On the Legions of GLOOM!!!!!!

The interesting thing about the upcoming "Mike is EVIL because he doesn't want to admit that his room should show not one single trace of any identity that's separate from Elly's" is that we see the first appearance of a rather irritating device: a child thought-bubbling the word "GLOOM" as a means of Lynn telling the other high-handed, rigid and unsympathetic mothers of the world that yes, everything children do is just melodramatic noise meant to make WE MOMS feel bad about staying the course and saving them from themselves.

I should think that John's constant fulminations about how, CHEE!!!, when did we end up raising a princess sort of explain quite clearly what the thought processes are. As I've said before, people really don't like having to deal with a world in which they're the bad guy so they'll do pretty much anything to prevent themselves from seeing that yes, sir, it is they who are your villains. The problem that I see is that Elly, while not much actually liking the idea of disciplining her children (as her breaking down and blubbering the instant she realizes that her children resent her attests), tends to let things escalate far too quickly because of an aforementioned dread of her losing control. She can tell the kids that she hates being the bad guy until she's blue in the face but her habit of exploding in blind rage the instant she's threatened makes them see that as a lie. This means that even the most reasonable request is going to be seen as an imposition because we're dealing with someone who simply can't step outside the situation and realize how ridiculous and needless the messes she wills on herself are. Best to assume that her children walk around thought-bubbling the same "GLOOM!!" she does when she's faced with the horror of having to actually iron clothes.