Big news – Peppa Pig has a new baby sister. Yes, really. The cartoon pig whose snorts have echoed around my living room since my eldest could crawl is now a big sister all over again – and I wasn’t ready.
In what might be the biggest thing to happen to children’s television since Bing lost his balloon (traumatising, wasn’t it?), the creators of Peppa Pig have announced the arrival of a new character: Baby Evie, Peppa and George’s brand-new baby sister.
Cue adorable snorts, pram-pushing montages, and that slightly chaotic blend of family life that feels all too familiar to anyone who’s ever tried to get two children out the door wearing shoes on the correct feet.
More Than Just a Cartoon
Now, normally, I’d treat this sort of announcement as background noise. My kids don’t watch Peppa as much these days – we’re onto bigger things now, like YouTube videos of people making slime and video games where the main goal appears to be screaming into a headset. But this news stopped me in my tracks. Peppa has a baby sister. Peppa is growing up. Which means, somehow, so are mine.
And suddenly I’m feeling strangely emotional.
Because Peppa Pig wasn’t just a show in our house. It was a soundtrack to the early days of parenthood – the bleary-eyed, coffee-fuelled mornings where you’d plonk your child in front of the TV just to steal five minutes of peace. It was the background noise to spoon-fed breakfasts and nappy changes, to endless conversations about dinosaurs and why muddy puddles are fun but not, under any circumstances, something we jump in with our shoes on.
And I still sometimes find myself saying “It was a lovely sunny day” in the voice of the narrator. For no reason whatsoever.
A Moment for Daddy Pig
So hearing that the Pig family is expanding feels… personal. As ridiculous as it sounds, I almost feel like we’ve gone through it together. We survived toddler tantrums together. We got through potty training together (Peppa didn’t help much there, in fairness). And now, Peppa’s family is changing, just like mine once did – and that’s hitting me in the feelings a little harder than I expected.
However, we need to talk about the real hero of this story: Daddy Pig.
That’s right. Not Mummy Pig but Daddy Pig, the bearded everyman who is somehow simultaneously clueless and completely endearing. He’s a highly skilled civil engineer who’s always getting the mickey taken out of him for having a “big tummy” and getting lost on camping trips. A man who never seems to get the credit he deserves and who, apparently, is now the father of three children.
Three.
Let that sink in.
And he’s still never lost his temper and shouted at anyone. I don’t know about you, but I had a hard enough time staying calm when we had two, so I can only assume Daddy Pig is some kind of legendary zen master of the parenting world. Sure, he might not always know where he left the tent pegs, and yes, he does snore like a walrus, but you know what? He’s still there. Still showing up. Still taking the flak from Peppa and Mummy Pig without ever once throwing a toddler-style tantrum himself. He deals with it all in his stride.
And now he’s done it again. Third child. And you just know he won’t get any credit for it. Mummy Pig will be hailed as the calm, capable matriarch (and rightly so), Peppa will suddenly become the helpful big sister, and George will continue to say “Dinosaur” and might even add to his vocabulary. But Daddy Pig? He’ll probably be changing nappies in the background while being laughed at for accidentally putting the baby’s hat on upside down.
Relatable content, if ever there was.
Art Imitating Life
It’s easy to mock Peppa Pig (believe me, I’ve done it for years), but there’s something very clever – and dare I say comforting – about the way it mirrors real life. The Pig family goes through the same things we do: family holidays, grandparents who spoil the kids, rainy days stuck indoors. And now, with the arrival of a baby sister, they’re exploring something huge: what it means for a family to grow and shift, and for everyone in it to adjust.
If your own kids are watching, you might be surprised by the questions this storyline brings up. What’s it like being a big sibling? What changes when a new baby arrives? Why does the baby get so much attention – and why does she just cry all the time?
They’re good questions. And if Peppa’s family can help open up those conversations, then honestly, I’m all for it. Because whether your kids are five or fifteen, sibling dynamics are complicated and ever-changing. I still have flashbacks to the time one of mine tried to sell the other one to a stranger in the park for a packet of Starburst…
Feeling the Passage of Time
But back to the emotions.
I think the reason this has stirred something in me is because it reminds me just how fast everything changes. When we first met Peppa, my kid was still in nappies. Now, they’re negotiating bedtime extensions and asking for their own phones. The toys have changed. The routines have changed. I’ve changed. But Peppa Pig was constant and unchanging.
And yet, now Peppa’s changing too. She’s stepping into a new role, just like we all do at different points in parenthood – from clueless newbie to seasoned sibling, from sleep-deprived zombie to (mostly) functioning adult. There’s something strangely comforting in seeing that play out, even if it’s in animated pig form.
So yes, I might be weirdly emotional about it. Yes, I might have paused and stared off into the distance for a full minute when I heard the news. And yes, I might have Googled “how old is Peppa Pig meant to be now?” just to reassure myself that time isn’t a flat circle and I haven’t been stuck in toddler TV purgatory for a decade.
But mostly, I’m just glad Peppa’s still around. Still growing, still learning, still making me laugh at jokes I shouldn’t find funny – and still giving me an excuse to sit on the sofa with my kids and just be for a while.
So welcome to the world, Baby Evie. You’ve got quite the family. Good luck keeping up.
And Daddy Pig? If no one else says it: mate, you’re a legend. I see you. I feel you. And I hope someone brought you a cup of tea and offered you a sit down. You’ve earned it.
