Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for January 27, 2023

That’s why many cultures ask you to leave all footwear outside.

Hopefully his feet aren’t even muddier.

You stepped on “it” on purpose, didn’t you, Calvin?

Assumptions!

Out of the pan and into the fire

Reboot to blue-screen!

The point Calvin is missing is that Mom didn’t know he was wearing boots to avoid making a mess. Mom was partly to blame for not asking Calvin why he has wearing boots in the house. Calvin was largely to blame for not removing his shoes to begin with and also with not realising that Mom wasn’t aware of his reason for wearing boots.

It is probable that Calvin didn’t remove his shoes as he was planning to go out again and put the boots over his shoes as a way of covering his dirty shoes without the trouble of taking them off and cleaning them.

I’ll never understand those who don’t take shoes off when in the house…

Why not, Mom? These boots were made for walking.

The first thing we do when we get home is take our shoes off.

If his shoes are muddy, so are the insides of his boots, now! ☺️

My bare feet are, often as not, too filthy to walk indoors.

Wait until she finds out!

Size 4 shoes, size 8 boots.

Makes me wonder what he stepped in…

Wait until she shakes out his pockets

Yep… Calvin strikes again.

I often didn’t remember to do this, but one thing that worked really well for me when my children were young was to ask them why they were doing something before making any decisions about how I’d react. This cartoon is a pretty good example of why that worked.

So Calvin, been dumpster diving again, have we?

I leave my shoes in the garage and just wear my socks in the house. This is why I’m always late for appointments

Hey, take off those dirty feet!

My wife has tried to do the “take shoes off before entering the house” thing several times… it never lasted a week. I frequently do chores that take me outside for less than a minute (taking out the garbage or bringing in food from the freezer, unloading groceries from the car, ….) We also have two dogs and two cats that do not wear shoes. The floor has to be cleaned regularly anyway; leaving shoes on only increases the frequency.

I keep forgetting that shoes are worn in some households. It’s just so normal not to in mine, and in the general area where I live.