Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for April 16, 2011

I’m with dad.

No … Dad brings up subjects he doesn’t want to ARGUE about!

its spring time Calvin.. go out enjoy.. :)

What a perfect opportunity to go cause some mischief.

A quick solution of the problem!

And more often than not Calvin is the problem.

Good Morning, Marg, Mike & ♠Lonewolf♠!

But Calvin in front of the TV is the Good Calvin.

It’s when he’s out thinking or doing things that he gets into trouble.

To be fair, sometimes Calvin actually notices subtext and oblique comments.

He can get into plenty of trouble inside the house, as the Historical Records show.

(Yes, this is an oblique reference to TV on the one hand and to GalaxyQuest on the other.)

What Calvin likes to do at any one time seems as whimsical as everything else about him. One day he couldn’t wait to get outside, another he has to be thrown out.

Being a kid, carefree and full of enthusiasm and having nothing in the way of responsibilities pulling at him is the best time of his life.

That’s the time to be outside in the sun and explore the wonders of the world around him. Play, run, jump, laugh, hug Hobbs and enjoy! It won’t come around your way again, Calvin.

I love how Dad gives flying lessons to Calvin in frame 3.

Calvin, all too soon you’ll be an old fart like me who appreciates nice days and a sunny park bench to watch youth make fools of themselves. “Yes. yes, yes. Come on kid, sure you can roll down that cliff in that tire.”

@Nabu:: From those of us who were, mostly. :))

“Carefree” here has a relative and contextual meaning. Even the Latins talked about “the Arcadia of my youth” or some such. Grownups tend to talk that way when they realize that the normal cares of youth are as nothing compared to the total freak show that comes with adulthood.

Digital Detox week (formerly TV Turnoff Week) is coming up April 18-24. My TV has been off for over 6 years, so I am going to up the ante and stay off the computer during that week, except what is necessary for work.

Oh and I love the way Watterson draws that TV jumping off the table all hyper and excited.

i don’t know i think Dad said it quiet clearly what he wanted to tell Calvin.

Dogsniff, Maybe the “masses” are too busy osculating to raise a toast to your clever toast comment. You didn’t respond to my grammar alteration comment three days ago, either, so there! :o) jk again It’s funny how it works, sometimes. Your ostensibly best comments get no response, and then, unexpectedly, you get positive response(s) from something else. I generally do enjoy your sense of humor, though, and others as well.

Once again, actions speak louder than words!

Dad just wanted Calvin out so he can have the TV. What we have seen of Calvin’s neighborhood or other areas he has more to do then my sister and I. We didn’t have a forest around us. Just a lot of stickers.

The solution to the problem is to not buy a TV to begin with.

Blast from the Past!!!

Definitely one for the fridge door.

I don’t think so, you are before you are. Calvin’s Dad is no different than mine was, and I was lamost nothing like Calvin was. And even my Mom was a stay-at-home Mom and she was not watching over me every minute of every day when I was that age. My parents were like most any other typical parents: Too bsuy to keep a watchfull eye on their kids. And both my parents would have tossed me outside if I were caught watching TV.

In my kid days we couldn’t wait to go out to play…but most of us didn’t do some of the bad things Calvin does…but have to admit a lot of the things he does is very funny!

When I was young, TV time was “family” time and I might be outdating myself, but those were the happiest of times. We were only allowed to watch from 7:oo pm to 9:oo pm… and then lights out. Oh how I miss All in the Family and another classic, A Família Trapo.

On a nice day there is the person in me that orders me outside to enjoy my beautiful yard that I worked so hard to get.

Don’t throw out the baby, throw out the bath water (TV) …

When I was a kid we lived in farm country. We were truly free when we played outside. We played hide and seek and ‘get away” in the tall corn fields, Stuck chicken and turkey feathers in our hair and played “Indians” and we made our own bows and arrows from the branches and saplings we found in the woods just up the road from our place.

We climbed trees, played in the hayloft, swung on ropes, traveled miles on bikes between our various farm country homes accompanied by our crew of dogs.

Sure we all had chores and at certain times had lots of work to do, especially harvest time, but we had plenty to do that was fun and carefree.

Besides. There was no fear that we were going to be kidnapped or molested. All the families and townspeople knew each other and watched out for us. If we did something we shouldn’t have done, our folks generally knew about it before we got home.

We were very close with our parents and did a lot together as a family and one on one. We spent a lot of time together and truly “knew” and had a lot of love for each other. But playtime was our time.

Who would want mom and dad trying to keep up with us and our imaginary adventures? They probably wouldn’t have been able to keep up.

@ puppybreath, Good for you, I hope you instill that same sense of freedom and wonder in your children no matter where you live. Your comments reminded me of my own childhood with ups and downs, but I loved going intot my backyard behind the lemon trees and massive palm trees and oleandars and believing I was on some jungle adventure or at least just having a sacred talking place with my best friend, away from the confines of home.

I’m with dad on this one. Televisions, computers, video games, multi-tasking cellphones, social networking sites, etc., encourage kids to become mindless, lazy, overweight couch potatoes. They need to be outside on nice days — to play games with other kids, to go exploring, to ride their bikes, to get exercise and to breathe in fresh air.

As for Calvin’s dad … better still would be if he were actually out there spending time and bonding with his young son, doing things like playing football, baseball, frisbee, etc. Even just taking a short walk around the block would be a nice way for them to spend a little time together. (I’d like to think he had Calvin’s best interest at heart and didn’t just toss his kid out the door simply because he wanted to spend the entire day watching football or something and didn’t want Calvin around bothering him!)

zero and cleo, all you are doing by not using or having a TV is denying yourselves information and entertainment. You don’t have to watch EVERYTHING and sit mesmerized all day and night, and it does take work to find beneficial stuff, but it can be done, and is worthwhile.

Er, how is a child (Calvin) to learn if there is a parent telling him what to do? Should a child’s imaginary worlds be restrained by adults. My parents (both child psychology PhDs) said the best place to raise your child to the limits of his ability would be in the town dump. Let him look, let him touch, let him get cut , but let him learn on his own with guidance when needed. Don’t know about you, but I walked 2 miles to school (uphill only one way) without holding apron strings. Calvin might have found more trouble than us, but we learned a lot.

@puppybreath: Your childhood sounds absolutely blissful!! Looking back, how wonderfull that must’ve been!!!

In my middle age, I’m trying to get to WHERE YOU WERE!!

Thanks for sharing…it gave me great images!!

Good plan! Now he’s outside looking for mischief…

Dad–always building his kid’s character. Whether he wants to be built up or not.

Calvin’s comment is a perfect example of projection in human psychology. It isn’t that Dad doesn’t want to talk, Calvin doesn’t, and more to the point, isn’t willing to face up to it in himself. As an ACOA, and something of a latchkey kid as well, I found myself addicted to tv at a fairly early age, and have been ever since. The stuff I have learned over the years still amazes me even now, such as that there were 43 attempts to assassinate Hitler, and none of them succeeded. Wow.

@Puppybreath, I hear you. I grew up in suburbia, but my dad was a farm kid. He once got a merit badge for hiking 20 miles to a town six miles away–but he zigzagged eight or ten miles north and south to catch the sights on the way… .

you are before you are, my childhood was very much like Calvin’s The only family time or quality time we really had was family meals and vacations. There was plenty of room for making your own fun and letting your imagination run wild. So in every material respect, it was very much like Calvin’s.

If I misbehaved or got out of line I was disciplined - sometimes severely and some times physically.

You who complain about dad not going outside with Calvin, please come back for their vacation and see how well they bond in the outdoors.

I love how Calvin gets simply tossed out into the yard. His mother does that to him sometimes too. Some child protection agency would probably be very upset, but Calvin seems to adapt pretty well.

Check out the comic on 1/31… It makes this even funnier.

Calvin has Hobbes to watch over him anyways! LOL

G’Evening, Mike, Marg & Grog!

You know before there was internet, kids…

gofinsc, I get my news and entertainment from the Internet, where I can pick out exactly what I’m looking for, rather than wait for some network to spoon feed “sound bites” and commercials. True, some web sites have commercials, but they usually are not too obtrusive. Watching and playing with my cats is better entertainment than anything on TV these days.

Way to go dad,..hey hobbes catch on calvin!