'Weird' Bluey episode sparks huge parenting debate

At first the kids had been upset to play pass the parcel with Lucky's dad's rules. Photo / ABC

It's the ABC cartoon that's almost as beloved by parents as it is by children.

But one episode of Bluey has stirred up a debate among parents, some of whom have taken issue with a scene at a birthday party.

In Pass The Parcel, Bluey's next-door neighbour reacts with horror upon learning that the popular children's birthday party game has changed since he was a child.

While traditionally Pass The Parcel involved just one present at the very end, the neighbour, known as Lucky's Dad, is shocked to discover the game is now played with one small gift with each layer unwrapped so "everyone gets a prize".

"We're raising a nation of squibs," Lucky's dad says, longing for the days when kids had to "suck it up".

At his son's birthday, Lucky's dad insists on playing pass the parcel with the old rules, causing upset among the kids.

But at other birthdays they come to accept the idea of "Lucky's dad's rules" with just one present at the end, telling themselves "maybe next time" when they miss out, the West Australian reports.

The episode got quite the reaction online, with some parents labelling it the "greatest Bluey episode of all time", while others argued it was a "weird swerve" promoting the idea that "kids today are too spoiled by playing pass the parcel wrong".

At a children’s party today a child came up to me and asked if the pass-the-parcel was lucky’s-dad’s-rules. #win @OfficialBlueyTV #bluey #finally

— Jack Clegg (@JackKClegg) December 5, 2021

It’s an extremely weird swerve that the latest three Bluey episodes have been about how kids today are too spoiled by playing Pass The Parcel wrong and about how everything being on phone apps is ruining society not like back in my day, etc.

— Adrian Forest (@adrian_a_forest) December 7, 2021

the pass the parcel ep of bluey contains a message that those who benefit from unfair systems (often perpetrated by nostalgia of how things used to be) are the least likely to challenge them, often choosing to carry them on despite them being less good to all, in this paper I wil

— Lucas (@lokified) December 5, 2021

Psychologist and mum Jocelyn Brewer told the West Australian that the episode "managed to capture key elements of modern Australian society and the challenges of parenthood".

"The relentlessness, the keeping up with Joneses, the lack of clear guidance on how to get it 'right' – and shows the subtle changes in how we interact and connect through things like games played at children's parties," Brewer said.

"Bluey … resonates as it captures so much nuance of the parenting experience. This episode also captures how parenting and childhood has changed over the last generation, give or take.

"Nostalgia for our own childhoods and all that they contained, or didn't in the case of digital technology, has a huge emotional pull. It helps us reflect and re-evaluate what we want for ourselves and our families."