Parenting, apparently

Pok Pok
  • 5.0 (21)
  • Parenting
  • Updated Weekly

Parenthood doesn't come with instructions, and neither does building a company. Melissa and Esther are figuring out both on opposite sides of the world, as friends and founders of award-winning kids’ media brand Pok Pok. Since 2021, running Pok Pok has been a front-row seat to the inner world of parents: the real wins that don’t make it to Instagram, as well as the unspoken fears and questions that everyone is waiting for someone else to say first.  Parenting, apparently, is a space to come together and take the pressure off parenthood by celebrating the fact that there is no “right” way of doing it. Each episode is a reminder that you’re not supposed to have all the answers, but that the way to get closer to them is by getting curious. Whether Melissa and Esther are sharing their own “WTF” moments, reflecting in real time, or passing the mic to guests from the community, you’re invited to come get curious about your own parenting journey. We may not have a manual for this thing, but we do have the creative freedom to make our own along the way. Follow us on Instagram! Watch us on Youtube! And check out Pok Pok! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 2d ago ·  Video

    Two Founder Moms On Career Guilt and the Real Cost of Ambition

    This week it's just Melissa and Esther — no guest, just the two of them, picking up a thread left over from last week's conversation about ambition: what were they actually chasing when they started Pok Pok, and is it still what they want? Is founder guilt just parent guilt with a business attached to it? Can you really measure balance by the week instead of the day? And where's the line between setting a high bar for yourself as a leader and never actually clocking out? Melissa and Esther get honest about what the company costs them and what it gives back — including the guilt they carry toward each other, and whether each of them feels like she's holding up her half. They talk about protecting weekends, running a company split between Toronto and Belgium, missing soccer games, and the Dr. Becky "fill up your cup" trick for leaving your kids before a trip. It's a candid look at what founders don't say out loud, and why neither of them calls being one "golden handcuffs." Write in to us at hello@parentingapparently.com Subscribe and follow Parenting, Apparently, a podcast by Melissa Cash, Esther Huybreghts, and the Pok Pok team: YouTube Pok Pok YouTube Instagram Pok Pok helps raise the next generation of creative thinkers through non-addictive digital tools that encourage kids to think outside the box and learn through play. Learn more: https://playpokpok.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Two Founder Moms On Career Guilt and the Real Cost of Ambition

  2. Sep 17 ·  Video

    Ambition, Motherhood, and the Millennial "Do It All" Script with Amil Niazi

    In this episode of "Parenting, apparently," Esther and Melissa sit down with Amil Niazi — whose viral essays and national bestselling memoir have made her one of today's most talked-about parenting thinkers. The conversation grows out of the premise behind Amil's book, Life After Ambition, and her column, The Hard Part, for The Cut: what role does parenting play in our relationship with ambition and selfhood? How much of who we are should be defined by our job, versus everything else that makes up a life? Is "balance" a myth, or does it just work better as seasons than as a pie chart? And what does "good enough" actually look like on an ordinary morning — first day of school included? Drawing on her own winding path — from producing at CBC and BBC, to bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Washington Post, to finally settling into writing on her own terms — Amil shares hard-won lessons on letting go of the millennial "do it all" script. She also opens up about a small but telling choice: she tells her three kids she writes, rather than that she is a writer. It's a distinction that gets at the heart of her conversation with Esther and Melissa, and it raises a bigger question for the rest of us: does how we talk about our own careers shape how our kids will frame theirs? Read Amil's work at the cut: https://www.thecut.com/tags/the-hard-part/ And pick up a copy of her book Life After Ambition: A "Good Enough" Memoir: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/750349/life-after-ambition-by-amil-niazi/9780771005213 Write in to us at hello@parentingapparently.com Subscribe and follow Parenting, Apparently, a podcast by Melissa Cash, Esther Huybreghts, and the Pok Pok team: YouTube Pok Pok YouTube Instagram Pok Pok helps raise the next generation of creative thinkers through non-addictive digital tools that encourage kids to think outside the box and learn through play. Learn more: https://playpokpok.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Ambition, Motherhood, and the Millennial "Do It All" Script with Amil Niazi

  3. Sep 10 ·  Video

    Your kid has 8 senses, not 5! With Laura Petix

    Melissa and Esther welcome back pediatric occupational therapist Laura Petix (the pod’s first return guest!) who arrives with a new book: The Sensory Code, out October 6. They start where her book does, with the nervous system budget. Everyone wakes up with a certain amount in the tank, and every ordinary thing costs something. Socks might cost Laura a dollar and cost her sensory-sensitive daughter five, which is how a kid ends up at zero, or into the negative, by the end of a school day. Laura explains how parents can better navigate their day with small sensory strategies. Laura outlines the three senses nobody learned in school: vestibular, proprioception, and interoception, which she calls the missing link to emotional regulation. It's why a kid can be genuinely unable to notice they're hungry until they’re home from school. Then Melissa asks a question many parents wonder: at what point is supporting your kid actually coddling them? Laura's answer is surprising. It's a warm conversation about what's going on underneath the behaviour, and why knowing about it makes everyone in the house easier to live with. Get Laura's new book: https://theotbutterfly.com/thesensorycode/ Write in to us at hello@parentingapparently.com Subscribe and follow Parenting, Apparently, a podcast by Melissa Cash, Esther Huybreghts, and the Pok Pok team: YouTube Pok Pok YouTube Instagram Pok Pok helps raise the next generation of creative thinkers through non-addictive digital tools that encourage kids to think outside the box and learn through play. Learn more: https://playpokpok.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Your kid has 8 senses, not 5! With Laura Petix

  4. Sep 3 ·  Video

    Rethinking What School Offers Kids

    In this episode of “Parenting, apparently,” Esther and Melissa rethink what school really offers kids. From exploring the differences between the Belgian and Canadian education systems to imagining what they would change as school principals, they dig into homework, academic pressure, and what kids actually need from school to thrive. Is it better to hold kids back as often as Belgian schools, or push them through like those in Canada? Is homework as important as hobbies after a long school day? Is it better to have the diversity and life experience of public school or the extra support of a private institution? Drawing on their personal experiences as kids in school and as parents now navigating these systems, they unpack what they think is supporting kids, and what needs to be retired. It’s a thoughtful conversation about education, childhood, and how school shapes us, while questioning how much children learn within the walls of a classroom versus everything they learn outside of it. Write in to us at hello@parentingapparently.com Subscribe and follow Parenting, Apparently, a podcast by Melissa Cash, Esther Huybreghts, and the Pok Pok team: YouTube Pok Pok YouTube Instagram Pok Pok helps raise the next generation of creative thinkers through non-addictive digital tools that encourage kids to think outside the box and learn through play. Learn more: https://playpokpok.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Rethinking What School Offers Kids

  5. Aug 27 ·  Video

    Surviving Your First Back-to-School Season

    It’s back-to-school season, and Melissa’s son is starting kindergarten for the first time, while Esther is six years in with her two boys. Together, they chat about the practical and emotional realities of getting the family ready for a new school year. Melissa shares how she’s preparing for the transition (including her very real dilemma of whether she needs multiple lunchboxes), while Esther explains just how wildly different her boys’ lunch preferences are—one basically requests a charcuterie board—and helps Melissa get realistic about her planning. They talk about the logistics of dropping kids off in different directions, dividing the workload with their partners, and surprising differences between schools in Toronto and Belgium from early exams to whether teachers can hug students. Between rants about abolishing homework and stricter rules in North American schools to discovering bizarre Belgian snacks, it’s a funny, honest conversation about surviving back-to-school season and getting mentally ready for everything that comes with it! Write in to us at hello@parentingapparently.com Subscribe and follow Parenting, Apparently, a podcast by Melissa Cash, Esther Huybreghts, and the Pok Pok team: YouTube Pok Pok YouTube Instagram Pok Pok helps raise the next generation of creative thinkers through non-addictive digital tools that encourage kids to think outside the box and learn through play. Learn more: https://playpokpok.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Surviving Your First Back-to-School Season

  6. Aug 20 ·  Video

    The Motherhood Penalty: Our Take as Moms & Employers

    In this episode of “Parenting, apparently”, Melissa and Esther unpack the “motherhood penalty”: the bias mothers can face in hiring, pay, promotions, and how their boundaries are perceived at work. The conversation was inspired by a recent interview Melissa had with a candidate for a role at Pok Pok. It was a mother who arrived on the call with her two-month-old on her lap, nursing on and off throughout the interview, and (correctly) assumed it wouldn’t be a problem. For Melissa, it became an unexpectedly emotional moment of trust in a world where being a mom at work can come with real consequences. Melissa and Esther reflect on their own experiences as moms and founders, including Melissa hiding her pregnancy while raising Pok Pok’s seed round. They also explore the hard question of: would you hire someone who’s seven months pregnant when your company needs help now? They also discuss the privilege of budgeting for parental leave as the company grows, if there is a fatherhood penalty, Belgium’s daycare shortage, and speaking at a tech conference five weeks postpartum. Read our blog about the Motherhood Penalty Write in to us at hello@parentingapparently.com Subscribe and follow Parenting, Apparently, a podcast by Melissa Cash, Esther Huybreghts, and the Pok Pok team: YouTube Pok Pok YouTube Instagram Pok Pok helps raise the next generation of creative thinkers through non-addictive digital tools that encourage kids to think outside the box and learn through play. Learn more: https://playpokpok.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Motherhood Penalty: Our Take as Moms & Employers

  7. Aug 13 ·  Video

    What Can Millennial Childhood Teach Us About Parenting?

    Melissa and Esther were 90s kids with very different upbringings. Growing up in Canada and Belgium, they compare notes on their millennial childhoods—from peanut butter lunch rules and being latch-key kids to weekend chores, screen time, and the freedom they each had growing up. Now that they’re parents, they ask: what parts of our 90s childhoods could never work today, and what might actually be worth bringing back? They explore how today’s parents are more informed and resourced than ever, yet face more pressure to get parenting “right”—from managing screen time and safety to raising independent, resilient kids. It’s a nostalgic but thoughtful conversation about ’90s childhood, millennial parenting, giving kids freedom, and what we can learn from the way we grew up. Write in to us at hello@parentingapparently.com Subscribe and follow Parenting, Apparently, a podcast by Melissa Cash, Esther Huybreghts, and the Pok Pok team: YouTube Pok Pok YouTube Instagram Pok Pok helps raise the next generation of creative thinkers through non-addictive digital tools that encourage kids to think outside the box and learn through play. Learn more: https://playpokpok.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    What Can Millennial Childhood Teach Us About Parenting?

  8. Aug 6 ·  Video

    Raising Feminist Boys & Growing Up in a Matriarchy with Edith (Esther’s Sister)

    This week on “Parenting, apparently”, Esther is joined by her sister Edith for a conversation about childhood, motherhood, feminism, and the lessons we carry from the way we were raised. Edith works in TV and film in Belgium and is mom to four-year-old Louis. Together, Esther and Edith reflect on growing up in a matriarchal household and the challenge of raising sons with feminist values while helping them build confidence, empathy, and a strong sense of self. They revisit stories from their childhood, including Esther’s witchcraft phase, and talk about the pressure of modelling behaviours you’re still working on, navigating kids’ swearing, creating secret hand signals to communicate without words, and the invisible parenting lessons passed down through generations. It’s a funny, thoughtful conversation about sisterhood, motherhood, and raising the next generation, ending with a page from their mother’s real parenting philosophy playbook: have a fun day! Write in to us at hello@parentingapparently.com Subscribe and follow Parenting, Apparently, a podcast by Melissa Cash, Esther Huybreghts, and the Pok Pok team: YouTube Pok Pok YouTube Instagram Pok Pok helps raise the next generation of creative thinkers through non-addictive digital tools that encourage kids to think outside the box and learn through play. Learn more: https://playpokpok.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Raising Feminist Boys & Growing Up in a Matriarchy with Edith (Esther’s Sister)
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About

Parenthood doesn't come with instructions, and neither does building a company. Melissa and Esther are figuring out both on opposite sides of the world, as friends and founders of award-winning kids’ media brand Pok Pok. Since 2021, running Pok Pok has been a front-row seat to the inner world of parents: the real wins that don’t make it to Instagram, as well as the unspoken fears and questions that everyone is waiting for someone else to say first.  Parenting, apparently, is a space to come together and take the pressure off parenthood by celebrating the fact that there is no “right” way of doing it. Each episode is a reminder that you’re not supposed to have all the answers, but that the way to get closer to them is by getting curious. Whether Melissa and Esther are sharing their own “WTF” moments, reflecting in real time, or passing the mic to guests from the community, you’re invited to come get curious about your own parenting journey. We may not have a manual for this thing, but we do have the creative freedom to make our own along the way. Follow us on Instagram! Watch us on Youtube! And check out Pok Pok! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Pok Pok
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    40
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © e095b760-75b3-11f1-81e2-794f9281bea2
  • Show Website
    Parenting, apparently

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