For Eau Claire dad Patrick Davy, podcasting is a way to not only stay busy, but to stay connected – to his kids, that is. Davy hosts a podcast, Beast Mode Kids, with his daughter, Alora, and another podcast with his son, Bo, called 6 Minutes With Bo.

“The best part is being able to sit down, usually during the weekend, and just being able to talk,” said Alora, who is in seventh grade. “Just have a conversation.”

Beast Mode Kids is something this father-daughter duo plan at the dinner table. Both Alora and her dad keep a notebook, where they jot down thousands of ideas to talk about during their podcast: friendships, bullying, parental freedom, and – perhaps Alora’s favorite topic – theater. It has been over a year since their podcast began, but Davy affirms it has improved their relationship and opened them up to some tough conversations – conversations that pre-teens often don’t want to have.

“When you get into middle school, high school – that area,” Alora says. “It’s more wanting to hang out with friends or get some alone time versus when you have this podcast, we can have longer conversations and share insights.”

When it comes to Bo, connection isn’t as much of an issue. “I will ask a certain topic, and who knows where it will go?” Patrick Davy said with a laugh. “It can get quite random at times.” Bo is a talker – about anything and everything: board games, LEGOs, books, and his grandma’s canned pears (his favorite fruit). His podcast with his dad, 6 Minutes With Bo, explores the life of an extraordinary six-year-old through his own eyes and changes every year he gets older, from 5 Minutes With Bo to, in just a short while, 7 Minutes With Bo.

“It feels a little calm to me,” Bo said. “It just feels like I’m relaxing a little bit, you know?”

”

the best part is being able to sit down ... and just being able to talk.

ALORA DAVY

on podcasting with her daD, patrick

Davy hopes to create better relationships with his kids and also demonstrate to other parents how to bring up tough topics. It was shortly after starting Beast Mode Kids and 6 Minutes With Bo that Davy started recording Adulting With… – a podcast where he picks the brains of fellow parents for how they shape their kiddos into good humans. He has interviewed teachers, police officers, administrators, doctors, and business owners – and shares in the challenges and joys of parenthood.

“Other parents are dealing with the same things,” Davy said, “There’s a lot of parents out there that feel overwhelmed, but … it helps calm the brain when they also realize that, ‘Hey, I’m not alone with all of this.’ ”

Podcasting is something Davy enjoys, as he also hosts another podcast at his work, Fit Elite, called The Fit Elite Podcast. He hopes his podcasts will invite his children to feel secure in their own skin and to be themselves.

Check out Beast Mode Kids, 6 Minutes With Bo, Adulting With... , and The Fit Elite Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the iHeartRadio app.