That's tomorrow's strip. Right now, John is busy reminding his kids that Elly is a killjoy.
Panel 1: We start off with Elly returning from her trip. Mike happily runs toward her and yells "It's Mom!! She's Back!!", Lizzie follows behind with a cheery "Ma-ma!" and John smiles indulgently as Elly says "Mm - There's my two." It should be noted that Farley, who's in the rear, is swarming with fleas.
Panel 2: As her children give her a bear hug, she says that John seems to have taken care of things quite well. John, who thinks that he should be praised for not killing anyone on burning things down, says "Yup."
Panel 3: John says that they survived quite well on their own. Mike, who's so happy that Elly's back that he's morphed into a Cabbage Patch doll, agrees with him by saying that John let them eat and go to bed when, where and wearing what they wanted.
Panel 4: John inadvertently spoils things by pointing out that when Mom returns, the fun stops cold dead.
Summary: The one thing that Elly hates to be reminded of is that she's too damned serious for her own good; too bad that John forgets that Elly thinks she has to be deadly serious to be taken seriously.