Between 1985 and 1995, Calvin–the six-year-old boy (he’s always six! the whole decade!) who lives with a large stuffed tiger named Hobbes in Bill Watterson’s famous comic strip–destroyed lots of stuff. Six-year-olds do that. But now a half -satirical, half-serious institute has put a figure on the damage Calvin caused. Matt J. Michel of Proceedings of the Natural Science Institute estimates Calvin’s destruction total at nearly $16,000. The boy broke things like jars, sure, and that’s pocket change. But he also flooded the house, which Michel estimates would have cost his parents $4,798.83. (The estimate comes from homewyse.com.)
Michel coyly considers his Calvin and Hobbes research as part of a larger consideration about how much it costs to raise a child–and brings in statistics from federal agencies to background his research. One observant commenter mentioned that Michel doesn’t add any Emergency room visits, a near certainty during ten years of being six years old!
