Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for July 08, 2014

Only thing they are talking about is the desire of a six year-old to not be there.

Talking together is important in a family!

Talking helps solve problems

TV is messing with your brain.

Calvin…the day will come when you wish you Had enjoyed your Mom and Dad’s company during mealtimes. But, being a child in the late 20th century, that simply is Not going to compute for you at this time! ;)

I am totally on Calvin’s side here. Dinnertime conversation is stultifying at best and better avoided.

Few kids at that age really registered their parents’ first names when I was growing up. They were Mom and Dad, even used those names to talk to and of each other. The “parents as friends, call me by my name” thing came later. Even in about 1990, when I’d been married for years, it occurred to me once to call my mother by her given name. She gave me such a look!!

In Europe, well-brought-up kids are taught to ask “Please may I leave the table?” when finished. As for TV, in S. Europe where I live, it usually is right next to the dining table and runs constantly throughout the meal (not in our house, though.) This comes from the times when TV had only two half-channels. Channel 1 started broadcasting at 3 PM with the news (lunchtime here), while Channel 2 started at about 7 PM. They both signed off by 2 AM at the latest. We didn’t have 24-hr broadcasting till the late 1980s.

That’s right, “what channel?”

If I remember this rightly, the adults talked pretty much ignoring us children unless we complained that we were bored or finished, they would then tell us that it was rude to leave the table while others were eating (true in a restaurant) and then continue to ignore us while hardly touching their food while they talked. I’m on Calvin’s side in this (other than that the TV is the demon that has helped destroy society :D )

Calvin’s parents were never given names, since as far as the strip is concerned, they are only important as Calvin’s mom and dad.

As with so many things in life, it’s all about balance. Parents need to set aside mealtime as family time and use it to give their kids some undivided attention. At the same time, they need to be sensitive to the fact that little kids are little kids, not little adults, and not force them to sit and listen to adult conversation in which they are incapable of participating, after they have finished eating.

Just eat your spinach and broccoli.

Calvin’s right. Why do you think they invented TV Dinners? (Guess I’m showing my age here)

I’m with Calvin’s mom & dad on this one. Our family dinners were great open discussions – even when my brother and I were younger. Everyone expressed their opinions – and were encouraged to do so. I think we learned to respect and love one another in spite of our differences. It was a great learning opportunity, and enriching personal experience in growing up. Sadly, it may be a time honored tradition that is losing it’s place in a divided society with faceless beliefs. Oophh…. all this from a cartoon???

When I was very small, it was radio. Then, in the early 50s we got our first TV. Although there was little true entertainment (as today), it was the latest thing and family life started to evolve around the medium. When color was added, it was another edge to a somewhat tedious adventure.Today, radio and TV are still with us; but, now we have the computer and of course, the internet to waste our brains!I don’t know what the future will hold, and I really don’t care. One rule I always abide by is moderation. To much of anything is not always good.Well, you can’t really have too much coffee! I think I’ll get another cup now…

In the early days, there were constant arguments over which channel (only 2 or 3) to watch, as when one channel had someting really good on, the other channel would too (and then pulp the rest of the evening!)This pitted husbands against wives, and sometimes parents against children as programs were usually live, thus no chance to view later.Videotaping changed this, especially when videotape came available to the mass market – view one channel while viewing the other.Even when Beta/VHS machines were more expensive than the TVs, people were buying them (Fortunately, mass production brought the prices down) Example: 1965 Motorola introduced the “Time Machine” for $999 – a reel to reel format (equate apx $4000 today!)

Watching the TV as a family weakens communication because if somebody talks it’s “Ssssh! Sssssh!”

xxx

It’s not the 50’s anymore. Sadly, this is missing from the lives of many children today, and I think that while we may not have always appreciated it, we were better off for having had it. I realize now that I learned much about real life in this time period.

denis1112Thanks for ruining a thread about a strip that has nothing to do with politics or international conflict.

I hate it when everyone is playing with their phone. My daughter-in-law will as me a question and never look up.

Ask, sorry .

Think of all the starving children in (China) (Afghanistan) (Ethiopia)…. Kids these days probably don’t know that there are such places, much less where they are….

Nothing ever stopped my family from talking during a show, which drove me crazy. I was so happy when I could afford my own apartment and watch whatever I wanted when I wanted, and no distractions,