I have a confession to make. I’m obsessed with Bluey.
Is it weird that I like a kids show? Maybe, but a lot of my friends have young kids, so I think that makes it okay. Plus, it really is a kids show made for grownups. Here’s why.
The other day, I was watching a few episodes with my best friend’s two-year old. In the “Baby Race” episode, Bluey asks her Mum, Chilli, if she is the best at something, better than her little sister and friends, but Chilli reminds her to run her own race. Bluey doesn’t understand what that means, so Chilli tells her kids of the time when Bluey was little and learned to roll over early. Chilli had bragged to the other moms how proud she was that Bluey could roll over, until the other babies learned to crawl and walk before her. Instead of being excited for the other moms in the group, Chilli was comparing herself to them and felt like she wasn’t doing anything right. It wasn’t till the other moms reassured Chilli that she was doing great that she was able to stop comparing Bluey to the other babies and run her own race. In the end, Bluey did learn to walk because she saw something she wanted to walk toward – her Mum.
While my friend’s toddler mainly enjoyed twirling to the ending theme song, this episode had me in tears. It’s so easy to compare ourselves to others and not be satisfied with where we are at in life. And society is always rushing us to the next step. When are you going to start dating? When are you getting engaged? When are you getting married? When are you going to have kids? When are you going to have your second? If no one actually lives in the present, where are we supposed to live? We cannot live hoping for the future or wishing for the past. Each day is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present. Life is not a race.
I often remember my own mom telling me the same thing as Bluey’s mom in the show. When my perfectionism would roar its ugly head and I would feel like a failure, she would remind me to focus on myself and not others, that life is not a race, and to just do my best. It’s hard when it seems like you are behind and others are doing a better job at life than you, but there will always be someone behind and someone ahead. I’d rather be an encouragement and learn from others than base what I think of myself (good or bad) on others. Everyone is usually too worried about themselves anyway to think of me (something else my mom would often point out, but I was not a fan of that one).
As the new year is already in full swing, I’ve been thinking of the things I want to accomplish in 2023. I turn 30 this year and I can’t help but think of my mom at this age. She had already been married for eleven years and had me three years later. I can’t image having a kid in a few years, but that was my mom’s story. That has not been my story and that’s okay. I’ve done things my mom never did, but it doesn’t make either of our stories less valuable. I’m on my own path and as different as it may be from the one she expected for me, I know she would be proud. Whatever this year brings, I’ll take it one day at a time because life is not a race. And as I press on toward the goal, I know my mom will be there waiting for me. Just like Bluey’s Mum.