FBoFW: Boomeraging Generation

The "For Better or For Worse" cartoon strip shows how the bommerang young adults can totally disrupt a household.

Liz, the young twentysomethinger daughter, moved back home after a few years of living on her own elsewhere. She decided to teach in her area again and has no intention of leaving the familial home due to it being easier on the pocketbook. Yet, she acts like a total "Princess" and is a bitch to her younger teen sister.

The older brother along with his "Oopsianna" wife, Deanna, moves back with two toddlers in tow after a fire where they lived. April, the teen girl, is booted from her own bedroom so the Little Family can sleep there. It looks as if April is relegated to some side corner of a family room as if she is nobody.

April, naturally, feels left out and overwhelmed. Anytime she is in the bathroom, the toddlers are banging on the door or the older sister demands that she be let in as her time is more valuable. Usually, the teenager is forced from the shower so the Princess can just wander on in while complaining about the steam from the bath water.

The aging parents really do not do anything about the chaos management in the house and do not care how their youngest child is just shoved to the sidelines. April is starting to act out like a little kid with insults towards her sister as she has no voice in the family.

Sure, this is only a cartoon but entertainment often mirrors "real life".

I worked with people where this happened in their own households. Older siblings came back home. The youngest child left at home was expected to give up his/her own space and needs for the selfish young adults. Yet, the parents wondered why the neglected teen -- who still needs attention to mature properly -- started acting out.

Even for a comic strip, that scenario is very true to life and it SUCKS. Though this is not quite related, the behaviors remind me also of moos who have multiple baybees and already have an older child. The eldest child gets pushed aside as the multiple-birth brats get all the attention and "fame," so to speak.

I suspect that there will soon be scenarios in the comic strip where April "acts out." UGH.

HA! There will be a whole comic strip unto itself called, "April Acts Out."

Picture it: Tired of her living conditions at home, a young April discovers there is lots of money selling her ass. But she's got to put up the good girl front so no one suspects - Polly Anna by day, Bride of Frankenstine by night. Then she turns to drugs, soon in debt from her habit. Mom and dad start to notice there is trouble in paradise when the johns and dealers come to the FAMBLEE HOME looking for her. It all comes to blows when someone firebombs the FAMBLEE HOME, killing everyone inside.

VLM Wrote:
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>
> I suspect that there will soon be scenarios in the
> comic strip where April "acts out." UGH.

April is already acting out. The high schooler is resorting to childlike behaviour such as calling her older, "princenza" sister a 'lard butt' even though it makes *her* feel horrible inside where she was crying :bawl after what she said. It WAS sad! She is also complaining to friends at school. I follow this strip because most of the stories are very true to life. I never liked Liz because she was a cunt even before high school graduation.

I feel very sorry for April because she never asked to be shunted aside as if she is nothing but an in-the-way person while her older brother and his "little family" take over her room and her older sister is just nasty believing she is "it" because she is in her 20's & cute. Yeah...the "Aprils" tend to look at much-older men when they are not being parented at home due to these set-ups.

I heard the lady who does the comic is retiring so there will not be too many newer stories unless someone else acts as a ghost writer. I would like to see more of April acting out because most neglected teens will do this...even though some of the themes could upset the average daily newspaper reader. I hope this is not the end of "FBoFW"...

As a kid, I was left to fend for myself due to dysfunction and drug abuse in the family. At age 12, I was going to be sent back to this god-awful sitter's house where I had spent seven horrible years so my bedroom could be used for a long-term houseguest over the summer. Someone my mom barely knew was going to take precedence over me because her boyfriend wanted his pal to visit.

The Universe looked after me and I met a kid in the park who liked being my friend. So...I spent the two weeks over his house and became friends with his sister. The father was kindly to me but my mom heard from a mutual friend from her job how the fellow always wondered why I stayed there for two weeks and why my mom took so long to meet this family.

The "Aprils" tend not to be so lucky and end up getting involved with very bad people when pushed aside at home. I was fortunate to meet good strangers. The Boomerang Generation is probably going to cause more of the cast-off teen kids into predators hands as they are ignored at home due to the arrival of the "royal" young adults who want to leech off of Mom and Dad.

Both moms live with us. They had lived in separate retirement housing in the states until we moved back from Japan and built a house on our property in rural northwest Washington State. I guess that makes them the opposite of boomerang?

The strip used to be interesting from time to time, but ever since Michael got married it's degenerated into maudlin, repetitive crap.

I can see why Michael, his wife, and his kids live there. They kinda had to...extenuating circumstances and all.

One thing I constantly wonder, though: why exactly did Elizabeth move back home? She has a full-time teaching job. She can afford her own place. Teaching doesn't pay a lot, but it's enough for a single, non-childed person to get along quite nicely. I should know...I did just fine on a beginning teacher's salary. Paid my college loans off well in advance, traveled to see my family for holidays, had my own place & pets, had zero credit card debt.

I, too, have read that the creator will be retiring at the end of this year. She had a 30 year contract, and does not plan to extend it. A lot of inking and detail work is done by assistants, as Lynn Johnston's eyesight is starting to go.

I think she has the whole family together because she sees that as a way to give the strip a schmaltzy, saccharine-sweet ending about one big happy extended family. All that's left is for Elizabeth to marry Anthony.

Random, yes, Michael and his little familia had to move back home after the fire. Those were extenuating circumstances but Michael and his wife seem to treat the parents' home like a hotel. The toadlers run around like apes on crack. April got booted from her bedroom for the Little Family and is treated like a nobody in the household.

Mike's wife, Deanna, oopsed him with the first baby. She went off the Pill without telling her husband. When she announced her pregnancy, Mike said he thought she was taking her pills. Well, the sneaky little bitch then said she did not like the side effects and went off the Pill wondering what would happen...but the lying sneak is a pharmacist so it is not as if she was ignorant on those matters.

Elizabeth always was the prima dona. Moving back home was easier on the pocketbook as she was probably tired of paying rent and doing things like an adult. Liz is like a lot of Boomerangers who want to be considered "adult" but on the parental teat. And...the young woman is also reverting back to being mean to her younger sister. April is getting the shit-end of the stick on this deal.

I hate Anthony. Everyone -- even some on another CF site I used to manage -- acted like Anthony's wife, Therese, was the Devil Incarnate because she really did not want that baby. When she was expecting, Anthony seemed to demand the brat be born. Then...he whines to Liz how the wife is more into her career than a baby. Therese has an affair -- right on -- and leaves the marriage...but leaves the brat with Anthony. He wanted it; he can have it.

However, a woman rarely wins in that situation. So, the Princess Liz is into the kid and will Anthony's little star to do the cunt work of child rearing. I must have no life to be into a comic strip......but this does mirror reality with the awful family scenarios.

Dr Dan, yours and your wife's moms living with you makes both you and your spouse good people. In this day and age, it is rare to see people look after their parents in the elder age. It is usually the kids moving back home to Mommy and Daddy's.

Amethusos:

We love having them with us! Both moms are in their mid-70s, healthy, vital and very active with church and community groups. They have been 1000% supportive of our CF choice and enrich our lives beyond measure.

Fujiko's mom is a fantastic Japanese cook. It was her idea to have a chicken house on our property, and she gets a frightening gleam in her eye and carries out a meat cleaver. We call her "Mrs. Peavey" after the "Chicken Run" character.

My mom is "Mrs. Blunt". She was in the diplomatic corps for many, many years but is very direct and doesn't mince words when she condemns her own family for being breederiffic.

All in all, having these three women in my life is nothing short of wonderful.

Dr. Dan, you and your wife are rare people in today's society. To love to have the parents around is wonderful. However, most young people want the parental welfare but will not want to care for their elders in old age.

Friends of my mom's have an only child - a daughter - they paid big $$$$ for University. Of course as with most yuppie parents, the "child" is back home within one to two semesters of out-of-area University and is taking a few schlock classes at the community college while whining of working a server job.

Yeah...the spoiled girl was "back home" for awhile. But...guess what? She is now living on her parents' houseboat to feel as if she is "on her own". The young early 20'ish "child" is not on her own as she does not have to pay the slip rent for the boat and did not have to come up with a major deposit for a rental as most Bay Area people.

Now, she has some creepy boyfriend living with her. I asked my mother if the guy contributed to living expenses. I think I shocked my poor mum because she just sort of stuttered as she said, "Yes...he contributes..."

I would bet the little bit of $$$ in my checking account that this guy lives off of his girlfriend. If Girly does not pay her parents anything, I doubt she is going to get this guy to ante up as she was desperate for a man being she had no one before losing weight.

Being skinny does not make this young woman "nice". She was a bitch from the time she was a toddler to a young adult. I would say the young gal is worse now that she feels no longer a heavy girl.

April *IS* starting to act out. She did volunteer to babysit for her brother's toadlers since he will pay her. However, her "friend" from school offered to come over to practice since she would be home alone. "Practice what?" asked April. "Friend" (a boy) planted a kiss right on her lips. Girls who do not get attention at home will definitely get it somewhere else. I bet the Famblee will start flipping out over the teenager's romantic quests as nothing is really done about the overcrowding in the household by the Boomerang young adults as there probably will be more excuses of why Mike cannot move the Little Familia out or Elizabeth just stays there to loaf off of Mom & Dad.

I just had to resurrect this thread. April's male friend from school does show up after the toddlers are asleep. All of the adults are out on a night on the town. April is getting deeper than she realises as the guy brings over booze and says he is glad the kiddies are sleeping as he plops himself on a bed-like thing in the rec room. This is what happens when a family stops paying attention to a teen, who still needs direction, but caters to all of the irresponsible siblings who move home. Mike's Little Familia had an issue with the fire where they lived but they are in no hurry to move out of the nest. So...April sleeps in the dining room or somewhere and is treated like a servant. It is no wonder she seeks out inappropriate friendships.

Very true. When kids are starved for attention, they will take it where ever they can get it. They usually grow up to be adults like that also.

Whoa, what a train wreck FBorFW is getting to be! I remember when the fundies had a cow over Mike's friend Lawrence coming out. Lynn Johnston sure knows how to keep people reading...we only get the paper on the weekend, so it's hard to keep track of the soap opera aspects.

KidFreeLuvnLife Wrote:
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> Very true. When kids are starved for attention,
> they will take it where ever they can get it.
> They usually grow up to be adults like that also.

So true, KFLL.

April is going to have one hell of a time ahead of her since no one in that house gives a damn about her and expects her to cater to these spoiled adults who refuse to live on their own. You know the guy is going to start pressuring April for sex. He sees a "victim" in this girl.

It is worse as her older brother has those screaming toddlers. Liz has always been a prima dona where everyone satellited around her. She has also treated her younger sister like a nobody but wonders why the girl acts out by saying things.

I am glad the lady who does the comic strip does keep it real. I do want to see more of what happens to a neglected teenager in a house full of chaos. I had no brothers or sisters but lived in a home filled with chaos management. I made horrible choices but am fortunate to have climbed out and do okay...

I saw today's comic. April is in the bed with the boy, and her parents are on their way home from the party. I hope the parents realise the way they have been treating her.

Elizabeth Wrote:
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> I saw today's comic. April is in the bed with the
> boy, and her parents are on their way home from
> the party. I hope the parents realise the way
> they have been treating her.

Whoa!!!! I just saw that one, too! Jesus!

Teenage girls with a supportive family where they get the needed attention and guidance tend not to engage in teen sexual activity. I am not saying sex is bad. Most teen girls are not ready for such "action". The young ladies are looking for someone to love them when they feel they are not getting affection from the home. Most boys know it is easy to get a neglected girl into bed only to dump her after after they get what they wanted: sex.

Of course, it will ALL be considered April's fault when she is "found out". Mother will just blather on how 'disappointed' she is with her daughter. Liz, the older sister, will look down on her as this prissy bitch acts so virginal despite almost dating her ex-boyfriend when he was still married and wanted his wife to be the UberMoo.

I got tired of that strip once it turned into a serial and stopped being funny...and right around that time, I noticed that April suddenly went from being a toddler, to being like 12 years old...when the hell did that happen?? It was like the artist said "wait, there is no passage of time in this strip, better catch up!!"

April got the guy out of the house and then gave him MONEY to take a cab home. Jeez...this girl has "victim" written all over her face especially since she was willing to give this horny boy cash! April has zero self-worth. Her parents are in bed saying they are glad they do not have teenagers to worry about. Hello!!!! April is a teen. God...this strip is true to life...