With his tenth birthday around the corner, Mikey becomes obsessed with Bonky the Green Dragon, a character intended for kindergarteners.
Tropes:
- An Aesop: Growing up does mean becoming more and more independent from your parents with time, and it can be a scary thought. But it doesn't have to change the love you share with your parents. Alternatively, while growing up can be intimidating, there are healthier ways to cope with it than regression.
- Birthday Hater: Mikey becomes this for most of the episode due to his fears of growing up.
- Bittersweet Ending: Mikey gets over his Bonky obsession, but he and his mother both realize that growing up is going to change their relationship, and not necessarily for the better. But a heart-to-heart with his mother does help Mikey come to terms with growing up. The episode ends with Mikey getting on the bus by himself, and Mrs. Blumberg hiding behind a nearby tree proudly crying as she watches her little boy become independent.
- Book and Switch: During Ms. Grotke's lesson on the Founding Fathers, Mikey hides a Bonky lift-the-flap book behind his history book.
- Book Ends: The episode begins with Mrs. Blumberg goes through the bus stop routine of checking all the personal things Mikey needs for school, much to his annoyance. By the end, Mikey is going through the routine himself, checking all the personal things he needs for school.
- Delightful Dragon: As the show's equivalent to Barney the Dinosaur, Bonky is a dragon who is a Friend to All Children and beloved by kindergarteners (and Mikey when he briefly goes through a phase), but disliked by older children.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- Confrontation, acceptance, and intervention are all ways people try to help those with drug problems.
- Upon turning ten years old, Mikey regresses to kindergarten things, aka things that were half his lifetime ago. This gives a feel of someone experiencing a mid-life crisis, fitting with the episode's Growing Up Sucks theme.
- Entertainment Below Their Age: The episode's plot revolves around Mikey becoming obsessed with Bonky The Dragon, a character targeted towards kindergarteners.
- Expy: Bonky is this for Barney the Dinosaur.
- Growing Up Sucks: The reason why Mikey starts getting back into his love of Bonky is because he is concerned about his mother not being with him at the bus stop. It's expanded upon later in the episode when he confesses that he's terrified of losing her altogether.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: When TJ and the others see that Mikey's lips are blue from eating candy, Mikey claims that he "fell in a puddle of blueberries." As soon as Mikey leaves, Gus discovers that he's been sucking on a Bonky-shaped lollipop.
- It's All My Fault: After being exposed as the person inside the Bonkey suit, Mrs. Blumberg consoles Mikey about it and admits it was her fault for enabling Mikey's regression/obsession with Bonkey.
- Kiddie Kid: Mikey starts acting more and more like a kindergartener as the episode progresses, reading pop-up books, throwing tantrums, and carrying a stuffed animal.
- Milestone Birthday Angst: Mikey becomes depressed about losing his childhood when he turns 10, causing him to regress to a kindergartner-like mindset.
- Parents as People: Mr. and Mrs. Blumberg try to give Mikey what he wants by throwing him a Bonky-themed birthday party, complete with Mrs. Blumberg in a Bonky suit. Later, she and Mikey have a heart-to-heart conversation about the pain of growing up and how youth is something that has to end, to the disappointment of both parents and children. It's one of the frankest depictions of Growing Up Sucks in any children's cartoon.
- Reading Lips: Gretchen does this while Mikey and his mother are talking in the backyard, determining that they are talking about food (actually their food-related pet names for each other).
- Reasonable Authority Figure: When TJ turns in Mikey's Bonky toys to Miss Finster, she simply reminds him that toys from home are forbidden and locks them away.
- Sanity Slippage: Mikey suffers from this when he regresses into a kindergartener due to his fear of growing up, he recovers later.
- Still Sucks Thumb: Mikey is briefly shown doing this as he regresses into a kindergartener.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Spinelli is not keen on indulging Mikey's kindergarten regression.
- Tough Love: When Mikey says "he has to go potty," TJ has the gang hold him down while he turns in his Bonky toys.
- What You Are in the Dark: TJ turns in Mikey's Bonky toys to Miss Finster, but only says he found them without naming Mikey in order to spare him from more trouble.
