Hey what’s the weirdest, morally neutral parenting hack thing you do? For us our 2.5 year old refuses to take any kind of medicine so we mix her meds in sugar free root beer and call it magic root beer

I do a lot of what I call Reframe and Rename. Literally it's just calling the Hated/Dreaded Thing something else that doesn't carry the Evil Associations. Yes it will sound dumb at first and anyone who overhears is gonna think you're nuts, but you can't let the child know you think that or they'll see through it.

It's not time for a shower (evil herald of bedtime or going places), it's time for Inside Rainstorm (fun defying the laws of nature playtime).

It's not "you have to ride in the shopping cart today so mama doesn't lose you in the crowded store" (cruel affront to autonomy), "let's do Buggy Racecar Obstacle Course today" (powerful chaotic zoomies time).

Soup or stew (wicked disgusting food that will surely kill us all) becomes "veggies and glorpy sauce" (mysterious and fun!).

"You want some meat/beans/tofu/[insert actual food name here]?" = meltdown freakout "You want some protein for your big ol' muscles?" = holy crap she actually just ate a protein of her own volition

When in doubt, just describe the thing, preferably in the most bonkers way possible.

There’s always a Calvin and Hobbes comic for every parenting situation lol

🤣 This reminds me of when I was like 2, my mom and dad called onion rings "fried circles" to get me to eat them

I thinks folks expressing incredulity at the quality of the writing and composition in Calvin and Hobbes are often missing the context that Bill Watterson is arguably the most influential sequential artist of his generation. Like, this is a guy who once told the editors of nationally syndicated newspapers to go fuck themselves when they wanted to mess with his panel layouts, and not only did he keep his job, he got his way. He could have had literally any gig he wanted, and he chose to be the Sunday funnies guy because that's what made him happy. He's basically the Weird Al of sequential art.

Watterson considers comics to be as true an art form as painting and films and literature, capable of reaching just as high as any other medium. Calvin and Hobbes isn't accidentally high art. Watterson made it what it is on purpose. And when he was done, he stopped. No movie, no spinoff, no reboot. He considers the comic to be its completed form, in exactly the medium it is supposed to be. He believed in comics in a way few others ever have, and he fought tooth and nail for the right to take his own work, jokes and all, seriously.

is your brother calvin of bill watersons classic american comic strip calvin and hobbes

is this your brother

we make a lot of jokes here on tumblr dot com but at the end of the day i still fundamentally want monster parts that science can't give me

It’s weird to think this comic predates the rise of Internet spam, though otherwise it reads like it could’ve been drawn yesterday.

I've been thinking about the phrase "verbing weirds language" for nearly 30 years

we make a lot of jokes here on tumblr dot com but at the end of the day i still fundamentally want monster parts that science can't give me

LOVE THE PICTURE!!! All my favorite tigers in one place!

Calvin is the most relatable protagonist in the history of anything.

is your brother calvin of bill watersons classic american comic strip calvin and hobbes

is this your brother

Calvin and Hobbes my beloved ❤️

I will never forgive the person that made that fake last Calvin and Hobbes comic about Calvin taking his meds and then he doesn’t see Hobbes anymore

Bill Waterson understands the human condition just as well as if not better than Shakespeare. I die on this hill.

Tigger would beat Hobbes in a fight.

Anyone who thinks Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes is only part of Calvin's imagination and not real we can't be friends

Reading Calvin and Hobbes as an adult is realising that Calvin’s dad is just as chaotic as his son, he’s just quiet about it.

Some of y’all have never read a Calvin and Hobbes collection as a kid and it shows.