Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for December 24, 2021

Roslyn is calculating the overtime as she lies to her employer.

That’s what they told Abe Lincoln…..

As if mom would be concerned even if it really was Calvin “crying” for help.

The telly… riiiiiiight.

That’s dated, calling from a payphone

Last episode he was afraid to make any noise…

Mom’s pride and joy

Mom is going to pay Rosalyn an extra $100 to find out how she got Calvin into bed by 6:00.

Since this strip originally came out while some of my children were still at home, the phone seems natural to me. You may not have noticed that Watterson stopped drawing this strip nearly 30 years ago..

We, of course, never needed a sitter with such a strong character, but we appreciate Rosalyn’s determination in dealing with a little devil like Calvin. ‘Mom’ would never get her night out without Rosalyn. :)

Is the TV show The Prisoner?

Oh, she’s good. She’s really good.

Calvin, what makes you think Mom will even talk to you? After all, she’s the one who hired the babysitter from Hell!!

I still have one working dial phone in the house, you can no longer dial out with it (the dial works, but technology doesn’t) however, you can answer the phone and talk on it.

You know Mom’s going to know something happened when she heard “Calvin went to bed early”…

Have a great Christmas, everyone! :} )=

by today’s standards, Rosalyn would end up in jail for child abuse….

It’s a lost cause, Cal. Your Mom is in cahoots with Roz.

In retrospect, it’s a good thing Calvin wasn’t really in trouble. Of course, I suppose it helps if everyone involved knows Calvin is the trouble, mostly.

The day Rosalyn finally plays Calvinball with C&H, she discovers what she should have been doing all along. He tired out and they both enjoyed that day.

at least its push button and not a rotary

Supposedly some places installed rotary dial payphones late into the Touch Tone era to deter drug dealers from using their pagers. How’d that work out for them?

This is sad!

I know we’re on sabbatical reruns, but I wonder if the initial run will be broken in order to put a Christmas strip tomorrow.

I love the rotary phone that Rosalyn is talking on.

Send reinforcements! FAST!

At first they were called push-button phones. Then some super-salesman came up with the idea to call them touch-tone phones and could get more buxx selling them.

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

This “hold down the fort” expression is puzzling. For the last 200 years, the expression was “hold the fort”, i.e. “don’t give up the ship; resist, persist, help is on the way”. “Down” not only doesn’t add anything, it’s incoherent. A similar bone-headed “elaboration” of a familiar phrase is the embellishment of “fight tooth and nail” (i.e., fight fiercely) by “tooth and toenail”, which is hardly an improvement.

Landlines. How quaint.

Hello

huh? NO CHRISTMAS???? REALLY?!