If you hadnāt realised by now, Bluey is not a kids show. Itās a show for parents that kids also happen to enjoy.
Ok, well maybe notābut thereās no doubt that itās a lot of parentsā number one choice if thereās going to be screen time.
Thereās some great parenting tips and tricks that Iāve picked up watching the showāthe writers always seem to draw upon the latest schools of thought in childhood development, as well as fabled as old as time, to teach both kids and adults valuable life lessons in such a delightful, joyous way.
So to stop me going on and on about just how great Bluey is, letās actually look at five episodes that taught me lessons that helped me in my own parentingāand might help you too.
Dance Mode
The core concept behind this episode is a great lesson for kids to learn, but it was also a really important reminder for me personally, as my natural tendency is to jump right to the next thing and hurry things along, meaning sometimes Iāve made decisions for my daughter without giving her time to give her input.
Essentially, Bandit eats Bingoās last chip in a cafe, and as a way of making it up to her, she gets to use āDance Modeā three times, meaning one of the others in her family has to dance to whatever musicās playingābut the first two get used by Bluey and Chilli, whilst Bandit buys the last one off her (which Bluey convinces her to). Bingo is sad because, even though she said yes to all of those people asking, she didnāt actually want to. Her outside voice said yes, but her inside voice said no.
Hidden behind whatās a really fun episode was a great lesson for me in looking out for when they want or donāt want something, but outside pressures are forcing their decision another way.
Pirates
This is a rare episode that Bandit actually appears to be embarrassed or self-conscious about the way he plays with Bluey and Bingo, which is very much an āall-inā approach.
Banditās playing pirates with the girls and their friend in the park, putting on silly voices and being loud, when another dad walks into the park with his kid. Bandit clocks him, and suddenly gets all shy and tones himself way down, much to the confusion of the kids. Eventually though, heās brave enough to ignore the other dad there and go back to being completely enveloped in their game.
It spoke to me personally because Iām not a person who likes to be the centre of attention or put myself out there for the judgment of others. I knew though that as a dad, sometimes youāre going to end up dragged up on stage at the kidās club on holiday or some other awkward situation.
It also reminded me that even though I might think Iām on show or exposed in a situation, most people probably arenāt thinking about me or even noticing me. Case in point; when the other dad sees Bandit launch back into his stride, he smiles.
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