(Strip Number 202, Original Publication Date, 3 December 1981)
Panel 1: We start off with Elly, Mike and Lizzie walking towards the toy aisle of Philpotts' department store.
Panel 2: We then get a close up of a smiling Mike and Lizzie babbling contentedly about all the things that have captured their attention; since they're small children who are sort of hazy on how much their parents can spend, they kind of want everything they see. That, as we all know, is the deal with small children.
Panel 3: We next zoom out to see what the deal with Elly is; since she thinks that everyone in the freaking world is conspiring to make her unhappy and since she refuses (or is simply unable) to see any viewpoint than her own, the happy caroming around of her children pointing out all the things they want elicits not the mildly-amused smirk that a parent who knows what children are all about would have but the confused and angry frown of a person who is both baffled and irritated by this turn of events.
Panel 4: We finish off with Elly at the store's pharmacy pointing at a jumbo bottle of ASA (that's the generic term we Canadians use for aspirin) and telling the pharmacist that she wants that.
Summary: It's sort of annoying to be forced to remember that Elly never progresses beyond this, that she never evolves into someone who understands how her children think or that they aren't deliberately trying to make her unhappy out of malice and willfulness. When she screamed that she quit motherhood, part of me asked "When did she start being one?"
ETA: Since it's December, let's remind ourselves that Lynn likes to draw snowmen.
