(Strip Number 7104, Original Publication Date, 27 December 1981)
Panel 1: We start the proceedings off watching John, Lizzie and Mike walking home on a nice early winter afternoon. Mike, having taken point, seems especially eager to tell Elly about his afternoon; too bad that something will happen that'll shove the memory of the neat stuff he saw to the back burner.
Panel 2: Since he has yet to discover what that is, he's smiling when he SLAMS the door and yells "We're home!!"
Panel 3: As John looks on, Elly, who's taking Lizzie's snowsuit off, asks Mike if they had a good time at the show; as he takes his jacket off, he says "Yeah!! Let's go, Lizzie!!"
Panel 4: Elly gushes about how John's taking the kids out for the afternoon was a great idea; that's because it gave her the chance to go through their toys so she could box up the ones they never play with to send to Goodwill and throw the broken ones away.
Panel 5: Eyeless John's smug remark about how with all their new toys, they won't notice it if the old ones are gone is interrupted by Mike yelling "HEY!!" off-camera.
Panel 6: Mike asks Elly "Okay, where did you put it?"; she asks him what "it" is.
Panel 7: He doesn't exactly know; what he does know is that every time they tidy his room, something goes missing.
Summary: Wouldn't it have been simpler to straight-up ask Mike if he was willing to part with stuff he didn't need rather than to sow mistrust in his heart? As it stands now, he's learning that Elly doesn't want to tidy his room in order to make his life easier, she just wants to pack his stuff away for no reason she's willing to discuss. As it also stands, we're meant to sympathize with Elly on this one; it's not about her sowing mistrust where none need exist owing to her and John thinking that they cannot talk to their children, it's about those children not being grateful for being ineptly parented.