Bringing It All Together

What can a 7-year-old teach us about identity, culture, and belonging? More than you might think.

In this special episode of Between Two Worlds with Dr. Phebe, I’m joined by my youngest and most honest guest yet…my oldest son, Kwame.

Kwame and I explore what it feels like to grow up between cultures through the eyes of a child. From being Ghanaian and American to family traditions, names, school, and the little moments that shape identity, this conversation is funny, heartfelt, and surprisingly profound.

As immigrant parents, we spend so much time teaching our children where they come from. But how often do we stop to ask who they’re becoming?

His answers reminded me that bridging cultures isn’t just about passing down traditions. It’s about listening, staying curious, and allowing our children to shape the conversation, too.

Whether you’re an immigrant parent, an adult child of immigrants, or someone raising children across cultures, this episode will leave you smiling, reflecting, and maybe even reaching for the phone to call your parents…or your kids.

Because sometimes the greatest teachers are the little voices we’ve been trying so hard to guide.

🎙️ If this episode resonated with you, please leave a review, share it with someone you love, and join the conversation on social media.

Send your questions and topic ideas to consult@phebebrakolmft.com or slide in my DM's on Instagram @drphebebrako

Remember we can only grow our audience with your support. Please share with your community!

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Have you ever had to explain anything about Ghana to your friends at school? Yes. What do you usually tell them? It's Ghana's birthday. It's Ghana's birthday. When is Ghana's birthday? March sixth. March sixth. That is true. Do you remember the year? 19 Blah blah blah. You wanna try? 1957. 1957. Yeah. Wait a minute.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Wait a minute. What? Grandma was born after. Grandma was born a year after. You're right. Is she almost the same age as Grandma? Yes. Well. Mm-hmm.

unknown 0:34

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

You just had an aha moment. You look like a light bulb went off in your head. I can see it glowing on top of your head right now. Welcome back to the podcast where we bridge the gap between immigrant parents and their children, one honest conversation at a time. If you're new here, I'm Dr. Phoebe Brackell. I'm a therapist. I'm an immigrant daughter. I'm a mom of three boys who, you know, spends a lot of time helping families understand each other. Well, I'd say a little better, right? So today's guest is probably my most important guest ever. Yeah. He's funny, he's smart, and occasionally dramatic, like his mama, right? And he has a lot of strong opinions about, you know, bedtime, food, everything you can think of. And he always has like a million questions in the morning when we're trying to get ready for school. And he's also my son. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

So today we're going to be talking about what it's like to grow up between two cultures through the eyes of a child. As immigrant parents, we spend so much time talking about our children, and we don't always, you know, stop and ask them what they think. So today that's exactly what we're doing, right? There's there's no experts here, there's no research studies, it's just one very honest seven, almost eight-year-old sharing his perspective on culture, family, and growing up in America while being connected to to his Ghanaian roots. So I mean, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Yay!

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Yay! Are you are you nervous? No. No, okay. Would you like to introduce yourself? Tell us your name.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

My name is Israel. Israel. Also known as Prince Israel. Prince Israel. The second, because of the country that is first.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

When did we get Prince? I didn't realize we had Prince in the name, too. Where did you add that?

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Like I have royal blood.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

You have royal blood? Yeah. Okay, well, we'll talk about that very soon. So just remember, you know, don't worry if you say anything, you know, embarrassing or anything that you don't want to say, we'll we'll edit it out, okay? Yeah, we'll edit it out like that. Okay, so maybe we will, maybe we won't. Okay. So let's start with a big question. Are you ready? Yes. Are you ready? Yeah. I know you're excited to be here. So what does culture mean?

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Culture means what you do in a country like tradition, clothes that you're wearing, um, the flag, which is my favorite part. Which is your favorite part?

SPEAKER_02 3:32

The flag. The flag. Okay. So what's your favorite flag in the entire world? Ghana. The Ghana flag. Can you describe the Ghana flag to us?

SPEAKER_00 3:39

It's the yellow means gold. Okay. And the red is the struggle for independence. The black star means independence. And the green means plants.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

Plants, yeah. You're right. Vegetation. Vegetation. All the vegetation in Ghana. Yeah. And also speaking of culture, you have on a traditional Ghanaian outfit. What is it called? It's cut a fugu. A fugu, yeah. And mom has one on too. Right. So if you're listening, unfortunately, you can't see, but Kwame and I have matching outfits on today. And it I I think you look really nice.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

You're very welcome. Um, and I know that is also one of your favorite, you know, outfits to to wear. And I thought that that was a really good answer.

SPEAKER_03 4:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:27

But yeah, when it comes to culture. So what do you when you think about our family, right? What do you think makes us different from other families like your friends' families or your your the families at at your school?

SPEAKER_00 4:41

We we we have different types of skin tones and we are African.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Oh yeah, you're right. We have different skin tones. We're African. Is there anything else that makes us different from your friends and their families at school? Yeah, we e we're the only ones that eat your love rice. We're the only ones who eat your love rice. Yeah. Well, but if if we made your love rice and we gave them some, they would enjoy some, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:05

Yeah. That is that's true.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

And I'm the only one that eats jollof rice or Chick-fil-A sauce.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

You like Chick-fil-A sauce. Yeah. You do like Chick-fil-A sauce, that is true. You like to put it on everything.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Like sometimes ketchup on Jolofrice.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Okay. Yeah. You know what's funny? When I was in high school, I actually used to put ketchup on my Jolo frice. Oh, we're just we're relatives. We're relatives. Oh my goodness. Are we related to each other? Yeah. Really? That is so crazy. Huh. I wonder who I am to you. What kind of relative am I to? You are my mom. My mother. I'm your mother. Mother relative. Mother relative. That is funny. One of the things that I've I've noticed about kids, you know, who grew up in immigrant families who have, you know, one world at home and another world at school, right? Is that sometimes we we have to think about what is different. And sometimes we also have to think about what is the same, right? So I want to talk a little bit about a little bit more about school. Is that okay? School. School. So what grade are you in? Second. Second grade? My goodness. You're about to go to the third grade. Yeah. This fall. Yeah. Are you ready for third grade? Yeah. What are you looking forward to in third grade? Mining. Mining? What does mining have to do with third grade? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. More flags. More flags. Yes. Okay. Alright. But I'm so interested in the mining part because what what is what is the deal with mining? Why are you so obsessed with mining?

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Because I like minerals.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

You like minerals? Yeah. Okay. I don't bore them.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

So when you think about school and you think about home, do you think you're the same person at home and the same person at school? Yes. Why do you think you're the same person? Because I'm me. I don't wear my same blue jacket. You wear your same blue jacket. You like your blue jacket. Yeah. You wear it at school and you wear it at home too. Even when you come home and I ask you to take it off. Yes. And I and I ask that too because you know, sometimes when we, you know, when we go to school, we, you know, we speak only English, right? We eat school lunch. What's your favorite school lunch? Chicken burger. Chicken burger. Yeah. Okay. Right. And so so you do that, but when you come home, you don't always hear English, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Yeah, yeah, I hear you speak qi.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

You hear me speak qi?

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Okay. And also you and grandma. Grandma and I do, yeah. We do speak qi, right? And so I guess maybe that's one of the things that you would say that we do at home that your friends maybe don't do at school. Yes. Right? You don't hear any qi. I wonder what that's like for you to hear qi at home and not at school. It feels African. It feels African? Yes. Okay, can you say more about that?

SPEAKER_00 7:58

It feels African when we are at school, I don't hear any African languages, but when I'm at home, I hear some African languages.

SPEAKER_02 8:07

Yeah. And I remember when you were a little younger, I remember telling you that I was hoping that we would only speak Qi at home. Do you remember what you said to me? Yes. What do you what do you remember? Huh?

SPEAKER_01 8:18

A yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

A yeah, which means what does A mean? Good. Good. Yeah, I'm good. When somebody says it to say. But I remember you said you were not ready for that and can we move it to later or learn it later? Yeah. Do you remember that? Yeah. How do you think that made me feel? Um disappointed. Disappointed? Oh, that's a good word.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

I was a little disappointed because I would love to hear you speaking more, Chi.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Anansi the spider.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

Is that the best you can do with Chi? Anancy the Spider? Anansi is a mysterious spider that plays tricks on other characters. On other characters. That is true. That's a Ghanaian folktale. That is a Ghanaian folktale. Where did you hear about that? In fifth grade. In first grade? Yeah. Okay, alright, that's cool. So have you ever had to explain anything about Ghana to your friends at school? Yes. What do you usually tell them? It's Ghana's birthday. It's Ghana's birthday. When is Ghana's birthday? March 6th. March 6th. That is true. Do you remember the year? 19 blah blah blah. You wanna try? 1957. 1957. Yeah. Wait a minute.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

Wait a minute. What? Grandma was born after. Grandma was born a year after. You're right. Is she almost the same age as Grandma? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

Whoa. Mm-hmm.

unknown 9:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

Just had an aha moment? You look like a light bulb went off in your head. I can see it glowing on top of your head right now. So what do you what what is something that maybe you wish your friends knew about our family and about our culture as Ghanaians?

SPEAKER_00 10:10

I wish that they knew that they would also speak Qi.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

You you wish your friends knew how to speak Qi?

SPEAKER_00 10:18

And also And it would feel a little weird. It would feel weird. Why would it feel weird? Because I mostly hear my friends speak English.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

English, okay. So maybe you wish that your friends also spoke Qi? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Well, are you going to speak some more Qi? Because if you're expecting your friends to speak Qi or dreaming that your friends speak Qi, maybe you also need to speak Qi. Yeah. Yeah?

SPEAKER_03 10:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:43

Okay. What other Qi words do you know? I taught you one this morning. Eh? Mm-hmm. Epacho?

SPEAKER_01 10:52

No. Um which means what? Brother. No. Bro. Mm-mm.

unknown 10:58

Bro.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

No. Is it a bro word? No, it's not a bro word.

SPEAKER_02 11:03

Is it a I don't know. Ipacho means please. Please. Sister, please. Sister is Minya ba. Minyaaba. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Minyaaba.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Oh, you can say sister, which is also fine.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

What about? Kowho?

SPEAKER_02 11:20

That's one of my favorite things to say to you in the morning, especially. Which means what? Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Hey, cowho. So do you ever feel like you're teaching people a little bit about our culture? I don't know. You don't know? Yeah. Do you feel like I teach you enough about our culture? No. No? I need you to bring more. You need me to teach you a little bit more?

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Yes. Yeah. Like I know you can't bring batteries to Ghana. You can't bring batteries to Ghana?

SPEAKER_03 11:51

Yeah. Why?

SPEAKER_00 11:52

I don't know. Who told you that? I just saw it on the internet, but I don't believe that.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Oh, okay. Well you can bring batteries to Ghana.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:59

As far as I know. But is there anything else that you wish I would teach you a little bit more about our culture? Yes. What?

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Things in Ghana that are dangerous. Okay. And some type of and more tribes?

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Okay, teaching you a little bit more about the tribes? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Well, do you know what tribe you're from? The Ashanti tribe. You you are from the Ashanti tribe, yeah. Ashanti Empire power. Yeah, so you're right. I could I could definitely teach you a little bit more about our culture. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

And the Ashanti Empire made by Ghana and Code of War.

SPEAKER_02 12:38

Yeah. Yes. All that. So maybe teaching a little bit more about the history, right? And I think that sometimes there's other like immigrant parents like myself who have come from other countries and live here in the US who sometimes forget to like teach their kids or don't think it's important to teach their kids as much. Or sometimes we just don't have time, you know, because we we work a lot, also. Yeah, you work you we mostly work. I mostly work. Yeah, because you want to be rich. I want to be rich. Of course I want to be rich. Yeah. You have you have really high taste. You like to travel, you like nice things. You're always asking to to to buy plushies, and you like to go out to eat. Yeah. You like to go to places like Red Robin, and all those places cost money. So yeah, if I'm rich, that means that I get to treat you to all those things and you know take you to places like Hawaii and things like that.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

And in Colorado.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

In Colorado? Yeah. That's random.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Everybody's saying Colorado.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

Everybody's in Colorado. What is in Colorado?

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Color. The word is colored.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Okay, all right. So now let's talk about something that's really important to me. Yeah, names. And I know that last time we talked about names in the car on our way to school and what our full names were and what our names meant, right? Because I mean, if for people who have listened to this podcast before, you know that immigrants like myself and immigrant parents like myself, we really put a lot of emphasis into names, right? And then America gets involved, right? And so that is names are such a huge part of our culture. And I know you introduced yourself as Israel. What is your other name?

SPEAKER_04 14:25

Kwame.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

Kwame. Okay, so what do you think about your name Kwame? Do you like it? Yes, I love it. You love it. Okay, what do you love about it? It sounds like K. It starts with a K? Okay. Is there anything else that you love about it? Yes. Yes? What? It sounds African. It sounds African. Okay. Do people say it correctly when you tell them what your name is? I don't know. Think about the last time maybe you told your somebody your name was Kwame. Do they say it correctly?

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Well, Orion in first grade pronoun this pronounced it as Quaymy.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

As Quay. Yes, Quamy. Quay me. It sounds like you thought that was funny. Yeah. Do you have any other feelings when people don't say your name correctly?

SPEAKER_00 15:10

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

No? Okay, you don't know. Yeah. Okay. I wonder if you've had any other times where people didn't say your name properly. I don't know. Okay. Alright, that's fine. That's fine. And how do you help people learn how to say it if they don't say it correctly? So like when Orion said Quay Me, how did you teach him how to say it?

SPEAKER_00 15:29

I didn't say anything.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

He didn't say anything.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

So if somebody said my name wrong, I would tell them it excuse me, it's actually Kwame, not Quamey.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Okay, you're gonna say excuse me. That was very polite, uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

And like if somebody says kumu it's that's not how my name works, but excuse me. It's Kwame, not whatever die you said.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

Okay, so it sounds like you're going to be correcting them.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

Which I think is a great thing because your name is very special and people need to say it properly.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Yeah, I'm African.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

Because you're African, yeah. Would you ever want a different name?

SPEAKER_01 16:14

No, why? Okay. Okay. I was just wondering. I was just I was just wondering.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Do you remember what my middle name is? No, that's my last name.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Kwabna.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

Yeah. And your brother is Kwabna, yes.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

And Kwaku means praise God.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

No.

unknown 16:40

What?

SPEAKER_02 16:41

Kwaku means uh a male who was born on Wednesday. Is praise. Yes. Yeah. That's what that's what that means. Aye means praise. So yeah. When you're older, okay, I want to I want you to think about when you're older, right? When you're older, what are some parts of our culture that you want to keep? My funniness. Your funniness? Yes. Okay. Are there any other parts of our culture that you want to keep? Remember, remember the definition of culture that you gave in the beginning?

SPEAKER_01 17:14

So the things that I do. The things that you do, okay. Like what? Like watch TV.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

What does it have to do with our culture? And and eat jabloaf rice. And eating jollof rice, okay. So maybe like watching TV and watching like things about Ghana?

SPEAKER_00 17:31

And like eat and watching while eating.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

Watching while eating, okay. Yes. Okay, okay. So eating jollof rice. I think that is a very essential part. Now, are we gonna do ketchup or Chick-fil-A sauce? Both. So as you can see, we really, really have a thing about, you know, jollof rice, and we also love to put sauce on there. I think one other sauce that maybe we're missing is shito. The black sauce. Oh. The black hot sauce.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

So we're gonna put all of it with one, two special toppings.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

Two special toppings? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

Two special toppings.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

So, so so hold on. If you could put any other toppings on Jolof, what would you put on there?

SPEAKER_00 18:19

Salt and pepper.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Salt and pepper? Yes. But there's already salt and pepper in it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And the thing about our food in Ghana is it's so well seasoned that we don't usually have to put salt and pepper on it. Oh. Yeah. I mean, remember, like, think about grandma's cooking. It's usually very seasoned. So we don't do you ever see us put salt and pepper on it when we're eating?

unknown 18:38

No.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

That is an abomination. Yeah? We don't do that over here.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

They're like, if we have jell of rice and I put a black sauce, um, Chick-fil-A sauce and ketchup and but pepper, it is a total abomination.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

It's a total abomination. We don't do that.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

It's a total abomination. Even just throw this thing.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Even even with you putting ketchup and chick-fil-a on it, we're excusing you. You know, if you were in Ghana, we wouldn't be doing that. We only do maybe ketchup, yes. But shito is is essential because we like to, you know, throw a little razzle dazzle on there.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

Okay. I'm gonna use cheap from now on.

SPEAKER_02 19:20

Okay, all right. Now every generation sees the world differently, right? So you know, I grew up in Ghana. You're growing up in America, right? So I'm curious about what your generation, right? Like kids like you think about us as parents and maybe what we're not getting right or maybe what we're getting wrong. So what is something that you what is something that you think that kids understand that adults don't?

SPEAKER_00 19:48

The play dead joke.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

The playing?

SPEAKER_00 19:51

The play dead joke.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

The play dead joke.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

Okay, so there's there's jokes that kids understand that adults might not.

SPEAKER_04 19:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

Well, you're right, because we don't always sit on YouTube and you know, play video games and things like that. I mean, some of us play video games, don't get me wrong, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:06

But you play s you play cocoon.

SPEAKER_02 20:08

I play cocoon, you're right. Yeah, I do. It's my favorite game.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

On their PlayStation.

SPEAKER_02 20:13

On the PlayStation, yes. So for for people who didn't know, yeah, I I do like to play video games. So what I'm hearing you say is that there are some maybe games and jokes that adults don't understand, but kids understand.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

You like geometry dash?

SPEAKER_02 20:27

Like geometry dash, okay. I know that that's one of your favorite games.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

My my ultimate favorite game is Mari. I will not forget that.

SPEAKER_02 20:35

Okay, alright, sorry. I'll try to remember next time. So as you can see, adults sometimes forget and you know that all that. So what is something that maybe you wish that parents knew?

SPEAKER_00 20:46

The that I can do the Well you already knew that you already know I can do the Okay. Like a fold of tongue. I wish parents knew that I had to know how to do the fold of tongue.

SPEAKER_02 21:05

Okay. So that so you wish that Well, I can do it too. So you wish that maybe parents knew that you had special talents?

SPEAKER_03 21:13

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

Okay, okay like knowing all of the flags of the world. You do know all the flags of the world. That is true.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Even Gibraltar, even Gibraltar.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

Gibraltar? Yeah. Okay. That's very random. I didn't even realize that's a country. Is that a country?

SPEAKER_00 21:30

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 21:31

You don't know? Well, I don't know too. Maybe can I see you later?

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Maybe maybe well, it's not a recognized country in the United Nations.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Oh, I see. I see.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Same as Kurdistan and the Republicans of Sakha and Southern Ossetia, Kurd was a Zahara, which is partially recognized, and also Palestine.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Wow. Okay. Are there any other countries that you can think of that are not recognized by the United Nations?

SPEAKER_00 21:57

Quebec.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Quebec? Well, Quebec is a Region.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

In Canada.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

In Canada. So technically it's not a country.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

But it has a flag.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

But it has a flag. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

It's which is similar to Martinique, but the snakes are swords. Oh.

SPEAKER_02 22:14

Wait. They're swords?

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:17

Geez, buddy, you know some random things that I don't even know.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

What is your favorite flag to draw?

SPEAKER_00 22:23

The Ghanaian flag.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

The Ghanaian flag, okay. Are there any other flags that you're really, really well, you know how to draw all of the flags of the world.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Yeah, except that I don't know how to draw Butan and w or whales.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

Whales.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

They have they both have dragons.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Well, the rules of your flag are they're supposed to be drawn easily by a child like the United States and Canada.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

Okay. Who made those rules?

SPEAKER_00 22:48

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

Okay, well. Speaking of rules, if if you could make one rule that every parent would follow, what would that rule be?

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Never forget that a kid knows how to do a backflip.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

That sounds very, very important. Do you know how to do a backflip? No, but I've seen somebody do it. Okay, so if you don't know how to do a backflip, what does that have to do with me? Actually, never mind. Okay, never forget how to do your job. How to do my job. What is my job? Working and taking care of us. And t- Wow, working and taking care of you. Okay, so that's my job. Yes. Okay, what is your job? Looking after my siblings. Looking after your siblings. Who gave you that job? You. Me? Yes, you. Not me. Not me giving you jobs and responsibilities.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

No, you like I had to det I had to clean up all the underwear thingies and I had to clean up all my clothes and I had to sort them. So it gave me two dollars. And I appreciate that. Aw, okay. Like it made me clean like you made me sort the things on in the suitcase after we went to North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

So me and Colo worked together.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

You work together, I remember that.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

And we showed you. Okay. And it was completely clean, did it?

SPEAKER_02 24:11

Yeah, you did it. Great job. It sounds like you enjoy being a big brother.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

What's your favorite part about being a big brother? Having siblings. Having siblings?

unknown 24:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 24:20

Anything else?

SPEAKER_01 24:21

That's it.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

That's it.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

And having you. And having me? Yes. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

What did you like about having me?

SPEAKER_00 24:28

You're nice.

SPEAKER_02 24:29

I'm nice. I tried.

unknown 24:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

I try my best to be nice.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

And you always take me to places that I've always wanted to be in.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

Yes. I do my best to do that also. So anytime you want to go somewhere, I do try to make it happen.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

Like I remember in 2024 when I said I wanted to go to Japan.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

And we and you said we would go in twenty twenty six, but I realized it was too expensive.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

Yes, it was expensive.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

Like, if I would wanted to go to Japan and if you would afford it, I would rather go to Tokyo.

SPEAKER_03 25:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

And if I wanted to go to one of the Koreas, the worst decision is North Korea because they are very strict.

SPEAKER_03 25:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

So the best decision to go to one of the Koreas are is South Korea.

SPEAKER_02 25:16

Okay. We'll we'll try to make that happen. Yeah, I'm gonna go to Sheo. You're gonna what?

SPEAKER_00 25:21

I wanna go to Sheo.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

To Seoul?

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Alright, we'll we'll try to make that happen. And maybe the aunties and uncles that are listening to us will, you know, sponsor our trip and then we can, you know, we can go.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:34

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

That's it's not time to watch Nath Delhi.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Okay, so if if you were in charge of helping parents understand kids better, what would you tell parents? Um everything that kids know. Everything that kids know. So what are some of the things that kids know?

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Uh the 21 meme that everybody shouts out whatever they see it.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

Like in my class.

SPEAKER_02 26:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

In my class only.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

You know which one, which one is my favorite? You know which one is my favorite?

SPEAKER_01 26:11

No. You know what my favorite? My favorite? Six seven. I thought you got the thing. I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. Okay. I couldn't help it.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

Alright. So before we finish, I want to do something fun, and we're gonna call this section rapid fire questions, okay?

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Alright. So I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions that you just have to give me like quick answers. Okay. All right. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_00 26:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 26:39

Alright, so jolla, fries or pizza.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

Pizza.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

Don't friend, do the fries, do the right. Uh uh, okay, okay, okay, okay. Grandma's house or Legoland?

SPEAKER_01 26:49

Grandma's house.

SPEAKER_02 26:50

Oh, wow. Okay. School lunch or home food?

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Home foods.

SPEAKER_02 26:54

Oh, okay. All right. And what is one food that every Ghanaian kid should try? Uh Fufu. Okay, alright. So foofu is made from a starch and you know, we put it in a bowl of soup.

SPEAKER_00 27:04

And before it turned soft?

SPEAKER_02 27:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

Yeah, before it turned soft.

SPEAKER_02 27:09

Okay, and then we put some meat on there, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:11

So what is one American thing that you wish that grandma would understand? Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh games.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Games?

SPEAKER_02 27:21

Yes. Okay, so maybe introducing grandma to some more games? Yes. Like video games or just games that you play at school? Oh, video games. Video games? Yes. Okay. We'll see if we can get grandma on the on the uh PlayStation one of these days. Okay. You know, I used to play PlayStation when I was a kid.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

What? PlayStation existed back then?

SPEAKER_02 27:39

Yes. Listen, I'm not that old. Okay. I'm I'm not that ancient. We had PlayStation. I don't remember when the first PlayStation came out, but we had one. Uncle Mike, Uncle Lipton, and myself, we we we had one. Grandpa got us one. Okay. And we were like the kid, the cool kids at school. And so we used to have, you know, I'm not gonna tell you. Can I tell you a little secret?

unknown 27:58

What?

SPEAKER_02 27:58

I used to have friends who would come over to the house to come play PlayStation because I was the only kid that had one. And I would do that when grandma went to work. Oh even though grandma told me not to have my friends over. Oh secretive. Oh, I'm secretive. But now I think everybody knows. Don't let grandma hear this. Don't let grandma hear this. Okay, grandma. Grandma is not gonna hear this. Grandma, if you're listening to this, close your ears, okay?

SPEAKER_00 28:24

So please.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

What please? What do you what do you love the most about our culture, Kame? Uh, that we're Ganyan. That we're Ganyan. But what do you love about the Ganyan culture?

SPEAKER_00 28:35

The food and uh Fuguan worg.

SPEAKER_02 28:38

Yeah, the clothes. The Fugu Worg. The Fugu, yeah. It looks really nice. We'll have to get you some more as you get older.

SPEAKER_04 28:44

Yay!

SPEAKER_02 28:45

So as you're getting older and you're getting taller, and you know, every time we put you into clothes before we close our eyes and blink, you are already too big for them.

SPEAKER_01 28:55

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 28:56

Yeah. So you're getting you're getting bigger, right? So my final question is what should I never stop doing as your mom? Um taking care of me. Never stop taking care of you?

SPEAKER_00 29:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

How do I take care of you?

SPEAKER_00 29:11

You gotta like feed me. Uh-huh. Alright. Give us medicine whenever we're sick.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

And let us watch TV.

SPEAKER_02 29:23

Let you watch TV. Okay. I'll I'll try to do that. One of my favorite things to tell you is that I love you.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

Yeah. And I tell you that several times a day. Because it's important for me to have you know that I love you. Because I might do all of these different things, right? Like taking care of you, working, taking you places, taking you to Super Jump Party Zone, and you know, taking you to Legoland and things like that. Yeah. And I think that's cool. But I for me as a mom, it's really important that I actually say it out loud because a lot of people from our culture, especially the adults, sometimes we find it hard to say those words to say, I love you. So there's other like kids whose parents don't necessarily say it out loud, even though they show it in their actions. So I I appreciate you saying that to me. And I think that you're a great son. Thank you. You're you're very welcome. Yeah. And you make it easy to do a lot of these things. I know I've been asking you a lot of questions. So here's your chance to ask me a question about Ghana, about growing up or my childhood.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

Okay. So what if grandma hears about this?

SPEAKER_02 30:31

Hears about what?

SPEAKER_00 30:32

The, you know, doing something that you're not supposed to part. Oh, the having my friends over. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

When well, I mean, if grandma hears about it, I don't know. What do you think is gonna happen? She's gonna be She's gonna be what? She's gonna probably be mad. She's probably gonna be mad. I mean, okay, so what if she is mad? I would be scared. You would be scared? Okay. Well, what what do you what is something that maybe grandma what is one thing that grandma does that makes you happy or makes you laugh? The way she does that thing. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, that is funny. It's nice having grandma around. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Okay. Alright, so back to the other question.

SPEAKER_04 31:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:20

What question what what other question do you have for me about my childhood, about Ghana, or about growing up in Ghana?

SPEAKER_00 31:27

What does it feel like if you have done something bad in Ghana?

SPEAKER_02 31:33

What did it feel like when I did something bad in Ghana?

SPEAKER_00 31:36

What does it feel like?

SPEAKER_02 31:37

What does it feel like? A little scary because actually growing up, grandma was a a lot more scary than she is right now.

unknown 31:43

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 31:44

And I did not need to mess with her.

SPEAKER_04 31:46

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

If I saw her coming sometimes, I would run if I if I was in trouble. Because I would get a spanking.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Oh. Yeah. That's why she threatens me if she if she That's why she threatens me if I do something bad again. That's why she threatens me.

SPEAKER_02 32:04

Yeah, she threatened you with like, I'm gonna spank you. Right? Because in in Ghana, that's what we do with with the kids. You know, if a kid does something wrong, we'll say, I'm going to spank you. Sometimes you say that to me. I do say that to you sometimes, you know. Because sometimes I need you to hurry up. You know? I'm going to spank you. Or as we say in Ghana, Mebu.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Exactly. That is actually a new scary way.

SPEAKER_02 32:27

Yeah. Okay. Is there any other question you want to ask me?

SPEAKER_00 32:31

Is there any way you know Artsakh, which is a technically a flag similar to Armenia, but with a pixelated, like more or less than sign?

SPEAKER_02 32:44

Sir, you know this whole flag thing is all you. It's not me. I don't know flags like that. You're the one who's super smart about the flags. I I don't know. I don't know. Okay? And I'm okay with letting you know, I don't know. So maybe ask me easier questions like what were you like when you were in elementary school?

SPEAKER_00 33:02

So yeah, I'll I'll also ask that question next. Okay, what is the question? What were you like when you were in elementary school? Were you one of the cool kids or something?

SPEAKER_01 33:11

Oh yeah, I was one of the cool kids.

SPEAKER_02 33:14

I was in elementary school. I was very, I was very funny. Same, same, same, same. Same, same, same, same. I was very funny. Um, I was very smart too. I knew a lot of random things. So sometimes my friends would ask me different questions and I would have answers for them. Um I was also very emotional.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

Oh, yeah, we're the same. We're we are the same.

SPEAKER_02 33:34

We are the same, yeah. Yeah, we are the same. So I would cry. And I also used to talk a lot, and um, and the adults were like, Stop talking so much, you talk too much. And I would ask so many questions. Oh, same. Same, yeah. So I guess we're we're pretty much the same.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:49

Yeah. What other questions do you have for me?

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Where have you gained all this knowledge?

SPEAKER_02 33:55

Where have I gained all this knowledge?

SPEAKER_00 33:56

Yeah, when you were in elementary school.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

I did a lot of reading. I spent a lot of time at the library. We had, I went to a school called Soul Clinic International School. It was an American school in Ghana. And I used to spend a lot of time in the library reading a lot of different books. They had these books called Encyclopedias. Encyclopedias. Encyclopedia.

SPEAKER_00 34:19

Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

Yeah, encyclopedia. That was a hard word to say.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Wait, isn't Wikipedia an encyclopedia?

SPEAKER_02 34:28

Yes. So before Wikipedia came in, we had actual books called Encyclopedia, and we would go into the library and you would open it and you would learn so much about different things and different topics.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

Like I would go to Wikipedia to download things.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

Can you download things from Wikipedia?

SPEAKER_00 34:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:46

Oh, okay, that's cool. Well, back in the day, I didn't really have that access to download stuff, so I would just go and download it into my brain.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Like, download it without even have to touch it?

SPEAKER_02 34:59

Yeah. So I would just read and I would just absorb all the knowledge.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

Oh, you're the same about Well, I'm the same with flags.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

Yeah, you're the same with flags, yeah. And and I just knew a lot of random things about random things in the world.

SPEAKER_00 35:11

Same.

SPEAKER_02 35:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

Like I know what E equals MC2 mean. E equals energy, and energy is mass and speed. Two times mass of speed. Yeah, that two means squares. So at that E equals mass speed and squares, but I think that wasn't true. So I learned something from a show that I watch a lot.

SPEAKER_02 35:36

What show?

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Animaniacs. Where they animania. Like, it's been there for like a few decades? I think so.

SPEAKER_02 35:45

Yeah, I think maybe like 1980s.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:50

I think so.

SPEAKER_00 35:51

I don't know. I could be wrong. Well, it's been there for a reboot, but it's only had three seasons. I've watched all of them. You've watched all of them. I I wish they would add a fourth season. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 36:03

You know what cartoons I used to watch when I was a kid? What? Powpuff Girls.

SPEAKER_00 36:07

Oh.

unknown 36:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:08

Oh, where did a save? I used to watch that.

SPEAKER_02 36:11

Yeah. And I used to watch Captain Planet.

SPEAKER_00 36:14

What the?

SPEAKER_02 36:15

Yeah. That one was about the environment and keeping the environment clean.

unknown 36:19

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 36:19

Yeah. And maybe.

SPEAKER_00 36:21

Did they have a reboot?

SPEAKER_02 36:22

I don't think they have a reboot. That would be really nice. We need to talk to somebody about that. I used to watch SWAT cats too.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

What?

SPEAKER_02 36:28

Yeah, I love Swat Cats. Um Swatcats. Sweatcats. And then I also watched The Ninja Turtles.

SPEAKER_01 36:35

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

I used to watch that too.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

And I also watched Cow and Chicken. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

Is that supposed to like, is that a learning show?

SPEAKER_02 36:46

No, it wasn't a learning show. It was a very silly show.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

Was it like for comedy?

SPEAKER_02 36:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

And sarcasm?

SPEAKER_02 36:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

It was about a chicken that was going crazy?

SPEAKER_02 36:54

No, it was about a cow and a chicken who were siblings, I think. But I know. It was ridiculous. We can watch it, actually. I think I saw it on on TV the other day. Um, and then I also used to watch Johnny Bravo. And I used to watch Dexter's Lab.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

Oh, I you I I wait, I've watched that before.

SPEAKER_02 37:12

Yeah, so that's what I used to watch when I was.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

Like, there's like this episode where I think the sibling was named Trixie, and they and she made like homemade popsicles out of like fruit juice.

SPEAKER_02 37:24

Oh, okay. Yeah. So those are the kinds of things that I watched.

SPEAKER_00 37:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:28

Yeah. And then I also watched There was one about some like vegetables or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

Wait, isn't that vegetables? Vegetails? Yeah, vegetales.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There was veggie tales. But there was also another one, I think it were there were like grapes and there were singers. I can't remember what the name is. Maybe somebody who's listening or watching can help me out with that. There was one about grapes.

SPEAKER_00 37:51

Grape singers?

SPEAKER_02 37:52

Yeah, and there were singers. It was like a band.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

Grape singers?

SPEAKER_02 37:55

Yeah. So you know how you get to watch TV like, you know, anytime you want. Back at at home when we were growing up, uh, when I was in elementary school, they introduced Cartoon Network on our TVs.

SPEAKER_01 38:04

Cartoon Network? I know about Cartoon Network. I know you do. I know you do.

SPEAKER_02 38:11

So Cartoon Network was uh came in when I was younger, when I was, I think maybe about fourth grade or third grade, and they would only start showing it around 3 p.m.

SPEAKER_00 38:21

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 38:21

Yeah, so during the day you couldn't watch it. So just after 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. you could watch Cartoon Network.

SPEAKER_00 38:27

You have a long, like how long is your how long is your school? School?

SPEAKER_02 38:34

Um, I think we used to go to school. We had to be at school by 7.45 and we got out of school at 2.15.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

Oh. That's way that's uh well my time is a little longer. Yeah, because I gotta wake up at 7. And I gotta go at it take me to school at 8.20 or 8.16.

SPEAKER_02 38:53

88, yeah, about 8.16, 8.20. But you know what? I actually had to wake up at 5.30.

SPEAKER_04 38:59

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 38:59

Because we had so much traffic. And if we got to school and we and it was past 7.45, we we got turned away. We had to go back home. Oh they wouldn't let us into school because if you were late, you could not go to school. Oh. And grandma would be so angry. Oh. Yeah, so we would make sure that we would get there on time, but we had to wake up at 5.30 to shower and get ready for school because there was a lot of traffic.

SPEAKER_00 39:21

Oh, you're you're unlucky.

SPEAKER_02 39:24

Unlucky?

SPEAKER_00 39:25

Yeah, because you well, I know you were a cool you you were one of the cool kids.

SPEAKER_03 39:30

Yeah, I was.

SPEAKER_00 39:31

And you like if you couldn't go to school on time, you wouldn't you would go back home. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 39:41

I know. That's how the rules were. And the rules were the rules, and we respected the rules.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

So, what did you learn?

SPEAKER_02 39:47

What did I learn?

SPEAKER_00 39:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:48

I learned English, I learned ga, which is another Ghanaian language. Ga. Gah. It's for the from the Ga tribe in in Accra, in the capital. And then I learned science. I also learned French. Plez-vous français. Is that the only French word you know? I mean, you hear me practicing my French on Duolingo every day. Yeah. Vert. Vert, yeah, vert. And then I learned religious studies, so we learned about the Bible and Christianity.

SPEAKER_00 40:20

Wait, Tonga's Christianic.

SPEAKER_02 40:23

Chris is Christian?

SPEAKER_00 40:25

Yeah, Tonga Tonga's Christian. Like the do you know Tonga?

SPEAKER_02 40:29

Uh-huh. The island?

SPEAKER_00 40:30

Yeah. That's where my friend Wills is from.

SPEAKER_02 40:32

Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_00 40:33

And I also know what it was flag.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

Okay. One last question you can ask me before we go.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

Okay. What does numinomotrocuscoparais mean?

SPEAKER_02 40:43

I have no idea. What does that mean?

SPEAKER_00 40:46

It means a lung disease when you breathe by volcanic ash.

SPEAKER_02 40:52

Alright. Thank you so much for being on the podcast today. I know you're very excited about being here and you're looking into the camera. So I think a lot of us as adults are going to be learning a lot from you and your knowledge about flags and countries and all that. And I hope that, you know, if people will take anything away from this episode that they're going to understand that bridging cultures is not just about teaching children like you where we're from, but it's also about being curious and asking questions, yeah, enough to learn who our kids are becoming. Because sometimes the people who are teaching us about identity the most and teaching us about belonging and connection are the very children that we're trying to raise. So thank you all for listening. And if today's conversation made you think about your own children, your own parents, or the children in your life, I would love to hear from you. Share this episode with an immigrant parent, an immigrant child, or someone who is trying to bridge cultures and build a bridge between the two generations. So until next time, keep having the conversations that bring us closer together. Take care.

SPEAKER_00 42:03

And this is the final fit.

SPEAKER_02 42:14

So guess what? We are opening up some slides for a sponsorship. If you've been watching or listening to this podcast and you've been enjoying it as much as we have been enjoying recording it, I would love to invite you to consider sponsoring us. You can reach out to me at consult. We have a wide range when it comes to our audience, and we would love for our audience to hear about you and your service or your thank you so much.