Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for April 12, 2024

This is what babysitters call the Calvin bonus.

“No trouble”. Oh Rosalyn, you’re going to be so wrong again.

Rosalyn getting paid the big bucks should be enough motivation for Calvin to behave.

Just give Rosalyn the advance since Calvin always give Rosalyn trouble

Suppose Calvin IS good tonight. Will Rosalyn have to pay back her “advance”?

Twenty years or so ago I invited some people over. They turned me down because hiring a babysitter was “too expensive.” Knowing their busy social life, I figured it wasn’t worth it to them to spend time with us. Their loss.

They are not very good parents no wonder Calvin is so messed up

Rosalyn has found a niche and is filling it, and expects to be compensated appropriately.

I never understood the ‘advance’ part in these story arcs. Is Rosalyn expecting the parents to leave town without paying? (admittedly a possibility)

Loving Mum’s expression in panel3…..

Rosalyn, having become rich, will be highly motivated to do an excellent job. (No matter what it takes.) Yikes!

Mom is right. STFU and just pay the sitter!

Just Do It. We, I, NEED my night out.

I’m not used to seeing the mother with angry eyes.

A desperate-for-relief-Mom is a fearsome sight.

Sigh… Why don’t they find a babysitter that Calvin can actually get along with?

She just may be the next Jimmy Hoffa.

Maybe Roz could pass on her tactics to Marge, Poncho’s dog walker.

Another babysitter makes an offer that can’t be refused.

AKA Extortion. This receives The Count Seal of Approval©.

I guess it doesn’t count as extortion if Calvin really IS that rambunctious.

silent but deadly parent talk

Still isn’t enough…where did you leave the leg-irons?

Poor little Calvin

There’s mayhem in the offing.

Mom — the realist.

Extortion wears many faces….

The advance wasn’t an advance on the babysitting fee, it was an advance on the ‘signing bonus’ (the agreement to come back).

Now you pay the rest of the signing bonus.

supply and DEMAND will always dictate the rates AND the bonus situation. whatever the DEMAND is, Dad better pay because IF the DEMAND is NOT PAID, the fallout and lingering effects will definitely and I mean definitely, be worse than the fiscal responsibility. js

She was locked out. That’s different..

No wonder birthrates are going down.

Let Dad try to find a babysitter next time. He can get laughed at by all the neighborhood sitters who refuse to watch his little terror.

Why in the world does Dad think Calvin will be on his best behavior tonight? Did he drug the kid?

Rosalyn now leads “Freedom of Choice!” demonstrations.

Rosalyn knows Calvin. An ‘advance’ is like a deposit and insurance against the disaster that is is probably approaching.

Imagine how great Calvin and Hobbes would have been during COVID-19, with Calvin attending school virtually while his dad worked from home.

This was Rosalyn’s next-to-last story arc, from spring 1990. After that, Rosalyn didn’t appear again until September 1995, near the end of the strip’s original run. Of course, Bill Watterson said that Rosalyn arcs were getting harder and harder to write, so I don’t blame him taking a break until near his retirement when he decided to have Rosalyn return one last time.

One of the Albright sisters always told my folks I was the most delightful kid she sat for.

All the other sitters looked at it differently……………..

Cue the anxiety causing music!

Sounds like Calvin could use some basic training….and I don’t mean “time outs” either. He probably would be standing in the corner afterwards….his butt would be to red to sit on.

Hahahaha

When Dad said “Calvin will be on his best behavior”, Rosalyn knew he was lying.

Hopefully, when Rosalyn graduates from university, she will remember to send a thank you card to Calvin’s parents, who made it all possible.

Rosalyn is now working for Zelenskyy

Calvin was once considered by his kindergarten teacher as most likely to end up in the electric chair.

The look in mom’s eyes tells him don’t give me a hard time. I want out of here. But I can see why Roslyn babysits for them when no one else will. She’s an extortionist.

No wonder Calvin is turning out the way he is. His parents are monsters. See the nice look on mother’s and father’s face in the first two panels, and how they turned into vicious ogres in the last one….Poor Calvin…

In the last panel, Dad’s situation demonstrates one of the many reasons why I refuse to wear neckties…

I don’t know why they bother. You know the evening’s still gonna be ruined by whatever craziness Calvin comes up with!

Roz deserves every bit of whatever he does to her. She has NEVER once been nice to him.