What David K. said. A lot of Amanda’s friends are still in the orphanage and Lillian would be there to chaperone. That said, neither Amanda or Selkie are really under her … jurisdiction? … any more. I’ve kind of got mixed feelings about this strip.
Naw. If children are not being safe (like running inside a bounce park where there are 300 other kids to run into) it’s totally fine for another adult to “parent.” Lillian has known these two so long she’s probably had to wipe their bottoms before. That kind of familiarity (plus the fact the orphans and probably even Lillian were invited) makes her like family more than just a government worker.
It’s more like this seems like the kind of place where running indoors would be not only allowed but probably expected, no? Isn’t it basically an indoors pkayground?
Any kind of public place like this would frown on running. First off they are for profit so would need HEFTY insurance to cater to kids. Second even if they padded every surface in the place, kids could still mow down each other while running and cause an injury. So they will always have signs saying no running to cover their butts.
Yeah, I’ve been in these sorts of places (One I went to for a kids’ party was the inflatable bounce-house thing)…. there are BIG “No-running” policies.
If another parent at a place like this keeps my kid from doing something that is dangerous I’m going to THANK them for it. It’s not a parental choice thing, it’s a “your kid is gonna decapitate himself and I stopped it” kinda thing.
This isn’t a territorial thing or a “don’t talk to my kid” thing. At least it shouldn’t be. If Lillian (who knows the two kids, and who Todd, I’m sure, trusts) has to manhandle Selkie and Amanda so they don’t get too dented I’m sure Todd will be thankful.
I took my daughter to a laser-tag place for a birthday party, and we were all enjoying a coffee when screams of murderous rage started coming from the playing floor, with one of the screaming voices being my daughter.
One of the other parents (whose kid *wasn’t* involved) was standing up at the time, and her response was “Nah, don’t get up, I’ll handle it” and she went and defused whatever was going on.
So, when I was a kid, I was a weak swimmer. Loved the water, could not swim for the life of me. I could float on my back like it was nothing, but I couldn’t swim for the life of me. So, my dad, worried about this, taught me a trick in case I ever ended up in the deep side of the pool for whatever reason. He taught me to simply let myself sink, instead of flailing around and possibly getting breaths of water, hold my breath, and then jump when I hit the bottom, take a breath when I surface, and repeat.
So naturally, as he taught me that at night, I tried it out the very next day. And, testing it, I found that it worked fine, I did one, two….on and on to six jumps, when this man jumped in the pool and pulled me out. I felt perfectly safe the whole time, but the guy did ‘rescue’ me, so I stayed shut up about it. Dad got him chicken, and we hung out for years and years after that, as we had similar times on camping trips.
About 9 years later (5 years ago?), I stopped my dad one time and asked if he remembered that dude. As we’d just seen him a year ago he nodded and cheerfully acknowledged it. I then asked if he remembered the trick he taught me of jumping on the bottom of the pool to avoid drowning. He nodded and acknowledged it. I then politely pointed out that I avoided connecting those dots earlier because the dude was clearly a cool dude, but I had not needed saving at the time.
Dad laughed for a solid 15 minutes, and slapped his knees. I’m pretty sure the next day, or two days later, we got the guy some fried chicken again, although I’m also pretty sure the guy still thinks he saved me.
Their mouths grump but their hearts say “It’s good to see you again, Miss Lillian”
Also, I’d like to take a moment to compare the grins the girls have here while they’re competing to the snarl Amanda wore during the marker fight. They’ve come a long way.
I wouldn’t say it discipline, more like a reminder. Discipline is where you talk about and punish for an offense, like if they lied and got grounded for lying. In the earlier case where Amanda chugged wine, all she did was point out that she wasn’t making right decisions. She didn’t punish her for drinking, she left that up to Andi and Todd. Same thing here, she pointed out what they were doing wrong and corrected them, not punish.
Offense could be taken at getting physical instead of just scolding them, maybe. But even then circumstances matter, my mom once grabbbed a strangers kid this way that was running right onto a busy street – probably saved his life.
She may consider verbiage to be more a parental thing — if Amanda’s hearing it at home, and/or her parent(s) aren’t considering the language to be a big deal, then unless it gets aimed at her, Lilian may not consider it worth stopping.
Because someone could get hurt. Running, silly kids aren’t looking where they’re going, they could run into another person– a smaller kid, a person carrying stuff, a pregnant woman, an elderly or disabled person, …any of those people could get hurt way worse than another same-size kid, or an adult, if they were run into.
And pretty much any play area, aside from outdoor playgrounds, has “no running” policies for this reason. Pools, jump-houses, arcades, etc.
Very true. Also, outside of the designated areas, people have babies in hands, drinks, cake, other food, presents, things that can tip/make a mess/get hurt. And not all grownups want to be squashed by random running children if they are trying to take pictures/eat lunch/have cake time with their own. So most places will have parts that are created safe to run in – rubber corners and blocked off from general public off like a laser-tag area, and other areas where it would be a no-no
Huh.
Where I grew up, elementary/middle school hallways were full of kids running all the time, and we navigated somehow. Granted, school hallways don’t have a lot of disabled/elderly/pregnant people… on the other hand, there are teachers, but kids somehow learn to avoid running into people that can get them in trouble.
I don’t know, I’ve never seen running banned somewhere. I mean, I think you can’t run at the library, but that’s because running is noisy and you can’t make noise – again, it’s completely possible to connect those dots without an explicit warning sign.
I think in an environment without those bans, kids learn when running is acceptable and when it isn’t all on their own perfectly well and this is another case of overprotective American parenting 😐
(And I mean, this particular area IS a playground for kids. People can watch out on their own perfectly well, and so can kids. This isn’t exactly a busy intersection. I’d trust Selkie and Amanda to not bowl anyone over)
Glad to see the changes in Selkie and Amanda’s dynamic. Sure there’s still a bit of hostility between the two of them. But it’s going from loathing hateful snipes to slightly frienemy attitude. Loving it.
So either Lillian was invited to the party or she works at the trampoline place as a second job.
I believe she is there as guardian for Amanda’s friends from the orphanage.
What David K. said. A lot of Amanda’s friends are still in the orphanage and Lillian would be there to chaperone. That said, neither Amanda or Selkie are really under her … jurisdiction? … any more. I’ve kind of got mixed feelings about this strip.
Naw. If children are not being safe (like running inside a bounce park where there are 300 other kids to run into) it’s totally fine for another adult to “parent.” Lillian has known these two so long she’s probably had to wipe their bottoms before. That kind of familiarity (plus the fact the orphans and probably even Lillian were invited) makes her like family more than just a government worker.
It’s more like this seems like the kind of place where running indoors would be not only allowed but probably expected, no? Isn’t it basically an indoors pkayground?
Any kind of public place like this would frown on running. First off they are for profit so would need HEFTY insurance to cater to kids. Second even if they padded every surface in the place, kids could still mow down each other while running and cause an injury. So they will always have signs saying no running to cover their butts.
Yeah, I’ve been in these sorts of places (One I went to for a kids’ party was the inflatable bounce-house thing)…. there are BIG “No-running” policies.
If another parent at a place like this keeps my kid from doing something that is dangerous I’m going to THANK them for it. It’s not a parental choice thing, it’s a “your kid is gonna decapitate himself and I stopped it” kinda thing.
This isn’t a territorial thing or a “don’t talk to my kid” thing. At least it shouldn’t be. If Lillian (who knows the two kids, and who Todd, I’m sure, trusts) has to manhandle Selkie and Amanda so they don’t get too dented I’m sure Todd will be thankful.
I took my daughter to a laser-tag place for a birthday party, and we were all enjoying a coffee when screams of murderous rage started coming from the playing floor, with one of the screaming voices being my daughter.
One of the other parents (whose kid *wasn’t* involved) was standing up at the time, and her response was “Nah, don’t get up, I’ll handle it” and she went and defused whatever was going on.
Boring story ahead, you have been warned.
So, when I was a kid, I was a weak swimmer. Loved the water, could not swim for the life of me. I could float on my back like it was nothing, but I couldn’t swim for the life of me. So, my dad, worried about this, taught me a trick in case I ever ended up in the deep side of the pool for whatever reason. He taught me to simply let myself sink, instead of flailing around and possibly getting breaths of water, hold my breath, and then jump when I hit the bottom, take a breath when I surface, and repeat.
So naturally, as he taught me that at night, I tried it out the very next day. And, testing it, I found that it worked fine, I did one, two….on and on to six jumps, when this man jumped in the pool and pulled me out. I felt perfectly safe the whole time, but the guy did ‘rescue’ me, so I stayed shut up about it. Dad got him chicken, and we hung out for years and years after that, as we had similar times on camping trips.
About 9 years later (5 years ago?), I stopped my dad one time and asked if he remembered that dude. As we’d just seen him a year ago he nodded and cheerfully acknowledged it. I then asked if he remembered the trick he taught me of jumping on the bottom of the pool to avoid drowning. He nodded and acknowledged it. I then politely pointed out that I avoided connecting those dots earlier because the dude was clearly a cool dude, but I had not needed saving at the time.
Dad laughed for a solid 15 minutes, and slapped his knees. I’m pretty sure the next day, or two days later, we got the guy some fried chicken again, although I’m also pretty sure the guy still thinks he saved me.
Darn! Even birthdays aren’t exempt from The Rules of Good Living…
(No, really! That’s what our Nursery School teacher called the rules that we had to obey there.)
Their mouths grump but their hearts say “It’s good to see you again, Miss Lillian”
Also, I’d like to take a moment to compare the grins the girls have here while they’re competing to the snarl Amanda wore during the marker fight. They’ve come a long way.
i´d say todd is probably downright grateful that another adult is keeping a wary eye on his two trouble-makers!
Didn’t she once say (to Amanda) that it’s no longer her job to discipline the kids once they’ve been adopted?
I wouldn’t say it discipline, more like a reminder. Discipline is where you talk about and punish for an offense, like if they lied and got grounded for lying. In the earlier case where Amanda chugged wine, all she did was point out that she wasn’t making right decisions. She didn’t punish her for drinking, she left that up to Andi and Todd. Same thing here, she pointed out what they were doing wrong and corrected them, not punish.
Offense could be taken at getting physical instead of just scolding them, maybe. But even then circumstances matter, my mom once grabbbed a strangers kid this way that was running right onto a busy street – probably saved his life.
Surprised she didn’t call them out for saying “Hell” here – though that might be next page.
She may consider verbiage to be more a parental thing — if Amanda’s hearing it at home, and/or her parent(s) aren’t considering the language to be a big deal, then unless it gets aimed at her, Lilian may not consider it worth stopping.
They’re actually acting like siblings. I’m enjoying the change.
Why. Why can’t they run indoors. I do not understand.
Because someone could get hurt. Running, silly kids aren’t looking where they’re going, they could run into another person– a smaller kid, a person carrying stuff, a pregnant woman, an elderly or disabled person, …any of those people could get hurt way worse than another same-size kid, or an adult, if they were run into.
And pretty much any play area, aside from outdoor playgrounds, has “no running” policies for this reason. Pools, jump-houses, arcades, etc.
Very true. Also, outside of the designated areas, people have babies in hands, drinks, cake, other food, presents, things that can tip/make a mess/get hurt. And not all grownups want to be squashed by random running children if they are trying to take pictures/eat lunch/have cake time with their own. So most places will have parts that are created safe to run in – rubber corners and blocked off from general public off like a laser-tag area, and other areas where it would be a no-no
Huh.
Where I grew up, elementary/middle school hallways were full of kids running all the time, and we navigated somehow. Granted, school hallways don’t have a lot of disabled/elderly/pregnant people… on the other hand, there are teachers, but kids somehow learn to avoid running into people that can get them in trouble.
I don’t know, I’ve never seen running banned somewhere. I mean, I think you can’t run at the library, but that’s because running is noisy and you can’t make noise – again, it’s completely possible to connect those dots without an explicit warning sign.
I think in an environment without those bans, kids learn when running is acceptable and when it isn’t all on their own perfectly well and this is another case of overprotective American parenting 😐
(And I mean, this particular area IS a playground for kids. People can watch out on their own perfectly well, and so can kids. This isn’t exactly a busy intersection. I’d trust Selkie and Amanda to not bowl anyone over)
Reading this on the first day of finals makes me optimistic. With such a great comic in the world, anything is possible!
XD Well at least Ms Lillian stopped them from getting hurt. But that was adorable friendly competition.
This is so cute. I always look forward to Selkie-update days. ♥️
Look, it’s Keisha! Hi, honey, I missed you! Glad to see you having fun. 😀
I love how she still takes a grandparental role towards the kids that have been adopted.
I want to see this page animated someday, just for Selkie and Amanda doing the double ninja run.
Glad to see the changes in Selkie and Amanda’s dynamic. Sure there’s still a bit of hostility between the two of them. But it’s going from loathing hateful snipes to slightly frienemy attitude. Loving it.