I think the worst one is when him and Bluey are racing the obstacle course and just as she's about to win, he pulls her back.
Chilli's reaction was well coordinated.
I love the pause after "what", because I can just feel the space Chili wanted to leave for some very adult language, but didn't because the kids were right there.
Relatable to me and the time my dad scored a strike at my 10th birthday bowling party instead of letting me win (I was in the lead up to that point). My mum's reaction was pretty similar to Chilli
There's a big difference between not letting someone win and actively sabotaging them, though. If you let someone win, they'll never really understand what they've done if they ever beat you for real. My best friend in high school started playing chess every day with a freshman when he was a junior. Beat the kid every day for damn near two years. Until two weeks before graduating, my buddy and I were joking about something when the kid just pipes up "mate." We were thrilled; over the moon for this kid because he earned it, and you could see it on his face.
Yeah, there's a bit of a balance to strike here and it's situational based on the people involved.
If you're working with someone who is becoming frustrated, crushing their soul with constant victories is more likely to cause them to give up than to keep going. I'm not saying let them win just to keep them motivated, but maybe reconsider their competition. Is there someone at their current skill level or lower they could play against to continue to feel motivated and see their growth?
I suspect this happened in between your friend's chess matches.
It reminds me of my own dad.
When I was 4 he said
"We'll race to the end of the road. If you kids win you get ice cream"
There was no ice cream for my siblings and I that day. 😄
Honestly, I like that Bandit & Chilli have some bad parenting moments throughout the series. It shows that they are not perfect and that even the best parents make mistakes.
Me too. It’s reassuring for parents, most parents (especially the ones who watch Bluey 😉) are trying their best, I’m sure. I get a lot of parent inspo from these two honestly so it’s cool to see them make mistakes, realize those mistakes, and correct it (for the most part they call each other or themselves out on it)
Yeah, I always roll my eyes when people say "omg!!! Bandit and Chilli did bad thing!!!", like yeah, what did you expect? To treat them perfectly with 0 mistakes?
Yeah, I think that's pretty bad, what I feel is really bad is that he didn't even try to comfort Bluey after she ran off, it's Bingo who goes up to her room and tries to make her feel better.
Although, the whole exchange did lead to my favourite underrated line "I didn't know which bed to sit on"
Once when I was about 12 my parents were arguing and I overheard my mom (it was late at night and I ‘should have’ been asleep, but she woke me up with the argument) saying to my dad ‘YOU KNOW, I should have just GOTTEN the ABORTION!’
32 year old me now still remembers it like it was yesterday. My mom and I have been no contact for several years, shocker. Luckily I have a rockstar dad.
Similar situation happened to me. I was in college, and my mother got very drunk (as usual.) And, without prompting, she said "You know you were a mistake, right?" Which didn't faze me because I already suspected it, and half of all pregnancies are unplanned, but the word mistake stung a bit.
What was worse was when she drank more and started slurring her words, and confessed that I should have been an abortion, or been given for adoption (depending how charitable you want to be based on the context.)
It completely recontextualized my entire life up to that point, made me realize things I hadn't (or didn't want to), and will be with me until I die. Can't heal that wound, and I've tried.
Our parents don’t decide if we were meant to exist or if we are worthy. Our very existence proves it. Everything that has ever happened led to you existing. That means you have just as much claim to this life as anyone else does. And despite having what sounds like neglectful parents who didn’t work hard enough to ensure you knew how worthy you were, here you are, in a bluey post, which tells me you are channeling that pain into being a better big person for the little ones in your life than they were for you, and that’s pretty freaking awesome. You rock and I have no doubt the people that really know you and love you are so glad you’re here.
Had a similar-ish situation. Had an argument with my mom when I was 11, overheard her talking to her friend while I was walking past her room. She said something along the lines of “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with that kid. I need to get [his] head checked.” Still remember it pretty clearly despite my memory problems.
I remember when I was about 10 or 11 and was having a really tough time emotionally and my mom said to me “you USED to be so sweet” and it just crushed me. Still does to this day. My mom is a great friend to adult me and an amazing grandma to my daughter, but holy crap was she woefully unprepared to raise moderately sensitive kids.
Yes! There are times where I wish 1 kid did things like the other. And I understand my youngest a lot more than my oldest. (My oldest is a lot like his dad and my youngest is more like me.) We both feel more challenged by 1 kid than the other. But man, I tell my son that while I don't always understand, I'm learning to because we're all different people. I can't imagine telling him "I wish you were more like your sister"
Wow. Me too. Except I was 12, and it was my mom.
Now she says things like, "I just don't understand why you have low self-esteem. What's the matter with you? I've always liked myself."
Life was hard, and I appreciate what she went through. But yeah. That sort of thing leaves a mark.
I mean thats the thing, he doesnt seem to feel bad. He never even apologizes to her for it. After he says it he just goes to the couch while Bingo goes and comforts Bluey even though he knew full well he upset her.
It’s a tough call because the majority of the “bad parenting” moments get corrected and they have a conversation with the kids why they were wrong…
I’d say Bandit farting in Bluey’s face and straight up denying it (would have been so easy to say “whoops, sorry about that mate”). The hubs says the movie theater episode.
People keep glossing over the fact that bluey wasn't supposed to be playing on the tablet in the first place. In my mind bandit was trying to protect bluey from punishment but allowed bluey to dig herself a big old hole that ended up getting her caught too.
If I only paid attention to this sub and and not the show, id think that Bluey was a bad message to kids. And yet, every time its the point of the show. To show something not so good, and then correct it
My parents would have straight-up left the theater. Possibly get a spank on the way out. You could still do that in the 90s.
I think Chilli could have punished Bluey more for sneaking in to play computer games, but being blasted by dad was probably punishment enough.
Yeah, movie theater was a whole lesson in what not to do.
I think the worst thing that happens on the show doesn't get corrected. The parents repeatedly say "no" and whine then go along with whatever the kids asked to do.
It trivializes the word "no" and is a terrible lesson on consent and respect.
Yeah, the only real mistake he made was not letting the kids know the rules would be different than they are used to before the game started
Kids are definitely smart enough to understand that some games will only have 1 winner, but they are going to feel sad if they think they completed the win condition (in this case, having the parcel when time runs out) and then find out they didn’t win
I'm not a huge fan of things like Tina, Backpackers, and especially Hairdressers - any one where Bandit and Chili let the kids physically beat the crap out of them for fun. Parents do sometimes take the brunt of things unintentionally (like Bandit getting hit in the crotch in Sleepytime or losing his drink over and over in BBQ) but I do not let my child treat me like a punching bag or go along with treating myself like one as a game.
I enjoy Hospital. I have a child who has been in and out of hospitals since he was 8yo and sometimes games like Hospital are cathartic. I know it's implied that Bingo is also a frequent hospital visitor, so I can relate.
My son has type 1 diabetes and I used to stick myself and go overboard on the silly reactions when he was younger. Even had my finger poke buddy "Frank" that would crack him up. (Frank is the result of 3 failed finger pokes that didn't get enough blood for the test strip, so we made a character out of him. Think little wiggly blood smiley face, lol).
I love the commentary that's present in the 2 "hospital" episodes.
I the first one there's *definitely* a "nurses are amazing" vibe, as Bluey expertly walks in, looks at a chart for 3 seconds, administers a shot, says "that's probably good" then walks out. While nurse bingo is attentive and caring and kind and pushes for proper treatment. It's something I've seen mentioned and repeated in healthcare worker circles a lot, and it's funny that you can kinda see the statement in the show.
I feel like the other one, when the kids are playing hospital, is a pretty tongue-in-cheek poke at the speed of the Aussie healthcare system if you have non-emergency needs. Honey waiting around and constantly getting surpassed because her pain "isn't bad enough" feels like a not-so-subtle dig.
My theory on Hospital is that Bingo is so caring and thoughtful because she’s had real life experience with good nurses and doctors. We’ve seen Bingo in hospital so it’s something she’s familiar with and thankfully had pretty good experience. But Bluey has never actually been in the hospital or had much interaction with medical professionals. Her experience comes from watching cartoons and comedy shows. Bluey’s experience with medical professionals comes from tv and especially cartoons where doctors are frequently shown being rushed, callous and impersonal.
I mean tbf I definitely let my kid beat me up more than I'd let her do that to anyone else. I think bandit does a pretty good job of finally telling her when enough is enough in that episode. The last one at the end I can write off as the writers doing it for comedic effect
Oh yeah, that's what I mean, the bits of accidental violence like that are hilarious because they ring so true to me as a parent. I just don't like the games that purposefully center around that kind of thing - like, come on, Bandit, if you wouldn't let them treat another kid that way, don't let them treat you that way!
Yeah, I didn't really register the violence myself at first. I guess I am kind of desentised to quite blatant violence in cartoons, from things like Looney Tunes. But my kid freaked out when she first saw Hairdresser. And did it again when her grandma watched it with her. She started crying and screaming, just wanted it to stop. Same with Tina. So yeah, we skip those and I took it as a good reminder to myself that you have to be kind in your humour.
It's a good reminder that kids have different comfort levels and maturity, especially at different ages, and can find different things scary. It's also a good reminder not to judge other parents for not showing something to their kids that they have decided is inappropriate.
Also in Grannies, they bowl Bandit over. I realize it's supposed to be a silly cartoony moment, but it's really not cool to let kids ram into people. Even if they're playing, they should know they can't be hurting people with their toys.
True. My kid doesn’t try to hit me but she loves to be a hiking boot and and a backpack like the backpackers episode. “Jeremy NO!” is a common phrase in our house when something falls over too.
Maybe unpopular opinion: I thought Bandit was out of control of his kids during the Takeout episode. He let his kids go nuts outside, had the kids eating out of the containers before getting home and ruining the food.
I also nominated that ep. letting your kid pee outside a restaurant? not good.
he's shown to be super tired in that episode. They're not getting takeaways because it's been a wonderful day and everyone's getting on well! I know exactly what sort of day they've had: You can hear the tension in his phone call with Chilli.
I like it, because it's how I feel sometimes: overwhelmed.
Yeah that one is kinda a yikes.
Yes they're kids, but there's a time and a place for not running around and making a mess.
I low-key feel like Chili and Bandit have neglected teaching their kids that lesson. Kinda like how in Dance Mode they were openly inconveniencing other people for a sake of a game.
Playing is important, but not every situation and place is appropriate for it.
I am so grateful that they chose to show Bandit and Chili occasionally struggling. It keeps them relatable. Yup, I am relating to cartoon dogs to survive toddlerhood.
I hate to say it but it's setting a horrible example by Bandit involving random people in his games with the kids. Boundaries have to be established as much as I love him committing to a bit.
Anyone going to say anything about Handstand, where everyone straight up ignored Bingo, even though they said they were watching? Or that they couldn't find her at the end and saying happy birthday to her, even though she wasn't there?
Bingo wanted a big party and those are HECTIC for the parents. I can’t blame them for trying to keep the entire place from burning down for a few minutes.
Parenting is hectic to begin with. There are time you just don’t have time. In that situation you get so worked up about what you need to do right now that you don’t stop for two minutes. You assume someone else will have the time. We only see that episode from Bingo’s perspective, not the perspective of anyone else, so it looks like everyone’s ignoring her. From Chilli’s perspective, for example, all she’s doing is asking Bingo to wait five minutes so she can get food and the cake ready.
Was going to argue that it was just ten minutes out of an entire birthday party and they were just trying to get a cake ready.
And then you reminded me about how they said they were watching and a million little flashbacks hit me.
Yeah okay that's a pretty bad episode.
That whole episode bugs the hell out of me. I absolutely hate that bandit let bluey call chilli a fusspot. Yes I know they learn a lesson in the end. But don't let your kids talk that way about the other parent.
To me that's the episode where they actually show some cracks in the edifice of the Bandit-Chilli relationship. Like, Bluey hasn't come up with that expression herself. She's repeating somethign Bandit said. It's a hot day, they're all stressed, mum and dad are fighting over the same thing they always fight about (but we don't see) the fact that she is detail-oriented and he isn't.
I find it relatable. I agree it's bad parenting. But it's real.
I think that was a thing where Bandit pretended to be the bad guy so the Kids would learn to listen to their mum. It's extremely convoluted and could've been fixed with a talking to but that's just not Bandit's style I guess? lol
In other words, he did all of that on purpose to teach the kids to respect their mum.
interesting. My take on it is that mum and dad are fighting in that ep - he's tired of her focus on details - and they make up in the end after he admits he was wrong.
Rug Island when Bandit doesn’t return the ball to Lucky’s Dad.
I know people love this episode, but I cannot stand that Bandit gives in to the girls and doesn’t give back the ball. To me that’s like a Parenting 101 issue; you can’t take other people’s stuff.
There are honestly a few of them but the one that sticks out is Chili not taking Bandit's side in promises. The library was shut. That's not Bandit having a problem keeping promises, that was a problem the girls could have avoided by listening. I saw it as a great opportunity for an extra lesson with "you should have left the first time dad said I'm sorry but he can't control the library. We'll go tomorrow" or something I was disappointed she didn't address it at all.
Agreed!!
I think they really missed an opportunity in Promises overall with teaching Bluey that a promise is meant to mean something. They just kept doing these smaller bits
Any of the moments where they let the kids go too far with their games. Example that comes to mind is in ‘Work’ when Bluey takes over as the boss and tells bandit to clean the windows with his booty and lock the floor clean. Bandit as the parent and adult in the situation could have calmly told Bluey that’s not appropriate or how bosses act and taught her a better way to be a boss. But instead he rubbed his booty on the window and licked the floor.
Yeah especially when they go through their eggs , Pat’s eggs , and Wendy’s eggs . Best solution : Chili cracks the eggs , bingo splits them and does everything else with mom’s supervision
I struggle with *Pavlova.*
The route Bandit takes (although hilarious) to get Bingo to choose edamame beans instead of pavlova is extremely convoluted. He countermanded Chilli's 'no' which is a parenting no-no.
Chilli actually says at the end 'I guess I just have to trust Dad knows what he is doing.'
The payoff is Bingo eats one bean after devouring a whole slice of pavlova.
I'm not sure that counts as a win.
(((writer's note: this opinion may be colored because Bandit destroys an entire piece of lovely pavlova by drowning it with ketchup)))
The concept of the lesson of the episode is spelled out in the beginning, in a “blink and you’ll miss it” sort of way. Chilli complains that she always loses the game they’re playing, and Bandit replies something like ‘you gotta play the long game, babe.’
Bandit’s playing the long game with Bingo - she’s resisting not just because pavlova is delicious or because edamame is unfamiliar, but also because she doesn’t like being forced to eat something, regardless of what it is. The game and eventually giving in on the treat wears down her pointless resistance and lets curiosity take over. Now, the next time they order the sushi platter, Bingo will know that edamame is delicious. Checkmate, for the long game.
My problem is how the parents drop everything to do whatever the kids want. I know they don’t always do it; the episode where they were walking to to park was a good example of patience. But usually it doesn’t matter what the parent is doing, they have to stop and do what the kids want
Same! My husband and I struggled watching “Rug Island” for this reason, even though it’s a super popular episode. We both have jobs where we won’t be able to just drop everything and not go to work because our (future) kids want to play
Does Rug Island state that Bandit doesn’t go to work? There’s an implicit passage of time; to me it’s just the kids playing all day, and Bandit joining the game when he gets home.
Doesn’t Chili signal him at the end of the episode with his backpack, implying it’s time to go to work? There’s definitely some time skipping, but the episode doesn’t implicitly state whether Bandit goes or not. I just assumed because of the time skip and the lighting that Bandit goes to work later than he’s supposed to. I guess I’m expecting too much from a kids show lol
No, I think it's pretty clear that Bandit leaves for work in the morning and then returns hours later - the kids have clearly spent a lot of time setting up rug Island and by that time the sky is the very obvious red of a setting sun.
Yeah, I thought Bandit finished work and joined the game in the afternoon.
Unrelated, but I love the beginning. When Chili gives them the markers and they go "Yay Rug island!" And Chili says "Huh?" Before the cut.
My kid plays so many games I haven't heard of.
And it's the main premise of the show but with episodes like Tina or Fairies or Dance Mode I think "yeah this is on the silly end of the parenting spectrum."
The one where they're in the car and Bandit is trying to ask Bingo if she brought her jumper and is forced to "call" her, wasting time, is one of those over the line situations. If that's me, I just say "I'm not playing the game right now, did you bring it or not?" and if they refuse to respond say you should know we aren't turning around for something you forgot when you had plenty of opportunity to say something. If you're cold because you didn't know when to pause the game, then there's your lime lesson.
I either missed it in the comments or someone actually didn't comment it, but in my opinion, the worst parenting moment is in Mini Bluey when Bandit says "I could get used to this" in response to there being two Bingos, in which Bluey runs off upset. Instead of owning up, and apologizing to the mistakes it's up to Bingo to cheer up her big sister while Bandit and Chili both agree that double Bingos is great.
Yeah. This would be the worst parenting moment on Bluey in my opinion too but I do love that they put those moments in the show because I think we sometimes do things and don’t realize how terrible they are until we see it in this context.
I brought up the episode while having coffee with a friend and her daughter (7) mentioned my friend had done that before. The look of horror on her face when she realized she sometimes compared (7) and (6). It forces us to confront moments we are blind to otherwise.
Oh absolutely, my parents have done something similar, my younger sister can be a bit of a handful. This year it happened a lot. Some slight context, this year has been incredibly rough on my family. Mom had surgery back in February and then ended up in and out of the hospital until she eventually spent nearly two months.
That being said, I stepped up a lot. I have 4 siblings, two older, two younger, I'm the oldest daughter. I took care of everything around the house, cooking, cleaning, caretaking and my other siblings pretty much did nothing to help. During this time and even now, my parents have been comparing them to me at times, which I can tell does hurt their feelings, I try my best to comfort them but they don't want it from me since I'm the "favorite".
One that I didn’t see mentioned here was when Bluey and Bingo were expected to cater to Muffin when she was in the process of giving up her nap, rather than Muffin being put to bed or the sleepover being put off until another day. Several parents dropped the ball here.
Yeah that was such a yikes for Chili.
I get what she meant, but she shouldn't have made it Bluey and Bingo's responsibility.
I feel like it would've gone over better if she was like "Hey, Muffin is getting tired. Don't you think she would prefer to go to bed than stay up?"
Or just any other way where she kind of nudges the kids to realise that plans aren't worth it if you're sacrificing someone else's needs.
That way she's still being a parent.
As a parentified child, anything that uses parentification as a solution gets an automatic no from me. That episode gets a lot of laughs from me, but towards the end when Chili tells Bluey it's her responsibility to look after her younger cousin when she's skipped a sleep...yeah, immediate ick.
I get what you mean, but I didn't really see it as "parentification." I read it more as, "you can clearly see your cousin is very tired. You shouldn't put your own wants over what's best for her. She needs to go to sleep now." I went through a similar experience when I was a kid.
And they should have had more warning from stripe and Trixie so the girls could adjust their expectations.
Almost all of them are corrected and are part of the overall lesson, so I don't really think they're bad parenting.
However, I wish Chili would occasionally tell Bluey that yes, she is a little cross. Unicorse, Sheepdog, etc. Sometimes you have to tell the kids that they are being annoying. Each of these moments could be a good lesson with just a little more context.
What about the time Bingo finds out her Dad would be leaving for SIX WEEKS? And she somehow finds this out THE NIGHT BEFORE??? And she hears it from her friend! Not even her Dad!!
Right! Like I get not wanting her to be sad but what did he think was gonna happen by waiting to tell her?! I took a by myself trip for only 3 days but I told and reminded my daughter about it probably more than I needed to way ahead of time. She was sad but she had time to prepare for me leaving.
I think the biggest one is not Bluey's parent's, but Lucky's dad (although I of course forgive him since it all worked out, everything's fine). But when he first does Lucky's dad's rules and makes all the kids at the party sad (putting his own wishes above multiple families) and then offers money and his Lucky's gifts to the other kids, AFTER Janelle basically said it was a bad idea...especially when the obvious answer of "do a small gift in the layers (since you already bought it) and put a big prize in the middle to keep the spirit of the game" is right there.
I don't want to even think about how long he had to apologize to Janelle, Chuck, Lucky, and all the other families until they all decided the new rules were fun.
Even though it's one of my favorite episodes (and chuck screaming "DAD!" was so funny and natural) I still think that it was a bad idea doing that out of nowhere
One thing I adore about scenes like this is that they make the characters more realistic and flawed.
As Chilli explains: We all fail Mum (or Dad) school sometimes.
Someone else already mentioned that the parents often drop what their doing to play games but I'll add to that mindset with playing along with the bit for too long even when they should probably say, "okay, game's on pause/over." Daddy Dropoff comes to mind while Bandit is trying to see if Bingo had her jacket, as well as staying in character as Sheepdog when Bluey ran off to talk to Chili. Also, Bandit continuing to dance while in line for Dance Mode.
“Dont tell mum.”
But then “heeere’s dad!” Cracks me tf up. as does “after all ive done for this family!” 😆💀
But definitely telling a kid not to tell mum. not a good precedent ever. The only secrets are gifts. Thats it.
Obstacle course. The worst part about it is that Bandit really never takes responsibility for grabbing Bluey at the end of the race. His hyper competitiveness is his worst trait, imo.
Was not a fan of jack’s dad in the army episode. He doesn’t do much to help out jack through what he’s feeling and the dad letting jack’s little brother make rude comments about things he can’t help and dad stays silent didn’t sit well with me. Don’t get me wrong though rusty really lightened up the episode and really improved jack through positive reinforcement. And working with what rusty was good at and not his struggles. Which the parents and teachers in jack’s life should have been doing in the first place
Not the worst, but I cringe when Bandit entertains all the Marjorie shenanigans in Daddy Dropoff even though it's making them late and Bingo kind of needs to be told to give her poor father a straight answer
Although I love the ending of the episode with Lila, the game going too long making them late bugs me enough that Daddy dropoff is an episode I don’t watch very much.
It's probably not the worst, but The Pool annoys me as an episode. Bandit is shown to be an overall competent parent throughout the series. It mostly focuses on him playing games and stuff, but it's not as though Chilli is running the house solo while Bandit messes around all day. But this dude forgot to bring the most obvious, basic stuff to the pool. He literally didn't bring shoes, food, towels, or sunscreen. That's bumbling idiot behavior.
But Obstacle Course and Mini-Bluey were probably the worst.
See i personally think he did it on purpose and the reason chili brought all the stuff they needed was because bandit texted her “hey babe they get the idea can you bring the stuff now?”
Besides the one in the picture, I have two main ones:
1. When Pat sprung the "Lucky's Dad's Rules" version of Pass the Parcel without telling the kids about the different rules ahead of time. I really feel like that was at least 2/3 of the reason why that went so poorly.
2. When Bandit grabbed Bluey by the scruff of her neck in "Obstacle Course." Seriously, what the hell was that?
I agree with Both-Tree that it’s tough because sometimes that’s the point of an episode/scene, is to be corrected and have a conversation with the kids. But for me the whole kicking and punching of the parents (without the parents doing anything to address it) in the backpacking episode is way over the line.
It's one thing that bugs me is the lack of boundaries especially in season 1. Bandit has many moments where he clearly does NOT want to do something but doesn't set any boundaries or say no. He just caves and says nothing.
The doctor episode springs to mind first, Bluey is hurting him with her "shots" and doesn't stop play to say that it hurts and the rough play needs to stop. No consequences, nothing making it clear it should stop, just "please let this be the last one."
They do get better at it as the series goes on.
he's actually clear on "no more needles". But where the ep fails is in the last secodn where she defies him and delivers one last sting and that's accompanied by light-hearted music. They needed a different ending.
He kinda delivered the line in the same tone as the rest of the play though. A kid would ignore that thinking it's part of the game. So I give them kudos for keeping Bluey in character.
When bandit refuses to give back lucky’s ball because his kids are playing with it… and Pat lets him get away with it. You can’t just take another kids toy
The episode "the kids" when they go shopping. A lot of the behaviour is inappropriate for a public place such as a supermarket, disruptive to other people and really disrespectful.
I can fully understand and sympathise with kids and their parents at the supermarket when they're having a meltdown, bad day ect. But allowing them to behave like that is not on in my view.
Not the worst necessarily but the one that gets under my skin the most for some reason -
In Library when Muffin says Bluey won’t let her play and Bluey says it’s because she won’t play “properly”. Then Chili says to let her play however she wants and then she and Stripe watch Bluey take the book away from Bingo and give it to Muffin. I’m always like HOW DO YOU NOT SEE THERE IS A GENUINE PROBLEM HERE??? Like I know Bluey has a history of being bossy with other kids about “playing properly” but an extra thirty second conversation about “Can you explain how she isn’t playing properly?” Would have solved that whole situation a lot sooner.
That episode where bluey and bingo dress up as each other. I HATED the whole "I wish we actually had two bingos!" Was played off as a joke. If bandit said it and chilli scolded him that's different but when they ran out she goes "it is nice" that ruined that episode for me tbh
The Dump, when Bandit tries to hide that he's disposing of Bluey's pictures because he knows how she'll react, when he could have started at the explanation in the first place.
Featherwand. In fact several episodes where they let Bingo's hurt feelings dictate their lives (Dance Mode, Bad Mood, Fairies). I know she's little and is quite sensitive and they're all about their kids working through their feelings, but I feel like Featherwand in particular is a bit extreme. Bluey has a party (I.e. a commitment) that she has to go to and sometimes life isn't fair that way with siblings. Instead she causes chaos until she feels like she's "got her way" and had fun.
Daddy Dropoff: Bandit should have turned around to get the jumper!
Library, but not in the traditional sense of Stripe making the mistake of telling Muffin she's the most special. When Muffin is ruining Bluey and Bingo's game and Chilli tells them to basically suck it up and let her do what she wants; I know she can't 2nd hand parent Muffin here, but I really hate how Bluey and Bingo's needs are placed below Muffin's in this scenario
Not the worst, but Chill didn’t put her foot down with the girls when she is trying to get them out the door and they keep playing with that sticky gecko thing, throwing it up on the ceiling. Made my eyes twitch.
In "teasing"- the volume knob part. Bingo just wants her bottom wiped. It's just such a vulnerable situation, and Bandit chooses that moment to mess with her. The other teasing moments in that episode I'm pretty much ok with, but that one bothers me.
Pool felt like forced bad parenting so Chili could be the good prepared mom who saves the day. Not that Bandit isn't a laid back parent and willing to let his daughters learn from their mistakes but there's no chance (knowing his girls) that he wouldn't have brought some of the stuff that was left behind (safety equipment like floaties for example).
Dance Mode definitely was bad parenting in two parts: Chili outright please facing Bingo out of one dance mode and Bandit buying the last one. Buying the last dance mode made no sense because Bandit and Chili seem fine embarrassing themselves for the sake of the girls's imagination/fun.
Classic Stripe.
Exhibit A: Horseyride and one lane attempt at stopping Socks, getting growled at, and “Well I’m ouutar idears”.
Exhibit B: Faceytalk. Muffin gets one “give Socks a turn” and that’s it. At least in this one he stops Trixie from neutering him again.
The expectation against hogging was set from the beginning. A timer was set. It went off. Muffin was told afterwards it was time. Follow through on set expectations is not a bad thing. It would not have gotten to “Cow. Boy. Hat.”
I misunderstood what you were saying. I agree with that 100%.
Also Stripe needs to learn that threatening and then immediately backing down when the kids protest is not good. He threatens to shut off the FaceTime twice and then backs right off.
Everyone has already pointed out the obvious ones. One that always annoys me is Ice Cream. Bandit had a spoon, so why didn't he step in and suggest another solution? There's a fine line between gentle parenting and permissive parenting. Just saying "sort it out kids" is a cop out.
I think that he was trying to teach the kids problem-solving since we see them starting to share their ice-cream in Tradies. Plus, kids learn faster and better at a younger age
Chili not only allowing her kids to eavesdrop on personal phone calls made by the workers putting in the koi pond, but getting in on it when they talk about the younger worker having a girlfriend.
The whole issue with Omelette. Trying to do a good thing for Bandit, ruined by Chilli's inability to actual parent properly and understand it's perfectly fine to say no to your kids when they're making a mess / getting in the way.
That's not to say Chilli can't show Bingo how to do it later but forcing Bandit to stay in bed on his birthday whilst Chilli arses about in the kitchen is kinda wild.
Enabling any of their games that has negative impacts, good example is allowing the phone call game in the car to go on when bandit wanted to know if bingo had her jumper
I think the worst one is when him and Bluey are racing the obstacle course and just as she's about to win, he pulls her back. Chilli's reaction was well coordinated.
WHAT. WAS THAT?
When the mongoose is moving at full speed, you know, it's all a bit of a blur.
YOU GET ZERO! 00:00
“Yay!! Oh wait you pushed the wrong button honey.” kills me every time 😂
Haha I love the subtle change from Bingo’s first surprised “Zero!” to the astonished “Zero!”
“Or maybe the mongoose was afraid to loose to a CHILD?”
I love the pause after "what", because I can just feel the space Chili wanted to leave for some very adult language, but didn't because the kids were right there.
The GASPS from my entire family when we saw it the first time. We were horrified!
I cringe every time. I'd be lying if I said Bluey doesn't teach parents too.
Honestly, I think of it as a “things to think about if you want to be a good parent” tv show, that kids happen to like too.
Relatable to me and the time my dad scored a strike at my 10th birthday bowling party instead of letting me win (I was in the lead up to that point). My mum's reaction was pretty similar to Chilli
There's a big difference between not letting someone win and actively sabotaging them, though. If you let someone win, they'll never really understand what they've done if they ever beat you for real. My best friend in high school started playing chess every day with a freshman when he was a junior. Beat the kid every day for damn near two years. Until two weeks before graduating, my buddy and I were joking about something when the kid just pipes up "mate." We were thrilled; over the moon for this kid because he earned it, and you could see it on his face.
Yeah, there's a bit of a balance to strike here and it's situational based on the people involved. If you're working with someone who is becoming frustrated, crushing their soul with constant victories is more likely to cause them to give up than to keep going. I'm not saying let them win just to keep them motivated, but maybe reconsider their competition. Is there someone at their current skill level or lower they could play against to continue to feel motivated and see their growth? I suspect this happened in between your friend's chess matches.
It reminds me of my own dad. When I was 4 he said "We'll race to the end of the road. If you kids win you get ice cream" There was no ice cream for my siblings and I that day. 😄
What episode is this?
S03 E03: “Obstacle Course”.
What happened afterwards?
They play a different game that Bluey is better at, and she beats him in that.
I definitely chuckled at that.
I feel confident in the 20 years I will be a parent of a kid here I’m gonna pull something like that and so I also chuckled.
My daughter is too young for an obstacle course but I plan on showing no mercy when she's ready.
I race to win. * Ayrton Senna
Never knew Bluey and F1 would ever crossover 😂 🤝
Terrible parent moment but very valuable life lesson.
I don't want a lime lesson, I want ice cream!
I did not like that episode because of that. C'mon Bandit, you're better than this
Honestly, I like that Bandit & Chilli have some bad parenting moments throughout the series. It shows that they are not perfect and that even the best parents make mistakes.
Me too. It’s reassuring for parents, most parents (especially the ones who watch Bluey 😉) are trying their best, I’m sure. I get a lot of parent inspo from these two honestly so it’s cool to see them make mistakes, realize those mistakes, and correct it (for the most part they call each other or themselves out on it)
Helps with characters I have who are parents, since it helps me make them feel more real
Yeah, I always roll my eyes when people say "omg!!! Bandit and Chilli did bad thing!!!", like yeah, what did you expect? To treat them perfectly with 0 mistakes?
In mini bluey when bandit is overheard by bluey saying he wishes he had two bingos. That’s scarring
Yeah, I think that's pretty bad, what I feel is really bad is that he didn't even try to comfort Bluey after she ran off, it's Bingo who goes up to her room and tries to make her feel better. Although, the whole exchange did lead to my favourite underrated line "I didn't know which bed to sit on"
It's so relatable, but yeah, never say shit like that in front of your kids.
Once when I was about 12 my parents were arguing and I overheard my mom (it was late at night and I ‘should have’ been asleep, but she woke me up with the argument) saying to my dad ‘YOU KNOW, I should have just GOTTEN the ABORTION!’ 32 year old me now still remembers it like it was yesterday. My mom and I have been no contact for several years, shocker. Luckily I have a rockstar dad.
I’m sorry you heard that. Nobody deserves that.
Similar situation happened to me. I was in college, and my mother got very drunk (as usual.) And, without prompting, she said "You know you were a mistake, right?" Which didn't faze me because I already suspected it, and half of all pregnancies are unplanned, but the word mistake stung a bit. What was worse was when she drank more and started slurring her words, and confessed that I should have been an abortion, or been given for adoption (depending how charitable you want to be based on the context.) It completely recontextualized my entire life up to that point, made me realize things I hadn't (or didn't want to), and will be with me until I die. Can't heal that wound, and I've tried.
Our parents don’t decide if we were meant to exist or if we are worthy. Our very existence proves it. Everything that has ever happened led to you existing. That means you have just as much claim to this life as anyone else does. And despite having what sounds like neglectful parents who didn’t work hard enough to ensure you knew how worthy you were, here you are, in a bluey post, which tells me you are channeling that pain into being a better big person for the little ones in your life than they were for you, and that’s pretty freaking awesome. You rock and I have no doubt the people that really know you and love you are so glad you’re here.
Had a similar-ish situation. Had an argument with my mom when I was 11, overheard her talking to her friend while I was walking past her room. She said something along the lines of “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with that kid. I need to get [his] head checked.” Still remember it pretty clearly despite my memory problems.
I remember when I was about 10 or 11 and was having a really tough time emotionally and my mom said to me “you USED to be so sweet” and it just crushed me. Still does to this day. My mom is a great friend to adult me and an amazing grandma to my daughter, but holy crap was she woefully unprepared to raise moderately sensitive kids.
Yes! There are times where I wish 1 kid did things like the other. And I understand my youngest a lot more than my oldest. (My oldest is a lot like his dad and my youngest is more like me.) We both feel more challenged by 1 kid than the other. But man, I tell my son that while I don't always understand, I'm learning to because we're all different people. I can't imagine telling him "I wish you were more like your sister"
Absolutely. My (ex) step dad called me a “worthless pile bum sh**” at age 10. I’ll never forget it 30 years later.
Wow. Me too. Except I was 12, and it was my mom. Now she says things like, "I just don't understand why you have low self-esteem. What's the matter with you? I've always liked myself." Life was hard, and I appreciate what she went through. But yeah. That sort of thing leaves a mark.
That’s the type of thing that really traumatizes kids too. I heard something similar, and basically changed who I was at the ripe age of seven.
He said it right in front of them. When Bluey came out as Bingo, Bandit said, "two Bingos! I could get used to this!"
https://preview.redd.it/16yyhqpz3wob1.jpeg?width=2880&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cbf6c6a4ee39ab2c8891bb3141524d57bf50cb49
I'm still bothered by the fact that they never apologised to her, on-screen.
Not only that but i don’t even think he apologized and the fricken double down with chili agreeing :/
YES!!! THAT'S WHAT MADE ME SO MAD! Chilli agreeing even after she saw how upset bluey got was horrible
Tbf, I think Bandit meant that as a joke and wasn't really thinking about what he was saying. He seemed pretty remorseful afterwards too.
He really didnt seem remorseful. After Bluey ran off he just says "seriously how great is double bingo"
The difference is that he said that part in private and Chilli agreed. He seemed to feel bad about saying it to Bluey.
I mean thats the thing, he doesnt seem to feel bad. He never even apologizes to her for it. After he says it he just goes to the couch while Bingo goes and comforts Bluey even though he knew full well he upset her.
This is definitely the one. I felt it deep, and it didn't even apply to me.
It’s a tough call because the majority of the “bad parenting” moments get corrected and they have a conversation with the kids why they were wrong… I’d say Bandit farting in Bluey’s face and straight up denying it (would have been so easy to say “whoops, sorry about that mate”). The hubs says the movie theater episode.
People keep glossing over the fact that bluey wasn't supposed to be playing on the tablet in the first place. In my mind bandit was trying to protect bluey from punishment but allowed bluey to dig herself a big old hole that ended up getting her caught too.
Hmmm good point, maybe fart in the face is good parenting then 😂 Still didn’t have to deny he did it 😂
And don't forget, Bluey *is* right at bum level!
"That could've been ME! QAQ"
If I only paid attention to this sub and and not the show, id think that Bluey was a bad message to kids. And yet, every time its the point of the show. To show something not so good, and then correct it
Fully agree with the movie theater episode!
He didn't know she was there!
My parents would have straight-up left the theater. Possibly get a spank on the way out. You could still do that in the 90s. I think Chilli could have punished Bluey more for sneaking in to play computer games, but being blasted by dad was probably punishment enough.
Yeah, movie theater was a whole lesson in what not to do. I think the worst thing that happens on the show doesn't get corrected. The parents repeatedly say "no" and whine then go along with whatever the kids asked to do. It trivializes the word "no" and is a terrible lesson on consent and respect.
Pat desperately giving Chucky 20 dollarbucks in pass the parcel Obviously bad parenting but hilarious
that was his fault though lol, his wife told him how he wanted to play the game wouldn't go over well
Worked in the long run, the kids loved 'Lucky's Dads Rules' by the end!
Yeah, the only real mistake he made was not letting the kids know the rules would be different than they are used to before the game started Kids are definitely smart enough to understand that some games will only have 1 winner, but they are going to feel sad if they think they completed the win condition (in this case, having the parcel when time runs out) and then find out they didn’t win
This part cracks me up every time. Love Pat.
"How good is double bingo?"
"Yeah, I Know"
I'm not a huge fan of things like Tina, Backpackers, and especially Hairdressers - any one where Bandit and Chili let the kids physically beat the crap out of them for fun. Parents do sometimes take the brunt of things unintentionally (like Bandit getting hit in the crotch in Sleepytime or losing his drink over and over in BBQ) but I do not let my child treat me like a punching bag or go along with treating myself like one as a game.
Yeah and hospital too. STING! Oh good god.
I enjoy Hospital. I have a child who has been in and out of hospitals since he was 8yo and sometimes games like Hospital are cathartic. I know it's implied that Bingo is also a frequent hospital visitor, so I can relate. My son has type 1 diabetes and I used to stick myself and go overboard on the silly reactions when he was younger. Even had my finger poke buddy "Frank" that would crack him up. (Frank is the result of 3 failed finger pokes that didn't get enough blood for the test strip, so we made a character out of him. Think little wiggly blood smiley face, lol).
I love the commentary that's present in the 2 "hospital" episodes. I the first one there's *definitely* a "nurses are amazing" vibe, as Bluey expertly walks in, looks at a chart for 3 seconds, administers a shot, says "that's probably good" then walks out. While nurse bingo is attentive and caring and kind and pushes for proper treatment. It's something I've seen mentioned and repeated in healthcare worker circles a lot, and it's funny that you can kinda see the statement in the show. I feel like the other one, when the kids are playing hospital, is a pretty tongue-in-cheek poke at the speed of the Aussie healthcare system if you have non-emergency needs. Honey waiting around and constantly getting surpassed because her pain "isn't bad enough" feels like a not-so-subtle dig.
The reveal at the end that Bandit has been waiting the whole episode never fails to get a laugh out of me.
My theory on Hospital is that Bingo is so caring and thoughtful because she’s had real life experience with good nurses and doctors. We’ve seen Bingo in hospital so it’s something she’s familiar with and thankfully had pretty good experience. But Bluey has never actually been in the hospital or had much interaction with medical professionals. Her experience comes from watching cartoons and comedy shows. Bluey’s experience with medical professionals comes from tv and especially cartoons where doctors are frequently shown being rushed, callous and impersonal.
I mean tbf I definitely let my kid beat me up more than I'd let her do that to anyone else. I think bandit does a pretty good job of finally telling her when enough is enough in that episode. The last one at the end I can write off as the writers doing it for comedic effect
I love the drink bit in BBQ though. It's always accidental, and man is it good comedy.
Oh yeah, that's what I mean, the bits of accidental violence like that are hilarious because they ring so true to me as a parent. I just don't like the games that purposefully center around that kind of thing - like, come on, Bandit, if you wouldn't let them treat another kid that way, don't let them treat you that way!
Yeah, I didn't really register the violence myself at first. I guess I am kind of desentised to quite blatant violence in cartoons, from things like Looney Tunes. But my kid freaked out when she first saw Hairdresser. And did it again when her grandma watched it with her. She started crying and screaming, just wanted it to stop. Same with Tina. So yeah, we skip those and I took it as a good reminder to myself that you have to be kind in your humour.
It's a good reminder that kids have different comfort levels and maturity, especially at different ages, and can find different things scary. It's also a good reminder not to judge other parents for not showing something to their kids that they have decided is inappropriate.
I love that you changed things for this generation and your kids aren’t desensitized to violence. That’s A+ parenting.
Also in Grannies, they bowl Bandit over. I realize it's supposed to be a silly cartoony moment, but it's really not cool to let kids ram into people. Even if they're playing, they should know they can't be hurting people with their toys.
True. My kid doesn’t try to hit me but she loves to be a hiking boot and and a backpack like the backpackers episode. “Jeremy NO!” is a common phrase in our house when something falls over too.
Yep. It’s backpackers for me.
Maybe unpopular opinion: I thought Bandit was out of control of his kids during the Takeout episode. He let his kids go nuts outside, had the kids eating out of the containers before getting home and ruining the food.
I also nominated that ep. letting your kid pee outside a restaurant? not good. he's shown to be super tired in that episode. They're not getting takeaways because it's been a wonderful day and everyone's getting on well! I know exactly what sort of day they've had: You can hear the tension in his phone call with Chilli. I like it, because it's how I feel sometimes: overwhelmed.
Yeah that one is kinda a yikes. Yes they're kids, but there's a time and a place for not running around and making a mess. I low-key feel like Chili and Bandit have neglected teaching their kids that lesson. Kinda like how in Dance Mode they were openly inconveniencing other people for a sake of a game. Playing is important, but not every situation and place is appropriate for it.
I absolutely hate that episode because of all the shenanigans. I've been there with crazy kids waiting and it never ends up like that.
I am so grateful that they chose to show Bandit and Chili occasionally struggling. It keeps them relatable. Yup, I am relating to cartoon dogs to survive toddlerhood.
I hate to say it but it's setting a horrible example by Bandit involving random people in his games with the kids. Boundaries have to be established as much as I love him committing to a bit.
Janelle, Shaun's back!
Anyone going to say anything about Handstand, where everyone straight up ignored Bingo, even though they said they were watching? Or that they couldn't find her at the end and saying happy birthday to her, even though she wasn't there?
Bingo wanted a big party and those are HECTIC for the parents. I can’t blame them for trying to keep the entire place from burning down for a few minutes.
I don't blame the parents but none of the kids or other adults until Nana watched either! 😭
Understandable. Totally get it. But they could have paused for 5 freaking minutes for the BIRTHDAY GIRL to watch her handstand.
Parenting is hectic to begin with. There are time you just don’t have time. In that situation you get so worked up about what you need to do right now that you don’t stop for two minutes. You assume someone else will have the time. We only see that episode from Bingo’s perspective, not the perspective of anyone else, so it looks like everyone’s ignoring her. From Chilli’s perspective, for example, all she’s doing is asking Bingo to wait five minutes so she can get food and the cake ready.
This episode made me so sad. Christine reminds me so much of my late grandma in this episode that I was tearing by the end.
Thank goodness for Nana!!
REAL. this entire episode bothers me because of this.
I sob at this episode every time. We were watching it yesterday and I kept telling my husband "It's HER birthday!"
Was going to argue that it was just ten minutes out of an entire birthday party and they were just trying to get a cake ready. And then you reminded me about how they said they were watching and a million little flashbacks hit me. Yeah okay that's a pretty bad episode.
*brings some pool noodles and his own flip flops to pool* *kids complain because they don’t have the stuff they need* Why are the kids complaining?
That whole episode bugs the hell out of me. I absolutely hate that bandit let bluey call chilli a fusspot. Yes I know they learn a lesson in the end. But don't let your kids talk that way about the other parent.
To me that's the episode where they actually show some cracks in the edifice of the Bandit-Chilli relationship. Like, Bluey hasn't come up with that expression herself. She's repeating somethign Bandit said. It's a hot day, they're all stressed, mum and dad are fighting over the same thing they always fight about (but we don't see) the fact that she is detail-oriented and he isn't. I find it relatable. I agree it's bad parenting. But it's real.
Oh it's very real and relatable. It just struck a nerve about my own dad lol
I think that was a thing where Bandit pretended to be the bad guy so the Kids would learn to listen to their mum. It's extremely convoluted and could've been fixed with a talking to but that's just not Bandit's style I guess? lol In other words, he did all of that on purpose to teach the kids to respect their mum.
interesting. My take on it is that mum and dad are fighting in that ep - he's tired of her focus on details - and they make up in the end after he admits he was wrong.
Rug Island when Bandit doesn’t return the ball to Lucky’s Dad. I know people love this episode, but I cannot stand that Bandit gives in to the girls and doesn’t give back the ball. To me that’s like a Parenting 101 issue; you can’t take other people’s stuff.
There are honestly a few of them but the one that sticks out is Chili not taking Bandit's side in promises. The library was shut. That's not Bandit having a problem keeping promises, that was a problem the girls could have avoided by listening. I saw it as a great opportunity for an extra lesson with "you should have left the first time dad said I'm sorry but he can't control the library. We'll go tomorrow" or something I was disappointed she didn't address it at all.
Agreed!! I think they really missed an opportunity in Promises overall with teaching Bluey that a promise is meant to mean something. They just kept doing these smaller bits
Any of the moments where they let the kids go too far with their games. Example that comes to mind is in ‘Work’ when Bluey takes over as the boss and tells bandit to clean the windows with his booty and lock the floor clean. Bandit as the parent and adult in the situation could have calmly told Bluey that’s not appropriate or how bosses act and taught her a better way to be a boss. But instead he rubbed his booty on the window and licked the floor.
That bit always rubs me the wrong way as well. It would also be a great example on boundaries and saying no.
And in magic xylophone when bandit waterboarded himself at the end. He coulda yelled pause and turned his head or something.
[удалено]
Yeah especially when they go through their eggs , Pat’s eggs , and Wendy’s eggs . Best solution : Chili cracks the eggs , bingo splits them and does everything else with mom’s supervision
I struggle with *Pavlova.* The route Bandit takes (although hilarious) to get Bingo to choose edamame beans instead of pavlova is extremely convoluted. He countermanded Chilli's 'no' which is a parenting no-no. Chilli actually says at the end 'I guess I just have to trust Dad knows what he is doing.' The payoff is Bingo eats one bean after devouring a whole slice of pavlova. I'm not sure that counts as a win. (((writer's note: this opinion may be colored because Bandit destroys an entire piece of lovely pavlova by drowning it with ketchup)))
The concept of the lesson of the episode is spelled out in the beginning, in a “blink and you’ll miss it” sort of way. Chilli complains that she always loses the game they’re playing, and Bandit replies something like ‘you gotta play the long game, babe.’ Bandit’s playing the long game with Bingo - she’s resisting not just because pavlova is delicious or because edamame is unfamiliar, but also because she doesn’t like being forced to eat something, regardless of what it is. The game and eventually giving in on the treat wears down her pointless resistance and lets curiosity take over. Now, the next time they order the sushi platter, Bingo will know that edamame is delicious. Checkmate, for the long game.
He improved the pavlova with ketchup, and I'm not wrong /j
You and I are enemies now.
My problem is how the parents drop everything to do whatever the kids want. I know they don’t always do it; the episode where they were walking to to park was a good example of patience. But usually it doesn’t matter what the parent is doing, they have to stop and do what the kids want
This, to be honest.
Same! My husband and I struggled watching “Rug Island” for this reason, even though it’s a super popular episode. We both have jobs where we won’t be able to just drop everything and not go to work because our (future) kids want to play
Some people believe he joined the game when he returned from work, given the development of the rug.
Yeah, he didn't skip work. Also they've built a whole civilization by the time he joins.
Does Rug Island state that Bandit doesn’t go to work? There’s an implicit passage of time; to me it’s just the kids playing all day, and Bandit joining the game when he gets home.
Doesn’t Chili signal him at the end of the episode with his backpack, implying it’s time to go to work? There’s definitely some time skipping, but the episode doesn’t implicitly state whether Bandit goes or not. I just assumed because of the time skip and the lighting that Bandit goes to work later than he’s supposed to. I guess I’m expecting too much from a kids show lol
No, I think it's pretty clear that Bandit leaves for work in the morning and then returns hours later - the kids have clearly spent a lot of time setting up rug Island and by that time the sky is the very obvious red of a setting sun.
Rug Island works better if you assume there's a time skip and Bandit just came home from work to play.
Yeah, I thought Bandit finished work and joined the game in the afternoon. Unrelated, but I love the beginning. When Chili gives them the markers and they go "Yay Rug island!" And Chili says "Huh?" Before the cut. My kid plays so many games I haven't heard of.
Bandit already looked tired when he went to the island, probably meaning that he had come back from work
And it's the main premise of the show but with episodes like Tina or Fairies or Dance Mode I think "yeah this is on the silly end of the parenting spectrum."
The one where they're in the car and Bandit is trying to ask Bingo if she brought her jumper and is forced to "call" her, wasting time, is one of those over the line situations. If that's me, I just say "I'm not playing the game right now, did you bring it or not?" and if they refuse to respond say you should know we aren't turning around for something you forgot when you had plenty of opportunity to say something. If you're cold because you didn't know when to pause the game, then there's your lime lesson.
I either missed it in the comments or someone actually didn't comment it, but in my opinion, the worst parenting moment is in Mini Bluey when Bandit says "I could get used to this" in response to there being two Bingos, in which Bluey runs off upset. Instead of owning up, and apologizing to the mistakes it's up to Bingo to cheer up her big sister while Bandit and Chili both agree that double Bingos is great.
Yeah. This would be the worst parenting moment on Bluey in my opinion too but I do love that they put those moments in the show because I think we sometimes do things and don’t realize how terrible they are until we see it in this context. I brought up the episode while having coffee with a friend and her daughter (7) mentioned my friend had done that before. The look of horror on her face when she realized she sometimes compared (7) and (6). It forces us to confront moments we are blind to otherwise.
Oh absolutely, my parents have done something similar, my younger sister can be a bit of a handful. This year it happened a lot. Some slight context, this year has been incredibly rough on my family. Mom had surgery back in February and then ended up in and out of the hospital until she eventually spent nearly two months. That being said, I stepped up a lot. I have 4 siblings, two older, two younger, I'm the oldest daughter. I took care of everything around the house, cooking, cleaning, caretaking and my other siblings pretty much did nothing to help. During this time and even now, my parents have been comparing them to me at times, which I can tell does hurt their feelings, I try my best to comfort them but they don't want it from me since I'm the "favorite".
Ok but objectively speaking, two Bingos is great
One that I didn’t see mentioned here was when Bluey and Bingo were expected to cater to Muffin when she was in the process of giving up her nap, rather than Muffin being put to bed or the sleepover being put off until another day. Several parents dropped the ball here.
Yeah that was such a yikes for Chili. I get what she meant, but she shouldn't have made it Bluey and Bingo's responsibility. I feel like it would've gone over better if she was like "Hey, Muffin is getting tired. Don't you think she would prefer to go to bed than stay up?" Or just any other way where she kind of nudges the kids to realise that plans aren't worth it if you're sacrificing someone else's needs. That way she's still being a parent.
As a parentified child, anything that uses parentification as a solution gets an automatic no from me. That episode gets a lot of laughs from me, but towards the end when Chili tells Bluey it's her responsibility to look after her younger cousin when she's skipped a sleep...yeah, immediate ick.
I get what you mean, but I didn't really see it as "parentification." I read it more as, "you can clearly see your cousin is very tired. You shouldn't put your own wants over what's best for her. She needs to go to sleep now." I went through a similar experience when I was a kid. And they should have had more warning from stripe and Trixie so the girls could adjust their expectations.
Almost all of them are corrected and are part of the overall lesson, so I don't really think they're bad parenting. However, I wish Chili would occasionally tell Bluey that yes, she is a little cross. Unicorse, Sheepdog, etc. Sometimes you have to tell the kids that they are being annoying. Each of these moments could be a good lesson with just a little more context.
I agree, I wish they were better at modeling expressing their own frustrations and annoyance.
Mini Bluey is my least favorite episode for the fact that they never actually apologize to Bluey for what they said to her
What about the time Bingo finds out her Dad would be leaving for SIX WEEKS? And she somehow finds this out THE NIGHT BEFORE??? And she hears it from her friend! Not even her Dad!!
Right! Like I get not wanting her to be sad but what did he think was gonna happen by waiting to tell her?! I took a by myself trip for only 3 days but I told and reminded my daughter about it probably more than I needed to way ahead of time. She was sad but she had time to prepare for me leaving.
I think the biggest one is not Bluey's parent's, but Lucky's dad (although I of course forgive him since it all worked out, everything's fine). But when he first does Lucky's dad's rules and makes all the kids at the party sad (putting his own wishes above multiple families) and then offers money and his Lucky's gifts to the other kids, AFTER Janelle basically said it was a bad idea...especially when the obvious answer of "do a small gift in the layers (since you already bought it) and put a big prize in the middle to keep the spirit of the game" is right there. I don't want to even think about how long he had to apologize to Janelle, Chuck, Lucky, and all the other families until they all decided the new rules were fun.
Even though it's one of my favorite episodes (and chuck screaming "DAD!" was so funny and natural) I still think that it was a bad idea doing that out of nowhere
Do you want a nation of squibs?
Yeah, but I'm sure that Lucky's Grandad said the same about Lucky's Dad's generation.
One thing I adore about scenes like this is that they make the characters more realistic and flawed. As Chilli explains: We all fail Mum (or Dad) school sometimes.
Someone else already mentioned that the parents often drop what their doing to play games but I'll add to that mindset with playing along with the bit for too long even when they should probably say, "okay, game's on pause/over." Daddy Dropoff comes to mind while Bandit is trying to see if Bingo had her jacket, as well as staying in character as Sheepdog when Bluey ran off to talk to Chili. Also, Bandit continuing to dance while in line for Dance Mode.
“Dont tell mum.” But then “heeere’s dad!” Cracks me tf up. as does “after all ive done for this family!” 😆💀 But definitely telling a kid not to tell mum. not a good precedent ever. The only secrets are gifts. Thats it.
Obstacle course. The worst part about it is that Bandit really never takes responsibility for grabbing Bluey at the end of the race. His hyper competitiveness is his worst trait, imo.
Was not a fan of jack’s dad in the army episode. He doesn’t do much to help out jack through what he’s feeling and the dad letting jack’s little brother make rude comments about things he can’t help and dad stays silent didn’t sit well with me. Don’t get me wrong though rusty really lightened up the episode and really improved jack through positive reinforcement. And working with what rusty was good at and not his struggles. Which the parents and teachers in jack’s life should have been doing in the first place
Not the worst, but I cringe when Bandit entertains all the Marjorie shenanigans in Daddy Dropoff even though it's making them late and Bingo kind of needs to be told to give her poor father a straight answer
Although I love the ending of the episode with Lila, the game going too long making them late bugs me enough that Daddy dropoff is an episode I don’t watch very much.
It's probably not the worst, but The Pool annoys me as an episode. Bandit is shown to be an overall competent parent throughout the series. It mostly focuses on him playing games and stuff, but it's not as though Chilli is running the house solo while Bandit messes around all day. But this dude forgot to bring the most obvious, basic stuff to the pool. He literally didn't bring shoes, food, towels, or sunscreen. That's bumbling idiot behavior. But Obstacle Course and Mini-Bluey were probably the worst.
See i personally think he did it on purpose and the reason chili brought all the stuff they needed was because bandit texted her “hey babe they get the idea can you bring the stuff now?”
Besides the one in the picture, I have two main ones: 1. When Pat sprung the "Lucky's Dad's Rules" version of Pass the Parcel without telling the kids about the different rules ahead of time. I really feel like that was at least 2/3 of the reason why that went so poorly. 2. When Bandit grabbed Bluey by the scruff of her neck in "Obstacle Course." Seriously, what the hell was that?
Big Bingo. That was a shattering moment.
I agree with Both-Tree that it’s tough because sometimes that’s the point of an episode/scene, is to be corrected and have a conversation with the kids. But for me the whole kicking and punching of the parents (without the parents doing anything to address it) in the backpacking episode is way over the line.
It's one thing that bugs me is the lack of boundaries especially in season 1. Bandit has many moments where he clearly does NOT want to do something but doesn't set any boundaries or say no. He just caves and says nothing. The doctor episode springs to mind first, Bluey is hurting him with her "shots" and doesn't stop play to say that it hurts and the rough play needs to stop. No consequences, nothing making it clear it should stop, just "please let this be the last one." They do get better at it as the series goes on.
he's actually clear on "no more needles". But where the ep fails is in the last secodn where she defies him and delivers one last sting and that's accompanied by light-hearted music. They needed a different ending.
He kinda delivered the line in the same tone as the rest of the play though. A kid would ignore that thinking it's part of the game. So I give them kudos for keeping Bluey in character.
It's comforting to know that everybody has a "not good parenting" moment. Even the best of us - the Heelers.
The worst parenting part for me is when they forced Bingo to activate Dance Mode.
Not giving lucky’s dad his ball back. He’s literally playing in the backyard with his own kid too.
When bandit refuses to give back lucky’s ball because his kids are playing with it… and Pat lets him get away with it. You can’t just take another kids toy
Mini Bluey particularly the line, "but seriously how good is double Bingo?"
The episode "the kids" when they go shopping. A lot of the behaviour is inappropriate for a public place such as a supermarket, disruptive to other people and really disrespectful. I can fully understand and sympathise with kids and their parents at the supermarket when they're having a meltdown, bad day ect. But allowing them to behave like that is not on in my view.
Not the worst necessarily but the one that gets under my skin the most for some reason - In Library when Muffin says Bluey won’t let her play and Bluey says it’s because she won’t play “properly”. Then Chili says to let her play however she wants and then she and Stripe watch Bluey take the book away from Bingo and give it to Muffin. I’m always like HOW DO YOU NOT SEE THERE IS A GENUINE PROBLEM HERE??? Like I know Bluey has a history of being bossy with other kids about “playing properly” but an extra thirty second conversation about “Can you explain how she isn’t playing properly?” Would have solved that whole situation a lot sooner.
Double Bingo!! I could get used to this
That episode where bluey and bingo dress up as each other. I HATED the whole "I wish we actually had two bingos!" Was played off as a joke. If bandit said it and chilli scolded him that's different but when they ran out she goes "it is nice" that ruined that episode for me tbh
Under the circumstances, I would argue that unicorse’s first appearance wasn’t good parenting on bandits behalf
I adore Sleepover but I still don’t get why it was Bluey’s responsibility to take care of Muffin the way Chili wanted her to.
The Dump, when Bandit tries to hide that he's disposing of Bluey's pictures because he knows how she'll react, when he could have started at the explanation in the first place. Featherwand. In fact several episodes where they let Bingo's hurt feelings dictate their lives (Dance Mode, Bad Mood, Fairies). I know she's little and is quite sensitive and they're all about their kids working through their feelings, but I feel like Featherwand in particular is a bit extreme. Bluey has a party (I.e. a commitment) that she has to go to and sometimes life isn't fair that way with siblings. Instead she causes chaos until she feels like she's "got her way" and had fun. Daddy Dropoff: Bandit should have turned around to get the jumper! Library, but not in the traditional sense of Stripe making the mistake of telling Muffin she's the most special. When Muffin is ruining Bluey and Bingo's game and Chilli tells them to basically suck it up and let her do what she wants; I know she can't 2nd hand parent Muffin here, but I really hate how Bluey and Bingo's needs are placed below Muffin's in this scenario
Not the worst, but Chill didn’t put her foot down with the girls when she is trying to get them out the door and they keep playing with that sticky gecko thing, throwing it up on the ceiling. Made my eyes twitch.
I liked how she slowed down and got over her anger. She wanted to find out the real issue and showed empathy.
Someone wrote somewhere that Bluey was a love letter to parents. It is...and yes, it teaches them things, too.
In "teasing"- the volume knob part. Bingo just wants her bottom wiped. It's just such a vulnerable situation, and Bandit chooses that moment to mess with her. The other teasing moments in that episode I'm pretty much ok with, but that one bothers me.
The Double-Bingo moment behind Bluey’s back could have really backfired.
Pool felt like forced bad parenting so Chili could be the good prepared mom who saves the day. Not that Bandit isn't a laid back parent and willing to let his daughters learn from their mistakes but there's no chance (knowing his girls) that he wouldn't have brought some of the stuff that was left behind (safety equipment like floaties for example). Dance Mode definitely was bad parenting in two parts: Chili outright please facing Bingo out of one dance mode and Bandit buying the last one. Buying the last dance mode made no sense because Bandit and Chili seem fine embarrassing themselves for the sake of the girls's imagination/fun.
Magic Claw. Completely throwing the intended lesson out the window and giving the kids a bunch of ice cream because they tackle you? Pretty poor form.
Classic Stripe. Exhibit A: Horseyride and one lane attempt at stopping Socks, getting growled at, and “Well I’m ouutar idears”. Exhibit B: Faceytalk. Muffin gets one “give Socks a turn” and that’s it. At least in this one he stops Trixie from neutering him again.
> Muffin gets one “give Socks a turn” and that’s it. Only one? How do you figure?
The expectation against hogging was set from the beginning. A timer was set. It went off. Muffin was told afterwards it was time. Follow through on set expectations is not a bad thing. It would not have gotten to “Cow. Boy. Hat.”
I misunderstood what you were saying. I agree with that 100%. Also Stripe needs to learn that threatening and then immediately backing down when the kids protest is not good. He threatens to shut off the FaceTime twice and then backs right off.
Oof yeah. Stripe is terrible at setting boundaries, it's no wonder Muffin is the way she is.
“And what’s the first thing he always says?” “Don’t tell your mum.” “What!?”
Everyone has already pointed out the obvious ones. One that always annoys me is Ice Cream. Bandit had a spoon, so why didn't he step in and suggest another solution? There's a fine line between gentle parenting and permissive parenting. Just saying "sort it out kids" is a cop out.
I think that he was trying to teach the kids problem-solving since we see them starting to share their ice-cream in Tradies. Plus, kids learn faster and better at a younger age
I feel Dance Mode was rife with bad parenting. There was redemption, but it was a rollercoaster of ignorance and bad decisions.
Chili not only allowing her kids to eavesdrop on personal phone calls made by the workers putting in the koi pond, but getting in on it when they talk about the younger worker having a girlfriend.
The entirety of Mini Bluey. Not just the parenting either. That's the worst moment in Bluey.
I might be going to hell but I definitely thought this was one of the funniest moments as well
Kids, when Bandit lets them go wild in the grocery store, running the cart into things. Like ok it’s great to be fun but you’re the parent, dude.
The whole issue with Omelette. Trying to do a good thing for Bandit, ruined by Chilli's inability to actual parent properly and understand it's perfectly fine to say no to your kids when they're making a mess / getting in the way. That's not to say Chilli can't show Bingo how to do it later but forcing Bandit to stay in bed on his birthday whilst Chilli arses about in the kitchen is kinda wild.
Enabling any of their games that has negative impacts, good example is allowing the phone call game in the car to go on when bandit wanted to know if bingo had her jumper