I personally had a blast going indepth on the psychology behind muffins actions and toddlers in general haha, It feels like forever since I really deep dived a character so i hope you buddies enjoy

Just remember: She's a Muffin. She's still baking ☺️

It's also important to remember that Bluey is 7 and Bingo is 5. Muffin is 3-4, and Socks is a baby. So Stripe and Trixie are still leaning how to parent.

As someone who worked with a lot of four year olds in a less than stellar environment, I thought Muffin was a good example of how kids that age act. They need understanding and boundaries, not people calling them the devil incarnate.

As a daycare teacher, not all toddlers are as high maintenance as muffin. But this is still a very realistic look at age appropriate behaviors, and the way parents often react to having a more high maintenance toddler.

Muffin being a very common very normal level of chaotic for a toddler feels like a reality check for a few people watching that just doesn't register. If you hate her, you might not be ready to love a child of your own who's probably going to have the same kind of moments. It's not all bad, but it's unrealistic to expect a 3 year old to have total self control

I've actually seen the theory that Muffin wasn't JUST wanting her performance as a ballerina to be perfect on a personal level but she actually was trying to give Socks a chance to guess correctly, which Socks was clearly struggling to do and is clearly upset about, with her being ecstatic when she correctly identifies her big sister as a ballerina.

In "Camping," there is a brief flash-forward to a teenage Bluey. Muffin, off-screen, shouts "Bluey, that book's mine!" and Bluey says, "I know it's yours, I'm just borrowing it." And I love how the characterization is so consistent, because teenage Bluey becoming a big reader is very true to Bluey, and Muffin still being somewhat materialistic and whiny is very true to Muffin. Muffin is just the way Muffin is, it's not just her age. But the fact Teenage!Muffin does not object further shows that Stripe and Trixie have successfully taught her lessons about sharing, and Bluey has developed a relationship with her cousin that comfortably tests their boundaries.

I’ve literally watched my toddler slowly shift from acting like muffin when she was 2 and acting like bingo now that she’s almost 4. It’s so wild how much they change as they learn so quickly. Muffin is a child, who’s been alone until socks, and her parents give her whatever she wants. My daughter is an only child who doesn’t get whatever she wants lol

Muffin is what Caillou SHOULD'VE been. A catalyst for parents to take responsibility for their actions and be better for the sake of their children. It's honestly amazing how much negativity this character receives because even though she's had her moments, I always knew was never out of malice. I'm glad you finally broke down what makes this character work in the universe that the show is set in. Muffin is cool y'all are just mean 😭

I have heard of parents skipping Muffin episodes during family viewing because "she acts disrespectful" like she's not acting normal developmentally and those episodes could be used to connect with and teach a child in the same stage

I was never allowed to be a child, specifically bc my parent couldn’t handle a child. Hearing that people. Choose to help children is literally the most heartwarming thing. Thank you 💕

I really liked the line, "she doesn't know any better yet, we have to teach her". I hear so many ppl just say that their kid "doesn't know any better" but does nothing to help them learn.

i don’t get the hate she is literally acting like a 4 year old, and the parenting style also influences a lot on her behavior.

How can you hate her? She's a 4 year old doing 4 year old things my sisters acted the same way. it's completely normal.

"I don't know. I just can't :(" SOBS AGGRESSIVELY

People have been fed a diet of children's shows where the main character child is presented as idealised. This shift towards a more accurate representation of a child of a certain age is difficult for some people to comprehend. None of the characters in Bluey are perfect and that's what makes them seem more real.

Once I realized that Muffin was not the trope for an only child I loved her. She’s a great kid. She’s very willing to share, she’s thankful, and she loves her cousins. Just look at how she gets 1300 dollarbucks for the granny mobile then becomes helpful Super Granny. But being a kid is frustrating as hell, and Muffin embodies that.

I have run into people who say they skip the Muffin episodes/dislike her/etc and yeah, she can be over the top and mean and bratty but she's a child. A literal toddler. I have never wanted children but even I can understand that this is just what children go through. Maybe it's because I went through watching my nephew go through all of these stages, I don't know, but it feels incredibly cruel to place so much on a 3-4 year old and to say that you hate them.

Honestly this feels pretty common with a lot of medias where people become angry when an infant, toddler, child, or teenager behave like what they are. Or even if they behave nasty when they should know better they forget the history of the character that makes them behave that way and give them no chance to grow

I like to compare Muffin Heeler to Manny Heffley. They are both ownwy thwee, but one has parents that attempt to set her straight, and when she is given the guidance, she at least tries to make attempts to fix her behavior, and she at least has friends, meanwhile the other is an unsympathetic manipulator that is aware of his age behavior and consistently uses it as an excuse to justify his actions, parents that are blisfully ignorant to his manipulations, never punishes him, and even enables his behavior which leads him to think what he's doing is right, he has no friends and refuses to empathize to with anyone including his family, and is even consciously allowed them to starve to death just to secure his own survival. Muffin is a normal kid of her own age, Manny is the second coming of Hitler.

I always thought that the Ballerina thing was because Muffin noticed that her little sister was sad that she wasn't able to get the word ballerina out even though she knew the answer. Yes it wasn't executed in a very good way but I found that episode to be very cute.

Muffin is one of my favorite characters because she feels so "real". My husband and I always joke that if kids always acted like Bluey and Bingo, we would want to become parents. But we're happily the support crew to our friends and family who have kids. :-) My favorite part of FaceyTalk is Socks drawing her scene when the Muffin drama is unfolding. All the screaming, chasing and arguing is so normal for Socks, that she is able to tune it out and draws. This hits home with me because I love to draw and when I was little, a lot of chaos was happening in our family and I drew to escape.

The best way I heard it described is that Bandit’s family is the hyper-idealised family, it’s playtime literally all the time with the parents, the kids learn their lessons with ease and are frequently well behaved etc. whereas Stripe’s family is a more realistic family, the parents have disagreements, the kids are frequently bratty, hard to control and don’t really take away anything meaningful from the lessons. It’s quite cool that the writers aren’t afraid to step back and show that contrast. Bandit and Chilli are great parents and I think a lot of parents would strive to be like them as best they can, but they are idealised for a reason.

My brother and I were "easy children" growing up. No tantrums and no defying our parents. I struggle with empathy when it comes to children that misbehave because I simply never experienced it, since I found it easy to behave I feel frustration as to why other kids can't just be like that too. I have to remember that all kids are different and that the way I behaved stemmed from my environment, fear and a bit of trauma. I was still bad in other ways, like being manipulative and getting my brother in trouble. This video grounded me back to that mentality and it reminded me to extend understanding when it comes to misbehaving kids, thanks!

I'm surprised to hear that Muffin is hated. We've all been her at some point in our lives and while it's annoying, it's not malicious. And while most of us want to be Chilli or Bandit, we're more often than not Trixie or Stripe. I'm surprised how little compassion people seem to have for them. Maybe it's because Muffin's family breaks the illusion so many adults tune into Bluey to see. Muffin's family isn't a bad family. They're doing their best, and their best is realistic to many watching.

omg some ppl are CRAZY 🙄 yeah she can be a bit bratty, but guess what? kids can and WILL be absolute shits and terrors bc they are kids. ppl cant see how shes learning and growing as a kid

I worked with a looooot of "Muffins" when I worked at different daycares, and I can totally understand people being frustrated with Muffin. I do too sometimes! But she's doing the best with what she's got. Not enough people really truly understand that a 3 year old has only been ALIVE for 3 years, and they've had a LOT to learn in that time. I think Muffin is a classic 3 year old, who has moments where she is "misbehaving" and other moments where shes thoughtful, like you pointed out! Plus, as seen in the clips you used, Bluey and Bingo have their moments of tantrums or misbehavior too, we just get more time with them to understand their behavior better than we do Muffin and Socks.

As the parent of a 2 year old, seeing muffin is a breath of fresh air. She showcases alot of the challenges a younger child brings, but we also get a glimpse of the sweet kid she is at heart. It's also refreshing to hear your take on this, it's important to remember who kids are as people, and where they are developmentally

people treat Muffin's character like she's just a tiny fully formed adult, able to fully reason and understand her actions and their consequences. but she's 4 years old, and the entire point of her character is to showcase the product of lazy, hands-off parenting: an uncontrollable wild-child. she's designed to be a foil to the Heeler kids and every other character which is more well-behaved; *she's the example of how not to act*

As a mom to three, one who is the same age as Muffin, I can understand her in a way that I'm not sure most do. Even just today, we had to go to a place where there was nothing to do for her, even though I tried to keep her entertained with, of course, Bluey and a drawing pad, but eventually, it just stopped working. I decided to go home because it wouldn't have been fair to her to stay there. She was tired, cranky and just plain bored. Why subject her to that (and everyone else to the meltdown) when I could just try again the next day or wait until someone could watch her?

My kiddos are neurodivergent, and actually, they find Muffin particularly helpful. They can look at Muffin and see she behaves in a way that often isn't ideal, and see that those around her understand she doesn't do it to be unkind. She just doesn't know yet. It not only helps them when handling themselves, but when handling each other. They'll talk about parallels to the show to behaviour in each other and it helps them process it and access more compassionate approaches. I won't lie. Muffin was not my favourite in early days. But 1) She is definitely the one you get to watch grow and mature the best and 2) she helps kids see and understand kids sometimes aren't obedient and nice, and that's okay. It can be handled and forgiven.

As an autistic person, i identify with Muffin quite a bit. Especially when looking back on my own childhood. Learning a new social rule (you're the most special) and misapplying it in inappropriate situations (i can do what i want cuz dad said I'm special); Meltdowns/tantrums; and stimming behavior (sucking her thumb). To be clear, I'm not diagnosing her with autism. But of the characters in Bluey, she most accurately exhibits autistic behaviors.

I think part of the reason muffin screams so much (apart from being a 4 year old) is that, in the episode where they have a call, stripe tells muffin hes gonna turn off the call and when everyone screams Stripe backs down. Basically, he is teaching them that if they scream hard enough they will get what they want

Even though they’re fictional characters they’re still based off of children and it’s definitely concerning when people do judge children like they can parent their own actions. Seeing adult Bluey fans go after Muffin and especially Judo is so sad to me because I grew up with kids just like them and they actually struggled a lot.

I didn't even realize there was a reason to dislike muffin until a few of my friends said they didn't like her. she's just 3, and can't be expected to behave as maturely as the older kids. genuinely everyone should read up on child psychology, even if you don't have kids or plan on having kids. it's so important to understand them and give them the benefit of the doubt because they are still learning

She does say things like please and thank you sometimes, so she is growing and learning well. She is the perfect example of what happens to people without boundaries.

The fact that in faceytalk while stripe and Trixie where chasing muffy rock socks was just happily drawing 🤣

My family thinks Muffin is so funny and that she is a pretty realistic 3/4 year old. I definitely think that is a super challenging and fun age.

As a dad of 2 very young children, Bluey gets it right. I'm honestly shocked people hate Muffin like they do, this is just kinda how kids act. Muffin is there to present a dichotomy between Bluey and Bingo's behaviors, opposed to 'bad' behaviors. You're not meant to like Muffin's actions. She's a developing child who hasn't been taught to manage her emotions properly. Not necessarily due to neglect or anything, but because she has parents who aren't perfect. Even then, Muffin is at a stage where children are developing more nuanced and varied emotions. Sort of a "first puberty." Combine that with a child's body, as opposed to a toddler's, (as in more capable of dextrous and complex tasks) and it's a recipe for disaster to unprepared parents.

I love this, everybody wants to talk about terrible twos but nobody wants to talk about all of the things toddlers are experiencing

Muffin was me when I was younger. I always saw her as a neurodivergent child due to her chaotic nature and simple wants covered by adverse emotions. It was difficult for me to communicate what I wanted because I didn’t always know how to say it. It led me to being frustrated and not being able to control my temper tantrums. I was also so anxious at this age because I didn’t understand what was going on because my communication skills weren’t the best and I couldn’t really read people or situations either. I basically had no self awareness. I eventually got to a stage where I could learn these skills through people teaching me rather than instinctively learning or having. I feel like Muffin is the same in that regard. She will learn by people telling her how her actions affect people but she will still be a chaotic queen when she grows up. ✨

I absolutely love how Bluey teaches that KIDS CAN BE IMMATURE and it’s absolutely normal. The problem with this generation is forcing kids to mature too fast. I hate seeing it because kids will be kids, and we shouldn’t get mad at them for that.. Muffin and Socks are my favorite characters, and i absolutely love them because they show normal child behavior. This is why Bluey is such an amazing show:

The episode with Nana is when i started to like Muffin. When Nana said the only rule is that everyone gets what they want i thought it was beautiful and such unconditional love. Not everyone is the same for whatever reason and we all deserve unconditional love. When we have those people who are less tolerable they're just doing their best and we can still show them love and grace. 💜

Ever since someone pointed out that in Baby Race, the friend looks at the audience when telling Chili, “You’re doing great.” I always pay extra attention when i see this choice made again. Bluey is an amazing show because it’s not just a great show with humor for parents, it’s an amazing show FOR parents with humor for kids. Nothing hits you like a parenting lesson from this damn show ❤

I know a Muffin in my life, but she's 8. She's my little cousin and her parents never corrected her behavior when she was Muffin's age. Of course that behavior is normal for a 3-4 year old, but not someone twice the age. My little cousin's parents never made her have punishments or explained that her behavior was wrong. She is struggling with not being the family baby anymore, and my family is seeing that her behavior isn't "cute" anymore. Hope she grows out of it, and Muffin is a pretty good example of a little kid, and what can happen if you don't set up boundaries or punishments for kids

Yeah to be honest, shows like Cailou and Arthur emphasized the “spoiled brat” characterization so much that people just hate those type of people, even if they might be like that themselves without them knowing it. Muffin is basically a correction to the wrong lessons learned from those older shows.

I think a lot of the "hate" may stem from people's unresolved anger at how they would be punished a lot for acting like Muffin did at her age. Muffin is not a bad kid, but they don't see it that way because *they* got called bad kids for it.

Muffin is loud, spoiled, and unhinged. But the show does it in such a real and likeable way. Growing up with all of my nieces and nephews, i have seen my fair share of Muffins that have been done the worst ways. She's definitely a cutie that learns from her mistakes rather than just being a poop about it. Shes little enough to take things at face value but also can understand what wrong and right is. She's hilarious and cute when need be, we all need that crazy little cousin

Muffin has always been my favorite because she’s so strong willed. Headstrong kids can grow up into incredible leaders.

I love Muffin's chaotic energy! Like Chili says, different families have different rules and as a result, different children. It may be that people feel negatively towards Muffin by comparing her to Bingo but no child is perfect and I'm happy to see that Muffin may be a handful but she's never mean-spirited

Personally, I think Muffin's psychology and everything is 100% accurate to someone that age. I've heard my mom say several times when she watches Bluey with me that she remembers those days, especially with how one of my older sisters acted at that age. Quite similar to Muffin. Thanks for making this video. It was an amazing find. I look forward to watching more. 💕

I generally feel 3 yr olds are just demons given flesh, but I recognize that I have some real inner child trauma because I was never, never, EVER "allowed" to behave in those ways. I got frustrated with kids who acted out when I was their age, and I feel the same frustration now. Absolutely none of that is Muffin's, or any child's, fault. It's something in myself that I have to process.

I love muffin :) she reminds me of my own son. He’s hyperactive, has a hard time listening or understanding sometimes, and has an aggressive streak. But it’s clear he’s not intending to be malicious, he just has too much energy and it needs to come out somehow. He also has a very kind heart and just wants to connect with people, something he’s unfortunately going to struggle with his whole life due to having ADHD. Muffin is just a toddler, admittedly a more difficult and willful one, but a toddler nonetheless. Every child is different, that doesn’t make them bad.

As a former chaotic child, I completely understand Muffin. As a parent, I feel she needs more discipline than just a timeout.

As soon as a saw muffin I knew. I used to work in a daycare and she a good representative of kids in that age range. I think parents want their kids to be like Bluey or Bingo forgetting they have to deal with the muffin stage 😂

Muffin is like my favorite character, shes just learning the world around her. My fav scene ever is her understanding she isnt special, but not because shes not SPECIAL. shes special to her family, shes their kid. But she understood shes not a special kid and isnt above rules and others have feelings too. I love itso much

I'll admit it, I'm a past Muffin-hater. When I first watched Bluey, I didn't *hate* Muffin like some people did, but I certainly didn't like her. I thought of her as a bratty kid who threw temper tantrums and was never properly disciplined by rich, spineless parents (Stripe mainly). The episode 'Library' and 'Charades' were certainly the episodes where my disdain for her was strongest. As someone who had bratty siblings even out of their toddler years, I pushed my own personal frustrations with bratty kids onto Muffin and hated that she got away with everything with little to no repercussions. Then I read a review of 'Library' where someone simply said 'Sure, what she does can be annoying... but she's 3. Do you expect her to properly regulate her impulses and emotions so soon?' Then my perspective changed: of *course* she reacted the way she did in 'Library'! Children *need* rules and boundaries so they don't become a danger to themselves or others, so when you basically say 'You know rules? You don't have to listen to them' to a kid who probably didn't even know impulse control was a thing, of course they'll do anything they can think of, because they can and so why shouldn't they? She had no malicious intent when doing it, she was just doing what she wanted when she wanted because she could. That's why she was so happy when she wasn't special: now she could play the game because she *had* to follow the rules, so she *couldn't* do whatever she wanted anymore, and that made it fun for everyone! That made me think about 'Charades' too; of course she loses her temper and is so insistent on what she wants. She's 3; she can't just say 'Excuse me Grandmother, but would you be so awfully kind as to lend me a ballerina costume so I can be a proper ballerina?' or word it in any way similar. They're malleable and volatile, hardly able to control their emotional state, so she just wanted things to go her way is all. Besides, I saw someone mention she might've wanted it to be perfect just so Socks could perfectly guess she was a ballerina, and that sounds super cute, so I'll head-canon that! I don't love Muffin by any means, but I certainly don't dislike her anymore! She's funny and sweet and a realistic depiction of children rather than being sugar-coated, so I truly am glad I was given a proper perspective of her so I stopped thinking of her as a brat. It's never that black and white. :)

When I first saw Muffin in a video clip, my thoughts were: Yeah, I'd get a migraine... but I don't hold anything against her for it, because I understood almost immediately that she was likely in the phase where she was learning to assert herself as well as communicate. It's been hard to explain the entire time, but one way I've seen it: I was kind of like Muffin in kindergarten XD (roast me all you want, everyone, but:); my point is that I remember what it's like *being a kid,* especially developing communcation.

I think it would be really interesting to see an episode that shows what Bluey was like at Muffin's age. I can imagine her having similar characteristics as they are both quite loud and were both the older sibling, having to deal with a new sibling around that toddler age. It would also show how Chilli and Bandit developed their parenting style to the one we say today, again showing they were probably a little bit like Trixie and Stripe to some extent

I honestly like that Bluey includes characters like Muffin. The portrayal of kids in this show is so down to earth. I don't have kids myself, but I have nephews in the same age group. Let me tell you, this is the most relatable thing I've ever seen on television. When I think of child characters in other shows, they're never this grounded or realistic. Either made too pure and innocent, or too unlikable and bratty. And every god damn time, I get teary eyes from the wholesomeness and Ninjas cutting onions again....I'm not crying, you are! I love this show.

Personally I think Muffin is an agent of pure chaos. She does what she wants to do and It’s not good or bad, it’s just MUFFIN. I mean, comparing her to Bingo is kind of unfair, cause Bingo maybe closer to her age, but Bingo IS the YOUNGER sibling. Meanwhile Muffins the OLDER sibling. It would make more sense to look at Bluey when SHE was younger since Muffin just had Stripes and Trixie keeping her in check while Bingo has Bandit Chili AND Bluey keeping tabs on her. There’s a lot that an older sibling can do to keep a younger sibling from getting TOO crazy. On Stripes and Trixie part, they’re still sort of trying to figure out the whole parent thing, so I don’t think it’s unfair.

Muffin honestly reminds me of my cousins when I was growing up with them. In fact, Strip's family shows strong similarities with my cousin's its almost uncanny.

Muffin reminds me of my baby who is starting to get to her age. It is kind of like how you described it a wheel of emotion where you can't quite tell where they're going to land. I love the dear muffin moments and I find the monster moments make me want to take charge like I would with my kid. But It's probably the part where people need to learn that they can't parent other people's kids and that there is no perfect style.

honestly, muffin is my reality check as a parent. muffin is my reminder my 3 year old is a normal kid, growing and learning. sripes and trixie are the parents i relate to most, cause they're trying to figure out this parenting thing

Its safe to say that people who hate kid and even teen characters who act their age aren't fit or ready to be parents

I love Muffin, but she honestly reinforces why I choose to be childfree. She's a lot of work because , like you said, toddlers are like that. And I know I can't handle that for long periods. I already have difficulty with my nephew, who's in his toddler "no" and picky eater phases.

I work at a preschool and I knew a kid just like Muffin. He either acted how I expected or in a completely unexpected way and to be honest I didn't like him for a time. But that was because I was new and it took me a while to realize he's still growing, he was only 3! So we grew together, I learned to understand that it'll take a while for him to learn social skills and more complex emotions and he learned said skills and emotions with a little help from me here and there. Now when I look back I'm proud to say that he's one of my most well remembered kids

"Why can't you just stop sucking your thumb?" "...I don't know. I just can't..." This part made me so sad... :'(

When I started watching Bluey, I was someone who disliked Muffin, or thought she was kinda annoying (coming from an 23 year old, childless adult, so I have no experience with kids) but after rewatching all the episodes that focus on her and actually taking the time to understand her character, I LOVE her! She has become one of my favourite characters, and some episodes like Muffin Cone are episodes I keep rewatching because they are so good! Bluey is a comfort show of mine, and I guess sometimes Muffin was too much for me, but I can appreciate her character now :) Amazing video as always!!!

Muffin is now no longer making me hate her I was clearly misunderstanding her :( She’s just a little girl and she doesn’t know better… respect for the writers on making a character that is so accurate…

I always found the end of Library to be really useful in understanding how her mind works. after Stripe tells her "you're special to me, but probably not to other people" she's really excited to yell "Bluey! I'm not special!" and join the game again. it's clear to me that the shine of expecting special treatment wore off and she was sick if the conflict it caused, but stuck in a rigid pattern. essentially bluey and bingo were playing the game "library" but SHE was playing the game "special", and she got as sick of the dissonance as the others did but couldn't articulate it or switch autonomously until her dad essentially chose for her (normal for 3 year olds)

I honestly never understood the hate towards Muffin! It’s like you said in this video - she is a toddler and acts like it! She is still learning the world, how to act in it and how to process her own emotions and actions. Plus, throughout the series, we can see hints of her more caring side, like when she held up the ice pop for Socks or helped make a video for Bingo when she was in the hospital. I personally love Muffin and think she is hilarious! Faceytalk is one of my favorite episodes and I always get a kick out of watching it! Muffin is just a toddler learning how to exist in the world. What is wrong with that?

I never considered before that Library and Muffin cone are exploring the balance between overly permissive parenting and overly strict parenting. I love these episodes as they show that while Stripe and Trixie are far from perfect, they are continually learning and growing along with Muffin.

I’m a daycare worker that teaches early preschool and I absolutely love this video! I’ve seen it before where parents of these children (1.5-3 years old) don’t actually seem to realize that they have to teach their children how to do important things like self-regulating, calming themselves, healthy methods to cope with Big Feelings. My daycare is a school/daycare combo so starting at infant age we teach them during the day and nurture children in both information about the world and about themselves, like processing their thoughts. Muffin is a normal toddler and really, I’ve seen a big correlation between “bad behavior” and wanting attention, love, or connection with other people. Those kids always worm their way deep into my heart, honestly, so I love Muffin too 💜

I REALLY like Bluey's take on not only showing different parenting styles, but showing how you have to adjust it to match the personalities of your children. It helps parents feel seen, but it's also tends to be where the show gets a lot of criticism, because there's no "perfect" way to parent that works for every kid. Muffin shows this very well, and she's one of my favorite characters because she reminds me of many younger family members who were that obstinate as toddlers. And I will go to bat for Stripes and Trixie as I have known families where there are kids more like Muffin and some more like Bingo that live under the same roof with the same parenting, they're just different and need different things. Episodes like "Mini Bluey" show this very well, as your kids can not only be very different from one another, and their age can have a lot to do with what challenges you face in parenting at the time. Both Muffin and Bluey are both strong spirited in their own ways, which makes parenting hard in the meanwhile, but when done well, their struggles as children will become more positive as they grow up. While "easy" children like Bingo tend to need more guidance through their teenage years as they get older.

I’ve never seen a more accurate depiction of toddlerhood than muffin. She’s actually one of my favorite characters.

I feel like even the most well behaved kids have their Muffin moments, because they’re little and don’t know how to regulate their emotions yet

As the dad of my own Muffin in the making (2y 8m), I can't express how much I needed this video and didn't know it. When you said it can be normal for a parent to feel like they're doing something wrong, it broke me. I needed to hear that so badly. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I'd love to see an episode where Stripe gets frustrated and tries to be super strict, and after it backfires he goes to Bandit and Bandit coaches him gently and gives him some brotherly guidance on balancing in parenting.

There seems to be an interesting duality regarding the view on children, in some people. On one hand they are supposed to be mature enough to basically have the self control of an adult (or some cases even more), but are on the other hand not seen as mature enough to be given any agency of their own or to be taken seriously.

I feel like muffin and her family are necessary to show 1. Different family dynamics and 2. To help all of the parents who feel like they can’t live up to the Chili and Bandit expectation of parenting to realize that continuing to do your best and “focus on your own race” is the only expectation. Good parenting shows itself in many different ways and takes different amounts of time to get there.

Wanted to shoutout the fanart section at the end, the way you go out of your way to discuss what you liked about each piece is so delightful! If someone showcased my work that way it'd definitely make my day. Great video, subscribed!

just read the title and realized people don't love muffin like i do and im heartbroken

I see Muffin the same way you do - maybe annoying, but not maliciuos - too young to know better. This gets me thinking, what kind of pitfalls Bandit and Chilli fell into years ago, that we don't get to see! Wow, this is the first time I watch an episode before watching your analysis.

I personally use Muffin episodes to show “how not to act”. My 6 year old daughter loves quoting Muffin. She doesn’t really act like Muffin so I let her have her fun. The only exception is that she really wanted her own “Muffin Cone” and wanted me to stitch her Muffin plushie into a thumb sucking position and then make a cone for the toy out of construction paper. I made the cone but didn’t stitch the thumb to Muffin’s face and my daughter was upset at first. I explained that the cone wouldn’t fit if I stitched the thumb to the mouth and that was good enough for her.

I absolutely LOVE Muffin. As a former daycare teacher, a former toddler room teacher, Muffin makes me laugh so hard, she brings to light all the aspects of a toddler, the good, the hard and the absolutely hilarious

I only watch Bluey on behalf of my daughter, but some of my favourite episodes are Muffin Cone, Faceytalk and (her finest moment imo) Granny Mobile. She isn’t bad, she’s just 3. It’s also difficult to have an antagonist in a show like Bluey, but Muffin fulfills that role fairly well without being a villain.

People forget Muffin is their first kid, of course they're still learning as they go

She tends to be loud and she acts out, but it’s normal for a child to do that. She eventually matures in Granny Mobile and she loves Socks and translates for her at the family barbecue, so it’s a real journey for her.

This video is so good, and perfectly explains what Muffin's role in the show is sorta supposed to be (other than being an adorable goof ball) I wish we could show her episodes when my niece is around, the lessons in her episodes are so perfect, not only for my niece, but for my niece's mother too (who seems to hate the show for no reason other than how much my niece loves it?). Unfortunately, my niece is at that age where she copies anything she sees (much like Muffin!), and due to some poor parenting and how 4 year olds work, she's taking on the more rude and bratty side of most of the characters, especially Muffin, and isn't learning the lesson that's taught at the end. It's such a massive bummer, but I know it'll just take time, and I really do hope that my niece's mom comes around to the show, the lessons could really help her with understanding how kids my niece's age work, and how to help her grow into a proper kid!

I cried when you said “don’t give up on the muffin in you’re life”. I love bluey and really adore muffin. My daughter is a muffin approaching 3 years old and some days it’s a lot to handle her big emotions. I sometimes wonder if I’m doing ok by her.

To anyone here in the comments who sucks their thumb - don't feel like you have to stop. I suck my thumb too. it's a stim, and if you do it for comfort, that's totally okay. I've been doing it since BEFORE I was born and I doubt I'll ever stop. you can if you want to. if you feel like it's something you need to overcome, that's fine too. Just don't feel like it makes you immature or weird. stimming is natural and u can do it however u please :)

the fact that people hate muffin breaks my heart, as my son is autistic and at 11 can behave like muffin due to varying stimuli.

I love Muffin and I love that there are different parents/ children discipline and personalities. It makes Bluey magical because it feels like a real world/reality. If everyone was perfect it would be boring and unrealistic. Real children like Muffin exist, every child will be disciplined at least once in their life and there is so much to learn from Muffin's episodes about patience, empathy, communication and discipline.

I love Muffin. She's legit one of my favourite characters on the show cause of how hilarious she is. I don't really mind her behaviour too much as they do show that most of it stems from the conflicting parenting styles from her parents who are still trying to figure out what suits them, along with her generally being a child who is a bit spoiled. Personally, I think that at one point Bandit and Chili were similar to Stripe and Trixie and that Bluey was similar to Muffin before they figured out the balance that suited them, probably when Bluey and Bingo were around the same age as Muffin and Socks.

Sucking your thumb is a comfort thing. Rather than just taking it away, teach them a different comfirt skill. The cone was mean and actually just exacerbated the problem. That is a child feeling out the world, and is pretty normal. So long as she isn't hitting, taking time is important.

Ooooof, I wasn't expecting to get hit in the feels but that thumb sucking thing got me bad. I'm an autistic adult and the one stim my parents absolutely could not break me of was thumb sucking. When I got to be about six, they got EXTREME with it to the extent shown here and then beyond, and when gloves and mouth devices failed to stop me, my parents even tried dousing the gloves in those extra hot hot sauces to make it HURT. For the record, I'm in my 30s, have a full time job, and yeah, I still do it when I'm on my own vegging out and not paying attention, and it's literally not hurting anyone. Parents care about all the wrong things sometimes, and it's normally because of a larger community pressuring them.

I can relate to Muffin since I was a bit of an angry child and also had a bad habit of sucking my thumb. Kids have a habit of acting like brats because they don't know how to control their emotions yet. In my case, I was a bit developmentally delayed. My parents also had differences with how they handled me. My mom was much softer than my dad.

I was one of those children. Full of energy, questions and self assurance even if sometimes misplaced. My parents were “traditional” in raising me. Shunning certain behaviors I had. Being called a “bad child”. Especially compared to a twin sister I have who was on the other more favorable spectrum. Always being compared and contrasted. All things you should NOT do to your own child. Which is why I became interested in Child behavioral and development. I studied both Infants and Early Childhood all the way up to Early Adolescence. I learned I was not the “problem”. My parents and any adult who thought I was “annoying” was. They were inflicted to believe children should only behave one certain way, when in reality each child is as different from one another as adults are. I don’t have children of my own, but I do raise nieces n nephews. If Muffin behaviors and personality is something that “annoys” you, then you are not ready for children. If you have one who is like Muffin, then I hope you do not kill their flame due to your own shortcoming as a parent. Same way they are still learning of their self is the same way you should also still be learning of your own self as a parent. Always allow yourself room for growth when it comes to them. Do not think because child one was “easy”, that now the energy filled child 2 is “bad”.