It's about time someone with a sense of humor showed up to address "work-life balance" for ambitious, intelligent mommies...

Congrats, kids! Motherhood is no barrier to continued success in life. Take for example, Marie Skodowska-Curie, the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences. She was the mother of Irène Joliot-Curie (another Nobel Prize in chemistry) and Ève Curie (a journalist who married Henry Richardson Labouisse, Jr. who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his founding of UNICEF). So, motherhood (and fatherhood) is (are) not the end of the world!

Call me a party-pooper, but I'm not happy to see Alex and Leo enter into parenthood so early -- in their early twenties, without clear financial security. Yes, Leo has a job, but is it enough to support a family? What about Alex's career; is she going to be able to continue grad school, or are her dreams and aspirations going to be shunted aside for motherhood? Didn't she learn anything from her grandmother, and even from her mother, about the importance of finding yourself before bringing children into this world? I'm sure GBT is going to handle this with much humor, but a couple of 23-year-olds rushing into parenthood isn't something to celebrate or laugh about.

Don't worry -- the twins have two dedicated parents. Toggle will ensure Alex doesn't give up everything career-related for motherhood, and will do his best to ensure their kids have what they need!

My heart sank for Alex. Children are a blessing, but consider the circumstances: shaky marriage (last we saw, she didn't know the name of her husband's school), both spouses still in school and living separately, husband with a severe disability, two demanding careers, no reference to support from a neighborhood or from a religious community, dicey relationships with both spouses' mothers, no father-in-law, no mention of significant financial resources, and no room in the trailer for nanny Zonker. Hats off to her if she can manage it. I don't think I could.

I hope you take the opportunity to showcase some of the real difficulties in academia for female scientists with children. How will Alex have the time to be part of a research team? What difficulties will she have being taken seriously by mentors? Future employers? What will she find she is giving up by deciding to have children so early in her career? There are many, many difficulties to explore.

I'm delighted to see the excitement over the next Doonesbury generation announcement. And laughing at the expectations for Mike, Joanie, Rick, and of course the happy couple. But I personally can't wait to see how Kim handles this. After all, she was such a wonderful baby.

Twins. Happiness for the parents? Happiness for the seven billion plus folks already overburdening the planet? GBT gave us a genius, a woman of great potential, but lacking common sense.

The news of twins ("an Army of Two") had real resonance with us. We were equally amazed when my son (Captain, Army intelligence, Fort Benning) and his wife discovered through ultrasound that she was having twin boys. Doonesbury has defined my life.

What convergence! In the 5-years-ago-today Flashback, Rick is unknowingly meeting his future grandson-in-law and father of his great grandchildren by marriage. I wonder if Rick recalled this encounter when introduced to Toggle/Leo by Alex a few years later.

I just want to reassure the concerned that PhD students, women who have children during their studies, can and do in fact complete their PhDs and have careers. I saw some of my fellow doctoral students do this.

As a mother of twins, I suggest that Alex and Leo take lots of pictures, as they won't remember the first two years. Also, enjoy intimacy during the pregnancy, as when both twins manage to fall asleep at the same time you will just pass out. And as the daughter of a one-eyed man, I suggest that the twins avoid standing, walking or approaching their father's blind side. If they do, they risk being bumped or knocked over.

It's so sad that Alex and Toggle's lives are already over because they never heard of birth control.

Twins! Oh Garry, what are you cooking up now? Please, please name the evil one Skippy!

Well this is an interesting development. But here's hoping Alex will have enough time to fulfill her potential for being one of the supergeniuses of the 21st century.

Pack your bags, Zonker! Those twins are going to need a nanny. A new generation to inspire...

Jackball son, zero pension, his career a fading memory -- and now poor Rick is soon going to be married to a great-grandmother. Egad.

Congratulations to Alex and Leo. Here's advice to them and all expectant parents of multiples -- go to the National Organization of Mothers of Twins website and find a club near you. There is nothing like the support you get from people who have been there.

Eeeeee! Yes-yes-yes! Mike's gonna be a Gramps! Twins! And Toggle's gonna be a Poppa! And Alex is gonna be a Mom! Eeeeee! (Grins and dances and hope this goes well for all of them.) Thanks, GBT. This is the sort of sweet payoff that makes decades of reading investment particularly rewarding.

Geez, this strip is getting to be like Gasoline Alley, only more politically incisive! Way to shake things up, GBT. It will be interesting to see Alex's handling of motherhood, considering how wonderful her own mom was...