Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for June 29, 2024

Make sure Calvin doesn’t order a pizza after this.

Well done, kid

He left the table without getting dessert.

He can run, but he can’t hide.

Clever.

dine & dash — Calvin style

And you fell for it, Mom! I thought you knew better by now!

Save a plate for when he’s hungry again in about half an hour…….

No song and dance number? Oh, that was a Sunday comic.

Good move Calvin.

Yep, and when he remembers DESSERT, she’ll scrape it all back on his plate saying, “Enjoy, Kiddo!”

Double helping for you, mom.

I could have used this when I was his age. On second thought, since I didn’t sit at the table, I couldn’t. Our table seated 6: my parents & the 4 older siblings sat there, with my little brother’s high chair next to Mom; my older brother & I ate at the counter.

With Cal, even a short-lived success is a win. He always forgets the back swing.

I guess there are some kids who would rather go to bed hungry than to eat what’s offered. Not in my house when I was Calvin’s age. That wouldn’t make for a funny strip though.

Calvin could have given it to Hobbes as well…

I would do that with brussel sprouts in a heartbeat…and I’m 63 years old!

I could never have gotten away with that stunt. I’d have been recalled to the table, made to finish my supper and likely had the same thing again the next night if there were leftovers.

Whatcha gonna do when you get hungry, Calvin?

As little as Calvin seems to eat…

I actually saw an old movie serial — I think it was called “Zorro’s Fighting Legion” — where Zorro did this. He was trapped by a bunch of soldiers. He pointed off-screen and said "Look!’ and all the soldiers dutifully looked where he was pointing, giving Zorro his chance to attack.

He’s been practicing and really has that wrist action down

does she fall for that every time?

Like the battle of wits in the Princess Bride.

Wish I’d been able to pull that off.

In real life: what is it anyway with parents insisting that the kids “clean their plate”?

It is the most ridiculous kind of forced eating, and no wonder Americans grow up with all kinds of eating disorders…

When I read this I knew there’d be some interesting cultural judging.

Don’t knock opportunity until you’ve tried it.

My sister and her husband became parents to twins at a later age. When the boys were toddlers to preschool age, meal times were interesting. The boys never wanted to sit for antsy period of time and eat. They preferred to ‘graze’. The food would be plated and on the table, but they boys would come by, take a few bites, and go off to do whatever it was they were in the middle of…building something most likely. This is how it would go at every dinner. Not in my house. When it was time to eat, all four kids would come through the kitchen and dish up their plates and head to the table where we would all eat and would be there until the last person was done (unless someone hadn’t finished their homework which gave them a pass to leave).

Carpe diem, or is it cave tigrem?

Only Calvin think on his feet.

Oh, oh… Calvin is going to want a snack later that evening. Mom will scold him for his attempt to fool her at dinner.

I love how dad is genuinely curious.

Now you see him and the food. Now you don’t.