just said.
Panel 9: We find ourselves where Lynn was leading us when we see John and Elly sitting on the couch with the kids because they are the people they really care about.
Summary: I should think that Lynn was the not actually grateful recipient of fan letters about how the people loved the strip where the mother and father decided to stay home with the children instead and don't get so picky about their names, haters.