Bluey Bros

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:34, The Dump. In this podcast episode, we discuss the “good enough” parent and the role and importance of parental imperfection. We refer to the works of Sir Ken Robinson, David Winnicott, Martha Nussbaum, Avram Alpert, and Aristotle as we think about how Bandit navigates the difficult process of moving from a paragon of fatherhood to an imperfect person who is a father. We discuss the importance of aiming for good enough as opposed to perfection and how our failures produce important opportunities to demonstrate how we repair situations and relationships when we inevitably fail.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:33, Trampoline. In this podcast episode, we discuss the work of children, also known as play. This episode pulls at a couple of strings, including parental guilt, navigating negotiation with children, and the role play occupies in children learning about the world. We touch upon the classic song Cats in the Cradle, which Cory attributes to Cat Stevens, but should have given credit to Harry Chapin.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:31, Work. In this podcast episode, we discuss the silliness of this episode and how it evokes a sense of workplace drudgery and mistreatment that can lead us to lose track of our passions and even self-respect. We touch upon Theodicy and Harold Kushner’s work to discuss how we sometimes struggle to understand why bad things happen to good people and the opposite. We encourage our listeners to reflect on what brings meaning and passion in their lives and to work towards finding ways to bring those elements into our lives more centrally despite how difficult it may be at times to do so.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:30, Fairies. In this podcast episode, we discuss the challenge of restoring relational ruptures. The fairies, as tricksters, play a role in creating the kind of disruption that can often occur when our actions lead others we care about to experience hurt. It’s sometimes hard to recognize it and act with integrity to address it, as Bandit shows. Tim and Cory work to help make sense of this multi-layered narrative and encourage us all, by way of some of their failings, to seek restoration in the rifts we all, at times, contribute to.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:29, The Creek. In this podcast episode, we discuss the communicative power of nature to offer us clarity and insight. Bandit and the kids go down to the creek to play and provide a powerful reminder that playing in nature provides us with unseen benefits but often deeply felt as we encounter nature. We discuss the history of nostalgia, Emmanuel Kant’s notion of sublimity, and Martin Buber’s insights on the nature of encounters with animals.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:28, Grannies. We love this one. The hilarity is perfect. It does bring us to several interesting issues in childhood and society. In this episode, we discuss how stereotypes develop among young children and how difficult it can be to dislodge errant beliefs. We speak about how disconfirming evidence does little to change people's minds and how important metacognition is for rethinking their thoughts. Once people get dug in on an extreme position, then emotion, as opposed to evidence, drives their thinking. Callouts here to Brian Massumi, Celeste Headlee, Stephen Covey, country humor band Pinkard & Bowden, and others lead back into the hilarity of the episode and the need to compromise central to sibling relationships. And it demonstrates that old dogs CAN learn new tricks.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:27, Pirates. In this podcast we discuss the great storytelling and the voice acting talents of Melanie Zanetti; we discuss imagination and reality as it pertains to young children and why sometimes imaginary activities elicit responses that would be more appropriate if the scenario was real. Interestingly we see Bandit also struggling to face his fear of giving himself up to imaginative play for fear of the judgement of strangers. In Bandit’s case there’s an interesting dynamic related to masculinity, but it doesn’t have to be. We tend to fear negative evaluation of peers. We discuss the ways in which our anxieties can become enlarged when we don't confront it.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:25, Taxi. This podcast discusses how kids sense our sense of urgency and work against it in an equal and inverse force: a Newtonian parenting law. We discuss the stereotype that wealthy individuals disregard those they perceive as being beneath their station. We consider the game theory of helping directionally impaired individuals navigate the world, with a shout-out to Adam Grant’s WorkLife podcast. We draw from Harvey Karp’s great works to show how parents can support kids by giving them a sense of control over us through pretend opportunities to pull one over on us. This builds confidence in children as they learn to become independent.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:24, Wagon Ride. In this podcast we discuss how difficult it is to sometimes be patient both as parents and as children. We make multiple references here to Gen X favorites: The Oregon Trail, Bob Ross, and Seinfeld. Tim offers a calming strategy that is helpful to him. We commend Bandit for his thoughtful response to helping Bluey get his attention in a much more appropriate kind of way and to provide feedback on her process. It’s a strategy we’ve both brought into our own repertoires.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:22, The Pool. In this podcast we discuss Bandit’s effort to double down on his role as the “fun parent” only to realize that Chilli’s emotional labour is really key to the family’s opportunity to have fun. We talk about the ways these dynamics manifest in our own partnerships and our efforts to work toward assuming a more equal dynamic for our partners and our kids. We touch upon the foundational work of 18th-century feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and her book The Vindication of the Rights of Women.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:21, Blue Mountains. In this podcast we discuss our instincts' role in protecting us. We talk at length about how those gut feelings serve us as important information about the world and the circumstances we find ourselves in. We take time to talk about replacing teachings about Stranger Danger with the more helpful idea of Tricky People, an idea promoted by child advocate, Patti Fitzgerald. Note: Listeners should be cautioned that we briefly discuss child abuse in the context of tricky people.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:18, Doctor. In this chapter, we discuss Australia’s love of tropical fruit and Cory’s hatred of green apple-flavoured candy. One feature of this episode is how we can support and appreciate shy or reserved kids, especially as we consider introversion and the needs of introverts. We discuss how encouraging creativity can be a challenge today because there are more structured forms of entertainment/play in kids’ lives today than when we were growing up. This is a double-edged sword. How does this structure affect creativity? Sir Ken Robinson’s work on divergent thinking demonstrates how schooling discourages divergent thinking in favor of convergent thinking.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:17, Calypso. We welcome our first-ever guest, Dr. Jesus Tirado. Together we discuss this teacher-focused episode in which we explore the different forms of education revealed by the pedagogy in Calypso’s class, including Montessori and Free schools like Summerhill, as alternatives to the traditional factory model of schooling from late 19th century Prussia.  We discuss the teacher's role as a learning facilitator and scaffolding's role in educational contexts and how powerful it can be to ask questions rather than to be directive. This episode is full of creativity and masterful teaching, which we celebrate.

This chapter of Bluey Bros refers to episode 1:17, Yoga Ball. In this episode we discuss the band Custard, fronted by Bluey’s own David McCormack. The challenge of facing the “please face,” working from home, and navigating the demands of parenting and work. It’s often hard to be present at home and with our kids when work demands, or the intrusion of thoughts from work, keep us from being in the moment. We acknowledge that we are getting the first glimpse into Bandit’s career as an archaeologist before turning to how Bingo struggles to find her big girl bark in advocating for what she needs and recognizing her own bodily autonomy. We discuss how we work with our kids to help build a healthy sense of bodily autonomy so that they’re in control of their bodies and not someone else so that they grow with a healthy sense of how people treat them and their bodies. This includes teaching children that withdrawing consent is okay and that seeking continued consent is an important concept that we should teach children is an active choice. We discuss how we have succeeded or failed to help our kids find their voices. We finish our podcast by talking about Walter Parker’s article Teaching Against Idiocy and Erik Olin Wright’s book Envisioning Real Eutopias to articulate how deliberation is necessary to live well together and to find our voices in those relationships.