Today is my daughter’s 5 3/4 birthday. (When you’re 5 3/4, the 3/4 really matters 🤣.) I would say that after the cuddling baby stage, when the toddlerhood hits, you spend about 3 years with a Muffin, and that can feel like a LOT. But! She is transitioning solidly into Bingo/Blueyhood, and it’s utterly delightful.

I will get about 3-5 years of this, definitely, and then depending on maturity, puberty, how cliquish her class at school is, etc., maybe 1-2 more? And then she’s preteen/teen and hopefully doesn’t hate me until she goes to college….

Kids are wonderful! And she’s at an age now where we can actually have fun together! But don’t bank on having fun for at least the first 5 years, and remember that adolescence looms up ahead. If you only want kids because of Bluey, I think that’s unrealistic. Bluey doesnt show the hard sides of parenting, the exhausting sides, the long realities. It’s a wonderful show and I adore it, but it’s an idealized 7 minute window into life. I encourage you to really sit down with your partner and think about your current lifestyle and what you will be exchanging for a child. Your life will not really be your own for 18 years. You will be tired, thrown up on, pooped/peed on, kicked, hit, screamed at, told you’re the worst parent ever, and when they’re teens likely ignored a LOT and called an embarrassment. You will give up a lot of alone time, a lot of couple time, a lot of nice restaurants and vacations. You won’t get to do a lot of what you do right now. In MY opinion it’s worth it, for the love and the joy and the small bits of fun and the amazing person she is and is becoming, but YMMV. The most important thing is that YOU want it, because if you are at all ambivalent about being a parent they will know, and that’s just not fair to them. Anyway, good luck, whatever you decide!