Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for October 05, 2022

I thought he got that by operation by the time Calvin was 2.

Calvin will probably still get beaten.

I failed to ask on today’s Baldo, but what would it be like if Gracie were Baldo’s little brother instead?

More proof that this strip was never meant for children.

What you’d do, Calvin, if arrive a baby sister?

Snip-snip, dad — it’s the only way to be sure.

She doesn’t value honesty as much as she claims

They should both get an operation. Just to be safe.

Calvin’s parents have INFINITE patience with him. I couldn’t handle the spitfire. :/

At least Calvin’s being honest.

Having a vasectomy means never having to say you’re sorry.

Oh! Calvin IS my older brother!

Moe anxiety.

“Agreed. honey. Just to be safe, I’ll have a vasectomy even though you’re also getting your tubes tied.”

We told our second son that if he were the first, he’d be the only.

This is the only strip I know that seems to support the idea that Calvin is a bully. He is sometimes accused of “bullying” Susie but she can obviously beat him easily as she proves again in about two weeks’ time. He has even been accused of “bullying” the teenager Rosalyn although she actually scares him more than Moe does. Watterson has said that Rosalyn is a useful character as she is the only one that Calvin is REALLY afraid of. Calvin sometimes shows fear of Moe and of Miss Wormwood and sometimes he is afraid of a very angry Susie but he fears Rosalyn most of all.

He may not really be showing a bullying side as he may just be putting Mom off the idea of more kids as has been suggested in two earlier strips.

I’m not normally into shaggy dog tales … but this conversation was overheard.

“You don’t say, Katie!’

“Indeed I do. I’m pregnant again.”

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” Colleen put in.

“Saints preserve us,” her sister Megan added.

The sentiment was shared by all 9 women present. Among them they had nearly 30 children.

“I don’t know what to do about my Shamus,” Deidre lamented, “He can’t keep his hands off me, especially after he’s had a pint or two at the pub.”

“It isn’t his hands you have to worry about,” Anna said. The rest of the women got her drift and started to laugh.

“Well what are we going to do about it? I mean they are our husbands, but I barely get one of the wee ones out of his nappies, and the next one’s on the way.”

“You can’t use a rubber. The Church says using one of them is a sin.”

“I heard that Maureen O’Donnel’s husband went over to Liverpool on holiday and when he came back he was … you know! You can’t get that kind of an operation in this country.”

“‘Tis true, she hasn’t been pregnant for a couple of years. But I don’t think our men would stand for it.”

“I don’t think the fellows are standing when it’s done. It isn’t like going to the loo.” More giggles.

“That’s brilliant, Katie!”

“What’s brilliant?”

“Having our men get the operation.”

The women all nodded and agreed. This was a good thing to do.

The pregnancies stopped.

The moral of the story: A snip in time saves nine.

The problem is that “little” brother could end up being larger than you and remember all those beatings!

All for the wrong reasons….

Wait until the Final Four.

Isn’t that what little brothers are for. I know that was my role as the youngest.

Maybe she was talking about a lobotomy.

Maybe she was talking about a lobotomy?

Is his dad’s boss the same “Frank” who was shot by the deer in Calvin’s population control book report?

After our third child, I had that “operation”. It didn’t go as planned. I love telling the story to strong men. They always cringe and guard their “jewels”. Oh, I’m fine.

Put some on ice though. Just in case.

I went for mine and was asked to leave. Got three shots and still had feeling. Doc asked me, when you go to the dentist to you feel everything he does, I answered yes, all the time. Outcome, my body turns novacaine into water and has no affect on me. Now I either grip the handles and take the pain or I take the happy gas!

Hmm.. is Mom talking about an operation on her… OR Calvin (yikes !) ?

I had the snip years ago. Other than a bit of discomfort for 2 days, it wasn’t what I had been told it might be. The doc who did the cut was something of a jokester and said, “A vasectomy means never having to say you’re sorry or providing child support for 18 years.”

It isn’t all on the dad. There are 2 medical ways to end the line of succession wherever one decides. Of course, there are extra-legal ways also, but the outcomes are for less pleasant.

I got “fixed” decades ago, after my third. Gorram thing was dangerous. Got it in the morning, had to go into work for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I was the only mechanic there with an emission license…

Better still have Calvin fixed so his line stops with him.

So, no puppy for Calvin.

It sounds like a good idea but sometimes little brothers grow up to be big and mean.

Well this went dark.

Calvin= birth control! Most of the time it takes kids becoming teenagers!

I laughed at this strip until I read all the comments.

Calvin’s campaign to remain an only child is really paying off.

I thumped my younger brother regularly. Not really but I did try to make his life uncomfortable. I’m not proud of it, it’s just what older brothers to. Older sisters make younger brother’s life miserable. my sister did.

Calvin’s an idiot to think his mom would be fine with that answer.

I would think that after his dealings with Moe Calvin would be more empathetic.

The dad definitely had that operation. No way would he risk another child like Calvin.

The only time we see the Dad’s boss at his workplace.

Finalist for this week’s bad timing award. Also another reason Calvin needs therapy.

Because my older brother used to beat me up, I briefly had the same idea as Calvin, when I was five and my mother was pregnant with my sister.

Not a good time to discuss vasectomies. Some fathers just plain decide not to make babies any more.

It’s like the old Ban deodorant commercial — It takes the worry out of being close.