If The Family Circus has any social value, it shows parents that their children are normal. And if there is a philosophy behind the feature, it's this: A home filled with love and laughter is the happiest place in the world.

Working at home for the first time with our five children under foot, I discovered that most of the magazine cartoons I was selling had to do with family life and small children. I then decided to produce The Family Circus .

I like to feel that what I'm doing portrays this: a family where there is love between mother, father and the kids. It's a subject that is dear to me.

I wish to thank my parents for making it all possible...and I wish to thank my children for making it necessary.

Many young parents think linearly. Get a job, move up, buy a house, start a family, educate the children — and then think about retirement. But once they've taken care of the kids, there's not enough time to benefit from the compounding of earnings over 30 or more years.

My parents placed a high priority on education of their children, as their whole
generation has, ... They saw the value of the opportunity that it presented to
my generation.