Actually, it's Lynn not paying attention to how old Lizzie is supposed to be so she can depict John being stooooooopid and useless because he goes to comfort a howling Lizzie despite being told not to. Too bad that it falls flat because he's, in my opinion at least, neither. I know I couldn't avoid doing what he does because it goes against human nature to ignore a crying baby, no matter what buzzword (tough love, in this case) Elly uses to justify it.
Panel 1: We start off with Mike ask how much longer it will be until Christmas. He uses that annoying Pattersonism "sleep" in order to set up the martyrdom money shot.
Panel 2: We launch into "Adventures in Horrible Parenting" by a baffled Elly asking herself "Sleep?" Reason? Lizzie is crying her head off.
Panel 3: Rather than determine if there's a reason that Liz is howling and dealing with same, Elly tells Lizzie that it's bedtime and time to sleep.
Panel 4: As she puts her back in her crib, she again says that it's bedtime. At this point, it should be obvious to the dullest mind that Lizzie doesn't understand English all that well so Elly's failure to figure out why she's howling is fucking irritating.
Panel 5: So is pointing out that since everyone is else asleep, she has to sleep too.
Panel 6: Elly proves herself to have a heart made out of cold stone by reacting to Lizzie's obvious fear that Maaa-maaaa!!!!! will abandon her by sweetly chanting that since it's beddy-time and sleepy-time, Mommy's-going-to bed-too-nighty-night.
Panel 7: John points out that she's still howling and asks if he should go to her. The inhuman monster he married says that she has to learn to go to bed when it's nighttime.
Panel 8: This, she says, is "tough love". That is, I say, bullshit. She just doesn't to be bothered making sure her child knows she hasn't been abandoned because that would take time away from doing housework in the most pointlessly labor-intensive manner possible.
Panel 9: She notices two things the confuse her; relative silence and the absence of John's bulk beside her.
Panel 10: A martyred-looking Elly stands there like a golem watching John do the right thing and comfort his child. His explanation: he ain't that tough.
Summary: This is, as I said, supposed to represent his being an idiot; after all, if he keeps this up Liz might expect to be comforted when she's upset instead of left to feel unloved. I say it's way better than last week and even better when he left her in her highchair because he was sleep-parenting.