Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for September 15, 2021

I don’t want to know what Calvin is doing in the pool at this moment.

I don’t think that kind of threat would be allowed nowadays.

Ahh, the classic “Twist your cold wet towel and use it as whip” trick. Remember that?

Was Rosalyn raised in Hitlerjugend?

Yes, lifeguards resuscitate people. But first they have to make them need resuscitation.

I like this woman!

He “gets her drift!” laughter

Fear and freezing go very well together!

Notice how Roslyn’s face gets when she’s “getting her point across”…

I THOUGHT that the ↯snap↯ of a whip (or rat tail) was caused by the tip exceeding the speed of sound. But nope, not for bullwhips at least. Either way, though, you can raise a painful welt, even through a bathing suit. Don’t ask how I know…

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/true-cause-of-whips-crack/

When he’s older those two are gonna have safe words.

No need to soak a towel, a dry towel done like this is still pretty painful.

Yes, Mistress.

I’m moving house this weekend, so I may not be online for a few days, you lucky people ;-P

Drift duly gotten…

I think that swimming is a basic survival skill that everyone should learn.

I’m also an advocate of teaching people how to do a parachute landing fall. I can’t count the number of injuries I didn’t get by knowing how to take a fall.

Tomorrow, he won’t want to get out of the pool.

Hey, just because I’m pissing in the pool right now, it doesn’t mean I’m scared of you. You rat-tail-terrorist.

Been there done that. I don’t EVER want to be on the receiving end.

She’s practicing her whipping skills for her next job as a dominatrix

My dad did that to my mom when they were dating.

She still [rightly] holds it over him to this very day.

Being a lifeguard, she nearly scared the life out of poor little Cal!

Calvin has definitely prepared Rosalyn well for the challenges of motherhood. ;-)

Swimming instructors should not make idol threats. Cannot force a child who does not want to learn to swim. I know an old comic strip, yet to day’s could be applied to current times.

Good night, kid – you pretend to be a shark in the bathtub, for cryin’ out loud! Use your imagination!

Go ahead and let her whip you, Calvin. When your mom sees the welts, you probably won’t have to put up with Rosalyn again.

This is pretty much the only time Rosalyn actually threatened to physically hurt Calvin!

Rosalyn loves to meet Calvin’s drama with her own dramatic threats. Nowhere have we seen her carry out her threats to do physical harm. She knows how to get his attention with drama.

I would think Calvin would realize a pool is much better than a bathtub for playing shark or submarine or torpedo run or pirate ship etc.

call child services….

She needs to bring that towel with her the next time she babysits Calvin!

Calvin is not on his home turf. No Mom or Dad protecting him. He doesn’t have his comfort animal Hobbes to back him up. Reality.

SHWICK!

In High School in the 1950s, swimming was mandatory in Gym class. Those of us unlucky enough to get Gym first period had to go outdoors in 20F weather and jump into an unheated pool in a nearby park. The water actually felt warm after being in the frigid air.

Rosalyn sure knows how to handle this six year old, alright. Her practice to resuscitate will come handy soon, I guess.

Calvin, a wet suit might be a good idea.

I have not encountered the term “rat tail” anywhere else, but I remember it just in case.

When we were kids, snapping towels at each other was a common form of amusement. None of us were really hurt. It wasn’t until the ‘me generation’ grew up with ‘the pill’ and ‘if it feels good, do it!’ – and no lasting or serious commitments, that our culture changed.

The proliferation of broken homes led to fights over the kids’ affections, which led to wanting a legal stick to beat up the parent who got custody after the divorce. Parents couldn’t just say they were angry because of the situation their selfish behavior had caused. No one would listen to that. Instead, the parent who didn’t get custody asserted that NO ONE should be allowed to do what the parent who had custody (or his/her new partner) did with/to the kids, and pushed us into the madness we have today. Now people use laws, created for the benefit of selfish ex-parents in the false name of pure concern for all children, to beat up anyone and everyone because ‘no one should be allowed to do that’.

How many young people today realize the selfish origins of the current laws placing all parenting under the watchful eye of Big Brother or Big Sister?

Please consider the possibility that the persons pushing something on you as pure and unselfish may have motives they have not mentioned because such would prevent the selfish outcome(s) they desire. Always do your best to think things through for yourself, and consider the possibility that media, now as always, can be biased.

Read what people wrote 50, 100, and hundreds of years ago to gain perspective. Get copies that haven’t been edited for ‘modern’ audiences. Learn other languages. Try to transcend your current culture’s time and place. Consider how later generations might view your culture. Try not to be a pawn in some group’s culture wars. Learn wariness from historical examples like the Hitler Youth.

Yes, we thought this cartoon was hilarous. (:

HA!! Roslyn’s really getting her revenge now!

Lesson #2: Do you know what a welt looks like?

Thoughts about certain characters after reading the comics for years…..Ed Crankshaft should’ve been fired years ago, Calvin’s dad is a terrible parent, and Roslyn should never be allowed near children.