Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for February 24, 2025

Yeah Calvin. Mom worked hard on this.

Tell him how gross it is, then maybe he will eat it…..

I do not remember this strip! It is fun to see strips that you do not remember!

I’m glad she’s wearing the appropriate safety gear for handling that stuff.

I thought Mom had a new Job! – She looked good at it!

Instead of shoveling it on his plate, shovel it in his mouth like you do with a baby.

Mom should get a job operating a bulldozer; she seems quite god at it!

Surprising that Mom and Dad don’t make him eat in the kitchen.

An articulating front loader has a tighter turn radius for maneuvering easily in the kitchen.

Who likes glop

Shovel it in, Calvin. Think of Garfield with lasagna.

I had a (left handed) sister who served mashed potatoes back-handed with her left hand, using a BIG spoon. I can picture it still, decades later. Good thing we all liked mashed potatoes!

“Calvin, there are children starving to death in Montreal!”

Home Cooking… eat what’s put in front of you and shut up if you don’t like it.

Today’s answer to picky kids: order out!

I don’t recall seeing this one before. How could I possibly NOT remember ‘splutchh’?!?

Keep complaining and you’ll just get more!

Well drawn pay loader in middle frame.

Splutchh! I lose my appetite, just making that sound in my head.

I had five sibs, we ate was was set before us.

I prefer what I cook.

Mom was a pretty good cook . . . most of the time. But I learned early that to complain too loudly earned one a fat ear.

I can empathize with Calvin a bit here. My mother was not the best cook. To top it off, one of my father’s favorite meals was kielbasa, sauerkraut, and brussel sprouts. I couldn’t even stand the smell of that dinner and I’d happily skip that meal and go to bed hungry rather than eat that for dinner, but to leave the table without eating everything on our plates was not an option. Furthermore, we were never to serve ourselves as dinner portions were always placed on the kids’ plates.

Years later, when my dad aske me if he could temporarily move into my house because he was moving back to Michigan from Washington sate, I informed him he could do so under one condition. He was not to cook kielbasa, sauerkraut, and brussel sprouts at any time in my place! He literally pouted, but my house never had that meal served at any time during his stay. Gotta say, that was a good feeling.

In fourth panel, Calvin and mom are looking at dad. Waiting for him to start eating…still waiting…

I used to put a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter on the counter. If the kids didn’t like what we were eating, they had the option of eating a PB sandwich.

Could be worse, Calvin. Think asparagus.

Reflex from the day job!!!!!

It could be mac and cheese. I’ve never met a kid yet who didn’t like mac and cheese.

Calvin’s mother is no gourmet cook. I think she’s been watching Flo’s cooking show over on Andy Capp.

Casseroles and kids often do not go together. “All my foods are touching each other — Eeuuwwww!!!”

“Mom! You know I hate dirt!”

Nothing worse than having a kid tell you he hates what you made for dinner, especially if he “loved” it last week!

My mother was a bit of a psychologist.

“Don’t you eat that while l’m not looking!”, she’d say.

My sister and l would then shovel the food into our mouths and gleefully shout, “We’re eating it – we’re eating it!”

After all, there are people starving in Africa

If we ever complained about what we were getting for supper… we didn’t get any supper.

I too hated when my anya made véres hurka with káposztás tészta.

anybody else have every book

This is where Calvin and Hobbes shines. Look at the artwork and detail in that bulldozer… and even in the following panel. Simply excellent.

Why are some comic strip moms so bad at food?

You hate everything, kid. (Hey – maybe Dad’s first name was Mikey…)

I’m on a “see-food” diet. I “see food”, I eat it.

Or…

“See? Food!” (Then proceeds to show off food being chewed inside mouth. My sister and I did that as little kids, lol.)

I once ate my lima beans right away to get it over with. Not seeing any on my plate Mum insisted that I take more, not believing me that I had eaten them already. From that I learned to leave a couple on the plate.

As I grew into adulthood my tastes evolved, & I got to tell my parents “If you don’t eat your habanerno peppers you’ll get them for breakfast!”

Just wait another 10 years, my boy, until you’re a teenager, and the words “too much food” will just be a laff line.

It must be a Brocolli, Cauliflower and Brussells sprouts salad with Thousand Island dressing.

I know that feeling in the last panel, when my mom often serves me more salad than I can handle. “That’s enough, Mom! That’s enough!”

Inculcating the habit of overeating

Cauliflower and garbanzo bean casserole. With a side of kale.

Yep! Mom did tha5 every time, and I know it was on purpose. Chop suey. BLECCH!

Great thing about being older,mom is gone and there’s no one left to make me eat something I detest. To this day i despise cooked spinach of any kind. She used to tell me it would help me grow like Popeye, just made my face green.

Ah, Calvin, if you had to eat some of the things my mother made, when I was a kid, you’d be begging your mother for more.

Would you like a side of rocks with that?

I’ve never seen this comic before. Can someone tell me the date?

Oh, no—he’s been SPLUTCHHed. The horror! Ha.

My favorite “Mom cooks” strip was a Sunday one showing her hauling a giant squid out of the fridge, adding what looked like a gallon of pale green paint, a shrunken head, maybe a couple other things, then ran the mixer on high.