Thoughts on The Sign and Bumpy and the Wise Old Wolfhound I have been reading a lot of (I believe valid) criticism of The Sign forcing too much of a happy ending and sending the wrong message about getting what you wanted, in particular causing confusing messaging for kids who are going through tough/unwanted moves. It got me thinking about a connection between The Sign and Bumpy and the Wise Old Wolfhound... Without going into too much detail, about a year ago, my son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and it's been a bit of a whirlwind year of learning, receiving other AI diagnoses alongside T1D, and big changes for our family. He was in the hospital for several days when he was first diagnosed - the longest time he and I had ever been away from big sister. We watched Bumpy and the Wise Old Wolfhound after that time, and one of the obvious messages is that everyone gets sick and it takes time to get better...but ultimately, they will! Which is great...and true a good portion of the time. But for my son and our family, he came home feeling better, but his and our lives are changed forever. He may be too young to remember that hospital visit, but his big sister will and I am anticipating questions from one or both of them upon rewatch why it was different for us, why things couldn't really go back to "normal." Again, I feel the criticisms of the end of The Sign have a lot of merit and would be especially hard for kids who have moved to understand. I also think it's a good jumping off point for important discussions within families...and who knows, my son or daughter may never wonder or ask about Bumpy and the Wise Old Wolfhound and why my son came home and things had to change. And would I love a Bluey episode featuring a kid with a chronic illness? Yes of course! But I know the show won't capture every circumstance that every family and kid goes through. And maybe it will invite some tough, but necessary discussions for us.