Cringer

Today’s new Dustinland comic is about a dad trying to relate to his kid and getting shot down multiple times. I think most dads can relate. Maybe moms too. You know, once they even approach those teenage years they just turn into little weasels. But I do think they may in some ways think you’re cool — they just won’t let you know it.

Daditude

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about how us dads can’t help but annoy our kids. I don’t know what it is, but I just feel compelled to do so. But I’m not as bad as the dad from Calvin & Hobbes. He just straight up lied to his kid constantly, and I would feel bad if I made my son go to school believing there were 75 planets in the solar system or that tigers were really just house cats given too much food. Yeah, I’m not the “tricked you” kinda dad, I’m the “oh my god that joke again stop it please” kinda dad. Good times.

Drunk With Power

I’ve covered this topic before, but in this week’s new Dustinland comic I discuss what happens when parents try to crack down on their kids’ entitled behaviors. I think a lot of this is an age thing. Unless you raise your kids all strict and stuff (which is probably awesome), they reach a certain age where they are in the middle — old enough to want to do stuff on their own, but young enough to still cling to the convenience of childhood when mommy gets them what they need because if they try to do it on their own it will just create a huge disaster for everyone. Either way though, I wind up drinking by the end.

Parent Interrupted

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about how my kid is always interrupting me when I’m in the middle of a sentence, and then about how I just know there will be two kinds of comments. Older folks whose kids are grown or younger people who don’t have kids will tell me what I’m doing wrong. And people with kids around the same age as mine will comment in agreement. However… now that I called that out in a preemptive strike, the comments will now include offended people from the former group.

Also, two new Birdys.

Bad Spell

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about how dumb spelling can be in the English language. This is nothing new, many people have written and spoken about it, but it is something that comes to light if you have kids. As an adult, you just accept how illogical some of our spellings are, but when you constantly have to teach your child these ridiculous letter concoctions without being able to ever explain why, it really comes back hard.

Also new this week — Birdy. Three new Shakespearean strips. Because there’s such a huge crossover with Birdy readers and Shakespeare fans.

Like Son

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about bad jokes. Or dad jokes. Or son jokes. But you know… for someone like me, well… let’s just say there are cliche proud dad moments, like when your kid hits a home run in Little League. For me, my son making the joke he makes in this new comic… that’s my home run moment.

6 Disappointing Things To Do With Your Kids

I think the title of this week’s new Dustinland comic speaks for itself. Not to say there aren’t fun things to do with kids, or that these things in the comic can’t actually be fun. It’s just that so much of being a parent is trying to make your kid happy, only to have it blow up in your face. On the other hand, sometimes the most fun you’ll ever have as a family is just around the house, when doing nothing turns into doing something super unexpectedly amazing or hilarious. But that’s a way less funny comic. No one wants to read “6 Amazingly Fun Times I Had With My Family”. I mean…. I guess some people want to read that, but some people also collect Precious Moments Figurines.

La Parenteria

This week’s new Dustinland comic features meal time at my home, reimagined as if it were a restaurant. Yes, I am the waiter, and my demanding, picky child is the customer. I would imagine we all feel like this at some point, and even my parents probably did so many years ago, despite me being the perfect child.

But yeah, kids don’t eat anything and it’s maddening. Fun times.

Home Grueling

Ahhh this new Dustinland comic is NOT about politics for a change. Really nice to take a break from that. Not that I am suggesting it’s time to take a break from caring, but after election season, we all deserve a break.

This week’s strip is about home schooling during quarantine. But it’s not like, super stressful or serious. It’s just good clean fun at the expense of frustrated parents, who would be frustrated anyway by something else, but now it’s this, or that, or the other thing your kid is doing when you’re home together all day. And all winter. Oh boy it’s gonna be a lonngggggg winter.

They’re Listening

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about how our kids are silently absorbing all the negative political conversations we have while they’re playing off in the corner, seemingly ignoring us.

Now, in the comic, I joke about being proud of my son’s actual real life quote, but in all seriousness, I find it concerning. I don’t want him to be as stressed out and negative as I am. But I guess it can’t help but seep in. Because they really are little sponges, and they’re listening, even when you think they’re not. And whether you’re a liberal, a conservative, or something in between (which I think is actually the truth for most of us), we need to protect our kids from the unrelenting negativity, hate and cynicism that’s dominating politics in the U.S. — and in much of the world, from what it sounds like. We need the next generation to grow up thinking they can make a difference, in their own lives, and to the world.

So yeah, as funny as it can seem, no more Dusty Downers…