Winnie the Pooh

As I write this blog post, we are watching the exact same Winnie the Pooh movie that Mikey was watching ten years ago. In fairness to him, it’s a great one! It’s called ‘The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.’ If you’d like, I can sing all the songs by heart. What’s that? No thanks. Okay, but you’re missing out. Wink.

Reading Winnie the Pooh since my own childhood and watching the movies for the past two decades with my own kids, I’ve had A LOT of time to analyze these characters. Have you noticed that each of the characters in Winnie the Pooh strongly exhibit traits of common mental illnesses or issues? 

Here’s How I See Them

Tigger has ADHD for sure. Pooh seems to have an eating disorder. Eeyore has major depression. Owl is a narcissist and Piglet has some serious anxiety going on. Rabbit seems to have OCD. I have seen people suggest that Roo might have autism because he lacks awareness of danger, but I honestly think this is a little bit of a stretch. Either way, many of us who are parents can probably relate to Kanga seeming constantly worried about Roo.

The wonderful thing about these stories is that we can see little bits of our own tendencies in the characters we adore. We relate to them, and they can help us recognize that we don’t need to be perfect to help the people we love.

My Gentle Reminder

Parents, you don’t need to be perfect to help your kids. Just keep showing up and doing the best you can. You’re doing great!!

For a post about a trip to Disney World when the boys were tiny, click the link below.