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Grown-ups are saying this 'Bluey' episode might be the best 8 minutes of TV ever made

"Bluey" is made for kids, but adults might love it even more.

bingo from bluey hatching out of earth egg

Bluey's little sister Bingo learns to wake up in her own bed in "Sleepytime."

If you're reading this article as an adult who keeps hearing people talk about "Bluey" and are wondering what all the fuss is about, hi there. I used to be you. I'd heard people recommend "Bluey" over and over, but I had no inclination to watch a children's show after already paying my dues in that department. My youngest is a teenager. Why on Earth would I want to watch "Bluey?"

I was wrong. So very wrong. It took my teen checking it out and getting hooked for me to finally cave and watch a few episodes. Initial intrigue morphed into sheer delight, and now I'm a totally unapologetic "Bluey" evangelist.

And I'm not alone. More and more adults are falling for the family of Australian Blue Heeler dogs and comparing their favorite episodes. One fan favorite that comes up frequently is "Sleepytime." Many adults find themselves in a puddle by the end of it. But why?

Blue does a lot of things beautifully, but one of them is creatively highlighting child development milestones. In "Sleepytime," Bingo, the youngest, wants to "do a big girl sleep" and wake up in her own bed in the morning. The episode follows the family through the night, alternating between Bingo's dream world and the "musical beds" happening in the real world.

Really, it's a short tale about growing up, letting go in your own time, knowing Mom is always there even if you can't see her and the reality of sleep in families with young children.

X user Justin Dubin, MD, a first-time "Bluey" watcher, shared his thoughts on "Sleepytime" after seeing that it was ranked as one of the best episodes of TV ever on IMDB.

"Good god, it’s perfect," Dubin wrote. "Rarely do you see such a simple idea considered in such a complex and relatable way. In just 8 minutes it tackles parenthood, growing up, independence, and family dynamics- all with very little dialogue."

While there's much less dialogue in "Sleepytime" than there is in a normal "Bluey" episode, the music (Holst's "Jupiter" from "The Planets") creates a sense of magic as Bingo floats around in space, gravitating toward the warmth of her mother, getting help from her stuffed bunny, Floppy, and friends, and ultimately finding comfort without Mom. And all of that magic is interspersed with real life in which kids are asking for water, climbing into Mom and Dad's bed, kicking in their sleep, sleepwalking, and more.

First of all, a kids' show acknowledging that children end up in parents' or siblings' beds frequently is refreshing to see. So real. Second of all, the tenderness with which Bingo's budding independence is handled is just lovely. People often praise "Bluey" as a show that depicts good parenting examples, and it does. But it does that while being real—there's one episode where Chili, Bluey and Bingo's mom, says, "I JUST NEED 20 MINUTES WHERE NO ONE COMES NEAR ME," and moms everywhere felt it in their bones.

The beginning of the "Sleepytime" episode is shown at the beginning of this video on Bluey's YouTube channel if you want a taste:

But to see more than the first couple of minutes, you'll have to watch the entire episode on Disney + (Season 2, Episode 26). It honestly might be worth the subscription price for a month just to watch all the Bluey episodes.

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Too young to be a Boomer, too old to be Gen X: Meet the microgeneration 'Generation Jones'

Generation Jones is made up of people born from 1954 to 1965.

generation jones, gen jones, gen jonesers, girls in 1970s, 1970s, teens 1970s

Image via Wikimedia Commons

Generation Jones is the microgeneration of people born from 1954 to 1965.

Generational labels have become cultural identifiers. These include Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha. And each of these generations is defined by its unique characteristics, personalities and experiences that set them apart from other generations.

But in-between these generational categories are "microgenerations", who straddle the generation before and after them. For example, "Xennial" is the microgeneration name for those who fall on the cusp of Gen X and Millennials.

And there is also a microgeneration between Baby Boomers and Gen X called Generation Jones, which is made up of people born from 1954 to 1965. But what exactly differentiates Gen Jones from the Boomers and Gen Xers that flank it?

- YouTube www.youtube.com

What is Generation Jones?

"Generation Jones" was coined by writer, television producer and social commentator Jonathan Pontell to describe the decade of Americans who grew up in the '60s and '70s. As Pontell wrote of Gen Jonesers in Politico:

"We fill the space between Woodstock and Lollapalooza, between the Paris student riots and the anti-globalisation protests, and between Dylan going electric and Nirvana going unplugged. Jonesers have a unique identity separate from Boomers and GenXers. An avalanche of attitudinal and behavioural data corroborates this distinction."

Pontell describes Jonesers as "practical idealists" who were "forged in the fires of social upheaval while too young to play a part." They are the younger siblings of the boomer civil rights and anti-war activists who grew up witnessing and being moved by the passion of those movements but were met with a fatigued culture by the time they themselves came of age. Sometimes, they're described as the cool older siblings of Gen X. Unlike their older boomer counterparts, most Jonesers were not raised by WWII veteran fathers and were too young to be drafted into Vietnam, leaving them in between on military experience.

How did Generation Jones get its name?

generation jones, gen jones, gen jones teen, generation jones teenager, what is generation jones A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons

Gen Jones gets its name from the competitive "keeping up with the Joneses" spirit that spawned during their populous birth years, but also from the term "jonesin'," meaning an intense craving, that they coined—a drug reference but also a reflection of the yearning to make a difference that their "unrequited idealism" left them with. According to Pontell, their competitiveness and identity as a "generation aching to act" may make Jonesers particularly effective leaders:

"What makes us Jonesers also makes us uniquely positioned to bring about a new era in international affairs. Our practical idealism was created by witnessing the often unrealistic idealism of the 1960s. And we weren’t engaged in that era’s ideological battles; we were children playing with toys while boomers argued over issues. Our non-ideological pragmatism allows us to resolve intra-boomer skirmishes and to bridge that volatile Boomer-GenXer divide. We can lead."

@grownupdish
Are you Generation Jones? Definitive Guide to Generation Jones https://grownupdish.com/the-definitive-guide-to-generation-jones/ #greenscreen #generationjones #babyboomer #generationx #GenX #over50 #over60 #1970s #midlife #middleage #midlifewomen #grownupdish #over50tiktok #over60women #over60tiktok #over60club

However, generations aren't just calculated by birth year but by a person's cultural reality. Some on the cusp may find themselves identifying more with one generation than the other, such as being culturally more Gen X than boomer. And, of course, not everyone fits into whatever generality they happened to be born into, so stereotyping someone based on their birth year isn't a wise practice. Knowing about these microgenerational differences, however, can help us understand certain sociological realities better as well as help people feel like they have a "home" in the generational discourse.

As many Gen Jonesers have commented, it's nice to "find your people" when you haven't felt like you've fit into the generation you fall into by age. Perhaps in our fast-paced, ever-shifting, interconnected world where culture shifts so swiftly, we need to break generations into 10 year increments instead of 20 to 30 to give everyone a generation that better suits their sensibilities.

This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.

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Mom shares how she went from feeling alone to having a 'huge mom village' in just one year

"It's been such a positive change in my life, so I just wanted to share my experience."

mom friends, how to make mom friends, making friends as a mom, mom friendships

Image via Canva

A mom sits on a living room floor with her friends.

Being a mom can be a lonely role. A 2024 study published by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center found that 66% of parents reported feeling isolated, and a whopping 79% reported a desire to connect with others outside of work and home.

One mom on Reddit shared exactly how she went from feeling "so incredibly lonely" to having a "huge mom village" in just one year.

She explained that it started at the end of 2024, when she found herself feeling really miserable and thinking about the new year ahead.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

"I don't speak to my family, my in-laws are out of state and honestly it was getting to the point where my husband was my only consistent friend," she wrote. "It can be really soul crushing to have no network of adults to share life with. I needed more connection."

How she grew her "mom village"

She decided to try the "most bottom barrel thing I could think of"—she planned a monthly mom dinner for fellow moms. Some she knew, some she didn't.

"I invited every mom I knew, but that wasn't going to cut it so I started inviting moms I didn't know at all," she shared. "Make eye contact with me in the pick up area? Hey there, I have a monthly mom dinner I host if you want to come. Our kids are in the same class and I saw you for five minutes once from across the hall? Please take this invitation to my monthly mom dinner. We're FB friends who haven't seen each other in 20 years, but I saw your post about needing to get out? Mom dinner."

In the comments, she explained that the dinners started out at restaurants, but that it cut "many moms due to finances and childcare," so she began to switch it up by adding in potlucks.

She put herself out there by extending invites, something she said was "a little uncomfortable at first." However, the positive response quelled any of her insecurities.

"The overwhelming reaction was excitement and gratitude, so after the first few it became really easy," she wrote. "Women have been so receptive to hanging out with other women. I have had moms decline or not show up, but I have yet to feel rejected by anyone."

She added that each fellow mom she encountered could relate to the need for a "Mom dinner."

"Literally every single mom I've spoken to gets it," she added. "We all seem to be in the same sinking boat."

@christines.life_
fully convinced that moms with a village have a completely different version of motherhood than those who don’t #motherhood #momlife #toddlermom #toddlermomlife #momtok

The unexpected outcomes

Momentum started to increase, and by six months in, she noticed she had added many more mom friends into her life.

"I went from having two mom friends that I knew would probably watch my kids in an emergency, to a real village with a bit more than 20 of those mom friends," she shared. "This was unimaginable to me when I started the dinner in 2025."

Although she doubted her experiment would work, it did, and there was an unexpected benefit: "My kids are even having sleepovers now, that's how much trust and community we've built."

Finally, she wants to encourage other moms to step outside their comfort zones.

"All it really took was the courage to say I'm lonely out loud to other people and a FB event invite," she explained. "It's been such a positive change in my life, so I just wanted to share my experience."

Women enjoy dessert together. Photo credit: Canva

Moms react

Her idea to connect moms and build a strong fellowship of mom friends resonated with lonely mothers:

"This is the way to do it. I did something similar, and it is SO AWKWARD to put yourself out there for a few months/a while and hope to get something back (especially as an introvert) but now we have annual egg hunts, July 4th parties, outdoor movie nights, summer parties, etc. where we just invite dozens of people and have this awesome little village community."

"My social anxiety could never but it wishes it could. 😂 This sounds honestly so lovely. I'm sure this has helped a lot of moms feel part of the wider world again. I'd come to your mom dinner in a heartbeat."

"This is great! A YouTuber I love (Hannah Witton) tries to do coffee mornings every month or so where they have coffee, pastries, brunch type snacks and invite young families over to just drop in for however long they can. It has definitely encouraged me to do something similar to build our village. A mom of a classmate recently organized a mom dinner for our class and it was amazing. All of us indicated it was something we needed more of. I’m glad she took the initiative to get it set up."

People rally behind an older woman who refused to train her 25-year-old replacement

"They expected me to teach her the job they said I wasn't good enough for."

ageism, workplace ageism, workplace violations, hr, negotiating severance package, exit strategy, hiring, jobs

Photo credit: Canva

An older employee refused two train her replacement who was "fresh out of grad school."

When an older employee was asked to train a 25-year-old to do the same job she'd been doing for as long as the young recruit had been alive, she had some choice words. And it became a vital lesson in not getting exploited.

The TikTok creator, who goes by The Unobsolete (@theunobsolete) centers her content around helping people “fight age bias” in the workplace. She explained how she had been “passed over” for a promotion that she had rightfully earned over the past two-and-a-half decades and was instead expected to train someone “fresh out of grad school” who presumably would then do the job for a fraction of the price.

“They expected me to teach her the job they said I wasn’t good enough for.”

The Unobsolete didn’t entertain pleasantries as she flat-out said “no.”

@theunobsolete watched 25-year-old get my promotion then ask me to train her. I said no. Not sorry. Not maybe. Just no. She shocked. Manager furious. HR email about team player. Don’t care. They passed me over for promotion I earned. Gave it to someone with zero experience. Expected me to teach her job they said I wasn’t good enough for. Train my replacement? Pay me. Want 25 years knowledge? Triple salary consulting rates. Want me to smile while you humiliate me? Wrong person. Not your free training program. Not making cheap hire look competent. Not handing over everything so you can pay her half. They said unprofessional. I said appropriately compensated or not sharing. They said not supporting team. I said team didn’t support me. Silence. Second you stop being useful they stop caring. Stop pretending you owe them anything.#promotions #over50 #notateamplayer #genx #isaidno ♬ original sound - The Unobsolete

"I'm not your free training program," she explained. "Want me to smile while you humiliate me? Wrong person." Furthermore, she noted that if she were going to move forward with the training, she would be expecting “triple salary consulting rates” as payment.

While she got reprimanded by HR for not “being a team player,” she maintained her stance that she deserved to be “fairly compensated for her expertise” or she wasn’t sharing it.

"They said [I was] not supporting [the] team. I said [the] team didn’t support me."

She then concluded the video with a word of caution to other folks who might find themselves in similar situations:

"The second you stop being useful, they stop pretending to care. So stop pretending you owe them anything."

With over four million views, the video certainly resonated. People flooded the comments agreeing how real ageism is in the workplace, and commended The Unobsolete for standing her ground.

"Can't be a team player for a team that played you," one person said.

Quite a few shared their own horror stories. One person recalled, "They hired 6 people to replace me and the work I was doing & wanted me to train them. Nope."

Another said, “I was laid off from a job and they said they’d be fine, because I wrote a literal manual on how to do everything for when I was on vacation. First thing I threw in the trash cleaning out my office. They emailed a few days later, asking where it was. I told them.”

In subsequent videos, The Unobsolete shared that while she didn’t get fired outright (for obvious legal reasons), the company had less direct ways of phasing her out. First, a meeting was held to discuss her "attitude.” Then, she was excluded from company functions and given less work. Eventually, she was called into another meeting and told the company's culture might not be a "good fit" for her.

@theunobsolete UPDATE: Refused to train replacement. What happened next I expected. Two days later meeting with manager and HR. My attitude. Not that they passed me over or wanted free labor. My attitude refusing exploitation. They said not collaborative poor leadership need team players. I said you passed me over want free training punish boundaries that’s control not collaboration. Silence. Not willing develop staff maybe not culture fit. I said right. Culture exploiting experience isn’t my fit. Ready for compensation talk? No? Back to my job. Didn’t fire me. Can’t. Lawsuit risk. Instead stopped including meetings gave projects away documented everything performance issues. Managed out playbook. I documented everything back. Every email meeting project. Knew exactly what they were doing. #promotions #isaidno #refused# #over45 #corporatetiktok ♬ original sound - The Unobsolete

"I agree," The Unobsolete apparently said in the meeting. "A culture that exploits experience isn't a fit for me."

Still, she didn’t back down and asked what the severance package she would receive for leaving. Unsurprisingly, that offer started off low with two weeks' worth of pay. The Unobsolete told them she expected six months of pay with full benefits through the end of the year, plus a neutral reference letter, and a release stating that they wouldn’t contest her unemployment.

When the manager said her demands were “unreasonable,” The Unobsolete replied, “So is asking me to train my replacement for free.”

@theunobsolete UPDATE PART 3: Refused train replacement. How it ended. Three weeks managed out documented retaliation. Manager and HR called me in. Don’t think right fit anymore. Best we part ways.#refusedtotrain #notateamplayer #isaidno #over50 #corporatetiktok ♬ original sound - The Unobsolete

“I’ve never been prouder of someone I don’t know,” one viewer wrote.

Thankfully, this story has a happy ending. The Unobsolete got her demands met, and with that six months of pay, she was able to build what she “actually wanted.” Furthermore, she learned that not long after she left, the 25-year-old quit the job and the company was left scrambling to fill the position. Talk about karmic justice.

“Turns out, I wasn’t obsolete after all. I was just undervalued. There’s a difference.”

Now, she’s taking what she’s learned to help other experienced professionals protect themselves against being taken advantage of.

“They’re counting on you being afraid…stop being what they’re counting on.”

That’s useful advice for anyone, no matter what age they are.

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'Conservative' mom sparks debate after questioning the appropriateness of a Target girl's dress

Should girls that young be showing so much skin?

target, girl's clothes, meghan mayer, modesty, age-appropriate clothes

via Target and Mike Mozart/Flickr

A controversial dress being sold at Target.

Everywhere you go, there seems to be a constant war between children’s clothing retailers who want to push the boundaries of modesty and parents who push back, saying they are sexualizing children. On top of that, when young girls believe they are supposed to wear clothes that are tight-fitting and revealing, it's very damaging to their self-esteem and body image. So what is a parent to do?

“I think it’s one thing that the girls’ clothes are very fitted and small, and it’s another that they’re in such direct contrast to what you find on the boys’ side, and those two things send a pretty strong message about what they’re supposed to look like, dressed to be slim and to be fit,” Sharon Choksi, a mom of two and founder of the clothing line, Girls Will Be, told CNN.

Mom spots a revealing dress at Target

The topic came up again recently when Meghan Mayer, a mother of 2 and a 7th-grade school teacher, posted a TikTok video about a dress she saw at Target, which received over 1.6 million views. Meghan was reacting to a smock-style, patterned dress with balloon sleeves that appeared modest at first glance. But after closer examination, it has holes in the waist on both sides, revealing the girl’s midriff and possibly more.

@thecrazycreativeteacher
Thoughts?

“My oldest daughter and I are at Target, and there’s some cute spring stuff,” Mayer started the video. "I am a little bit more conservative when it comes to my kids’ clothing, so maybe I’m overreacting, but let me know what you think of these dresses.”

She added that the dress may be okay for a 12-year-old but was inappropriate for a 6- or 7-year-old. Mayer asked her followers what they thought of the dress. “Like I said, I know I’m a little bit more conservative. I don’t usually even let my girls wear bikinis, but maybe I’m overreacting, I don’t know. Thoughts?”

For reference, she then showed the dresses' sizes to indicate they were for kids, then revealed the holes in the sides. “Look at these little slits on the sides of these dresses, right at the hips on all these dresses,” she said. The dress is obviously designed for a young girl to show skin, and it begs the question: Why would she want to, and who is supposed to be looking?

Most people found the dress to be inappropriate

Most people commenting on the video thought the dress was a bit much for such a young girl to wear, and that it was inappropriate for someone that age to expose themselves.

target, retial store, big box retail, target sign, target at night A Target store at night.via Mike Mozart/Flickr

"You're not overreacting. You're parenting properly," Paper Bound Greetings wrote. "No, no. There is no reason for those holes to be there. They should have pockets! Not holes!" Anna wrote. "I think retailers are trying to mature our kids too fast. I agree with mom!" HollyMoore730 commented. "That dress is SO CUTE until you see the slit. Why did they have to ruin it like that?!?"krb15 added.

"All the lady people have been asking for is dresses with pockets. This is the opposite of pockets. Whyyy?" akcrucial wrote.

But some thought that the dress was acceptable, while others thought Mayer was overreacting.

"Unpopular opinion, I think they’re cute," Dr. Robinson wrote. "When I was a kid in the ‘70s, I wore halter tops and tube tops; they were not seen as big deals. I don’t think this is scandalous," Kimberly Falkowsi added. "Overreacting. Both my girls have the blue and white, you can’t even tell much. It’s not that big of a hole. The dresses are so cute," LolitaKHalessi commented.

"Fun fact… you don’t have to buy it, Bethany wrote. "Idk I think it’s cute and that everyone just making it weird when it really isn’t," Wisdomdeals added. "Nothing wrong with the dress. It’s sold out in my area. Luckily if you don’t like it or think it’s inappropriate, you don’t buy it for your child," Maddison commented.

target, target aisle, target shopping, target store, target pets, An aisle at a Target.via Mike Mozart/Flickr

Some commenters told Mayer that she should buy the dress and have her daughter wear a shirt beneath it so it doesn’t show skin. However, Mayer believes that it would support Target in making questionable kids' clothing.

"No, I'm not going to buy it and have them wear a tank top with it, because then that's showing Target that it's OK," she told Today.com. "And over time, the cutout will get bigger and bigger."

This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.

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Google Maps, Apple Maps, or Waze? A former Uber analyst shares which app is best.

Do you agree? Not everyone did.

google maps, apple maps, waze, best navigation app, google vs apple vs waze, traffic, navigation apps

Google Maps/Apple Maps

Google maps and Apple maps screenshots

The evolution of human navigation has come so far since the era of global exploration, it's mindblowing. We've gone from hand-drawn maps, to printed road atlases, to MapQuest and GPS systems, to smartphone apps that not only tell us step-by-step how to get from point A to point B, but can also tell us what traffic is like and where to stop for gas and lunch along the way. That is a wild trajectory.

Kids today have no idea, and even those of us who grew up with paper maps struggle to recall how we ever got anywhere before Google Maps. Now we're so deep into the map app era that we're past the "wow" stage and into the nit-picky stage. It's no longer good enough to have a handheld computer tell us how to get someplace in real time. Now we have expectations, preferences, opinions, and complaints. We also have data and anecdotes with which to compare different apps and discuss which ones do what best.

map app, navigation, gps, google maps, apple maps, waze Which map app is best?Photo credit: Canva

And hoo boy do people have thoughts on that front.

In 2024, former Uber employee Flo Crivello shared some info on X about the analysis they did with three of the most popular map apps—Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Waze—using a dataset from millions of trips.

The big surprise winner? Apple Maps.

Google came in second, and Waze was a distant third (worst "by far").

"The research also included which apps people *thought* was worse, and the order came in the exact opposite order," Crivello shared. "We understood why Apple Maps got a bad rap given how bad it was at launch — it rapidly got better, but the brand stuck. Waze was more of a mystery, and we ended up realizing that people thought its routes were best because it was exposing them to so much info on traffic, construction, police presence etc… Everyone thinks they want a minimalist UI, but in practice, when they see all this info, they subconsciously conclude 'wow, these guys really have their sh*t together' — even when the routes were actually the worst ones."

Crivello said the results "may be shocking," presumably because Apple Maps started with the worst reputation. In fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook famously apologized for Apple Maps in 2012 and recommended people use Google Maps instead.

However, in the years since, Apple Maps has redeemed itself while Google Maps has lost a bit of its initial luster.

Then Waze came along, which people in cities with variable traffic touted as more accurate for timing and real-time updates, becoming some people's favorite. But according to his data eight years ago, Apple was the winner.

Do those results still hold? Some people in the replies said Google Maps was the best, hands down, while others said they preferred Apple or Waze.

It might depend on where you live and what you look for in a map app (and whether you even have access to Apple Maps). Discussions about these apps abound, with some common threads throughout. Many people agree that the U.S. is where Apple Maps shines, but Google Maps works better abroad. Apple Maps offers more natural navigation directions, such as "Not at this stop sign, but at the next one, turn right," instead of Google Maps' assumption that everyone knows how far 300 feet is. Google Maps has great searchability and is easier to check reviews of places compared to Apple Maps. So opinions might vary on "best" depending on what you're using it for.

map app, navigation, gps, google maps, apple maps, waze We've become pretty finicky about our map apps in the modern age.Photo credit: Canva

Waze has loyal users and people who love to joke about where it reroutes you when there's traffic.

These are not the only three map apps available, either. People who travel internationally and use public transportation seem partial to the CityMapper app, which makes finding train and bus routes simple with a user-friendly interface, so again, a lot depends on why you're using the app in the first place.

As far as popularity goes, Google Maps boasts a whopping 1 billion monthly users. In a recent MarketWatch study, 70% of respondents said they use Google Maps, particularly to avoid speed traps. In that study, both Apple Maps and Waze tied for second place. However, there is data that shows younger generations are partial to iPhones, on which Apple Maps is a native app, so it might have a bit of an advantage there.

And, of course, analyses will differ as the apps make updates and improvements. In 2026, PC Magazine ranked the three big navigation apps and put Google Maps at the top, followed by Apple Maps second, and Waze third.

At the end of the day, as long as you get where you're going, use whatever map app you like best.

This article originally appeared two years ago.

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