American mum is confused by Pass the Parcel game after watching Bluey
“I am going to need a manual”
Who knew the traditional kids’ birthday party game Pass the Parcel could be so divisive?
When the Pass the Parcel season three Bluey episode first aired in December 2021, it proved the simple game is actually not that straightforward.
A mum in America has brought the humble game of Pass the Parcel back into the spotlight after watching the episode and posting about it on TikTok.
“This message is for the creators of Bluey,” the mum says in the video.
“If you’re going to continue to put out quality television that I am using to raise my children, I am going to need an instruction manual along with every season.”
She continues: “Because my children now want pass the parcel for their birthday and I don’t know how to do that, and apparently this is doing it wrong but this is the American version, and it isn’t right but this is what we’re doing.”
In the episode, Lucky’s dad Pat is outraged when he finds out that there’s a present under every layer of wrapping paper and that he will need to time the music so it stops on each child.
For Lucky’s party, Pat decides to play it the “proper way” with one big present in the middle.
There’s disappointment and tears from the kids who aren’t too keen on “Lucky’s dad’s rules”.
As more birthday parties come and go, the children come to love Lucky’s dad’s traditional version of the game and prefer one big prize in the middle.
At the time, many parents were quick to praise Lucky’s dad’s version of the game and had their say on Twitter.
“OMG Bluey making the case for a return to ’80s pass-the-parcel, I love it,” wrote one viewer.
In an interview for The West Australian, psychologist Jocelyn Brewer said the episode perfectly “captures how parenting and childhood has changed over the last generation.
“We want to hold onto aspects of what worked from when we were kids, keeping in mind our experience of being parented probably varies from our parents’ memory of what was going on, and combine it with new approaches and insights.”
