Papas in Paris

Kevin, Aman and Jeffrey compare parenting culture and lifestyles in France and the US.

It's been so fun having you join us for this inaugural season of Papas in Paris! and...

spoiler alert: We'll be coming back for a second season, after the summer break. (because if you live in France, you gotta have your total summer sign-out, that's a must.) So - stay tuned for more this September.

In our final episode (of season one), we revisit what brought us together to begin with, and share what we believe more fathers should be talking about.

Stay to the end to learn what we have in store for season two!

Thanks for listening,

Excited for another interview with a friend of the pod, another dad in Paris -- Shawn Kwek.

We get to know him better and ask a few questions:

0:47 - "Why don't you just kick us off and introduce yourself?"

1:13 - "Are you more European now? Or do you call yourself European?"

1:39 - "So you were born in New York?"

2:06 - "How would you describe yourself as a father?"

8:46 - "What was the decision or conversation like when you both decided to have another kid?"

21:57 - "What would you wish for your son or for both kids to be true ten years from now?"

14:19 - "How do you feel about the education system here?"

37:39 - "How do you feel in terms of support or closeness with family being far away?"

41:48 - "What's your intention for building more parent community around you?"

2:43 How did Work change after becoming a parent? (Aman)

8:12 How to negotiate in a corporate environment for more parenting time, as a father? (Jeffrey)

10:50 Making the switch to be the primary parent (Jeffrey)

12:20 (Kevin) Making sacrifices at work to support a spouse with postpartum depression

14:20 Parents NEED community

21:30 Professional ambition looks different, when we are parents. We start to value different things (Aman)

25:00 How we find work-parenting balance today (Kevin)

33:20 How we find work-parenting balance today (Jeffrey)

37:30 What are we grateful our kids taught us recently?

Quotes to Remember:

• "Balancing work and family is a constant negotiation."
• "Jobs come and go, but family is forever."
• "If you look around and really pay attention, there are all kinds of fun things and ways to explore... my kids remind me of that."

Please welcome Jared P Coyle, former Head of AI Innovation at SAP and father of two, currently on sabbatical. Our first guest!

In conversation with Aman and Jeffrey (while Kevin enjoys a family vacation in nature), we cover:

• Jared's fear of heights and how that shows up in his parenting
• Using 3D printers to help our kids make friends
• Aman's math nerd childhood (let's be honest - we were all math nerds)
• Teaching our kids today about AI -- with realism (not too much optimism, not too much pessimism) -- the imperfections and the opportunities
• How important our wives are in all this,
  and how important it is that we dads talk together about parenting

Take a listen, let us know what you think. Share with a dad you want to be better friends with. (Episode 7 coming soon)

Jeff, Aman, and Kevin explore the value of travel and exposure to different cultures, the impact of nature on children, and the challenges of traveling with kids. They also delves into the contrast between city and nature experiences, the role of routines, and the unpredictability of children in new environments.

Takeaways

• Travel exposes children to other cultures and provides real-life experiences beyond what they learn in school.
• Nature has a positive impact on children, providing them with autonomy, stimulation, and a sense of calm.
• Traveling with kids presents challenges, including the need to adapt to new environments and the unpredictability of children's behavior.
• Routines can help children flourish and build momentum, but the cost-benefit analysis of traveling with kids is a consideration for parents. Family travel experiences can have a significant impact on children's cultural exposure and understanding.
• The evolving nature of travel preferences and the importance of age-appropriate activities in family travel.

Today we explore the themes of play and authority while parenting. Along the way, we touch on the importance of creative problem-solving, setting boundaries, and as always the impact of cultural and personal experiences on our parenting styles.

Takeaways

• Engaging with children through play fosters creativity and imagination.
• Balancing authority and playfulness is essential for effective parenting.

Hope you enjoy!

This conversation delves into the themes of celebrating the holidays with grandparents, the family dynamics, the materialism, the gift-giving, as well as the challenges of balancing care for aging (grand)parents and maintaining a healthy relationship between them and with out kids (their grandkids).

Aman, Kevin and Jeffrey end with sharing new year's intentions for 2026 !

Chapters

• 00:00 Parenting and Gratitude
• 05:42 Holiday Celebrations and Family Dynamics
• 20:38 The Nuances of Gift-Giving
• 28:04 Keeping Family Connected Across Continents
• 36:26 New Year Intentions and Values for 2026

In this conversation, three dads from North America share their experiences of fatherhood while living in Paris. They discuss the challenges of being a dad, the cultural differences in parenting, and the emotional landscape of fatherhood. The conversation highlights the importance of sharing experiences among dads, the struggles of forming social bonds, and the lessons learned from parenting. Ultimately, they express gratitude for the transformative impact of fatherhood on their lives.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Fatherhood in Paris

03:58 The Challenges of Dads Sharing Experiences

12:00 Cultural Differences in Parenting

18:00 Navigating the Emotional Landscape of Fatherhood

25:47 Measuring Success as a Dad

36:02 Gratitude and Lessons Learned from Parenting

Kevin, Jeffrey and Aman share their best efforts to cope with crying, deal with tantrums, and be honest about their emotions and the need for discipline (sometimes) with their kids. They talk about what their kids are teaching them, and discussion dives into as well how childhood experiences (with their own parents) has impacted how they parent today and what they see as "the right thing to do" (emotions and all). Sometimes, parents have a role to play in helping kids calm down. Sometimes, it's about setting boundaries or showing how there can be repair after punishment. Talking about emotions especially among men is so important.

Takeaways

• Parenting challenges always evolving
• Coping with children's behavior changes
• Parenting as a continual experiment
• Our strategies as parents have to evolve with the changing context
• Crying and Expressing Anger, when our kids do it and when we parents do it too
• The role of punishment and repair while parenting

Chapters

• 00:00 Kevin shares about Parenting Challenges and Ways we can adapt
• 13:12 When Kids & Parents Cry
• 32:37 Jeffrey talks about understanding Anger and Setting Boundaries
• 45:29 Aman gets into Emotional Needs
• 57:51 Men & Fathers getting real about emotions, a really important thing