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.