Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson for March 09, 2014

Sometimes I had wondered why the younger Japanese sibling called their older sibling “Onii/Onee-chan” when, say, Touya (of Cardcaptor Sakura) and Kyou (of Clannad) are their real names.

“Madeline Urquhart Otterloop”. Very distinguished.

It does tend to come as a shock to children as young as Alice (or younger), but Mommy and Daddy and Auntie and Uncle and even Grandma and Grandpa do have real, honest-to-gosh names of their own, and often even use them!Petey, however, may have overdone it by raising the issue of maiden names, which is (relatively speaking) a far more advanced concept….

Let us never speak of (shudder) middle names!

So Madeline’s Scottish, eh?

Ah, Alice, there are so many things you have to learn about your parents. And they will continue to shock you for years to come. Hee hee hee.

If she ever finds out that Miss Bliss has a name, all hell is going to break loose.

All kids think their parents didn’t exist until they were born. Poof! Mommy and Alice arrived together.

Petey, you just overloaded Alice’s senses.

Notice how fast Petey is moving his foot in the last panel?

And Pete’s real name is: Big Brother Jerk!

My parents are fond of telling the story of when I was four. I started calling the by their first names, instead of “Mom” and “Dad”. When asked why, I responded: ‘Cause that’s youse’ [sic] names.

When my younger sister Cindy was four, she got very angry with me when I told her that her real name was Cynthia. What a lovely age is four, so full of discoveries!

Wow! Just like the castle on the shores of Loch Ness!

Whoa does that mean that Petey is a junior? This is just too much for me. I can understand the frustration. She should go get that little sword on him again.

That’s just as bad as meeting your teacher in the supermarket, or bank, or anyplace outside of school.

As if they actually have a life, and are not stored in a closet at the end of the school day.