Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for May 22, 2018

Wow, you actually feel for the kid.

This is why kids rarely admit to their mistakes.

giggle, snort I’m sorry. I can’t stop laughing at dad’s faces except the last pan- phbt HAHA HAHA!!!! XD

I remember these incidents as a kid.

“Why did you lie to me?! That’s just going to make me angrier!”

“Not measurably… I’m getting stomped even if I confess, and experience tells me that I’ve got a decent chance of getting away with it if I lie.”

(My actual response was silent, of course.)

Hobbes would have turned it back on Dad and asked him what he was thinking of, letting a six year old use a brand new pair of binoculars—has Dad LOST HIS MIND???? He’s supposed to be the adult, here!

Our little imp has a tear in his eye and dad is beginning to fall for his sob story. Calvin’s a real pro.

The man was always hit and miss with the whole fatherhood thing. I think this event is what made it sink in.

My dad was pretty old school southern. If I had tried that when I was a kid, it would only have made it worse.

Anger is an acceptable response. Normal actually. Parents that don’t get upset, don’t get angry, and “coddle” a child create a child that doesn’t haven’t a healthy sense of right and wrong.

SUCH a good strip, here. Calvin’s dad is justifiably angry, but blows his stack even more than he should have. Calvin’s confessed his error, but is fearful and hurt by the response. And then Calvin’s dad, realizing his error, is hurt by what he’s just done to his son. SO MUCH and it’s just four panels.

This is why Watterson is the master, and everyone else are just peons before him.

Except I don’t think Calvin has to “pretend” this time.

This was the storm Calvin was waiting for. At least that part’s over now.

Don’t forget Calvin was running down the sidewalk throwing the binoculars in the air. This wasn’t just an “oops I dropped them” incident.

Why give yourself an ulcer with all that drama? Just teach the little hard-head that a hard head leads to a soft butt and keep it moving.

Technically, Calvin has no respect for gravity since he threw the binoculars up into the air only to drop them, and now the gravity of his action has caught up to him.

But if he didn’t allow the use, then he would be a terrible meany and not trusting his son.

Annnddd.. is this Dad’s reaction from an objective viewpoint, or how Calvin sees it?

One word: SUCKER!

I don’t think you need to pretend, Calvin.

Why would you entrust a expensive pair of binoculars to a young child? Buy him a set of field glasses of his own.

In my experience, preemptive guilt never worked.

If Calvin had been pretending with his Dad he would have been openly enlisting Hobbes in a plan to con his dad Instead we see him scared and remorseful with his one true friend.

Dad owns this as well. Where’s Hobbes when you need him? A roar would have been good at this point. ;-)

Man… Carful with the strip.

I was a couple years older than Calvin, I guess, when I remember my mom bearing down on me wrathfully, quoting, `Spare the rod, spoil the child.`

Just in time, inspiration hit me: I replied, `Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.`

She could not help laughing.It only worked once.

Certainly the tirade can’t be doing a whole lotta good. Don’t give a 6 year old a pair of expensive binoculars to play with and certainly don’t let him take them outside.

Used to tell the kids that I knew what they’d done and they’d look sheepish. Then I’d tell them what they did after that and their jaws would drop. ’Cause I could never have been a kid their age.