Lifestyle

Modern parenting can be so isolating. This L.A. dad group builds a village while the kids play

Published

1 year ago

June 11, 2025

Modern parenting can be so isolating. This L.A. dad group builds a village while the kids play

In the back room of a children’s play space in Eagle Rock, Andrew Thomas asks a familiar parenting question: How do you stay calm when your kid is testing every last nerve?

Heads nod and chuckles fill the air. The participants — a handful of dads — begin sharing personal stories about toddlers that melt down like snow on summer asphalt, frayed patience and what it means to parent with intention. The conversation deepens, touching on masculinity and how hard it could be to ask for help.

Suddenly, Henry, 6, walks into the dads’ circle, cradling three baby dolls. Thomas, his dad and the group’s facilitator, does not miss a beat.

“Henry has very recently become a father to triplets,” he jokes.

Phil Klain and Robert Tellez during a Dads’ Group meeting.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

At the Dads’ Group in Eagle Rock’s PlayLab, children and dolls are welcome, but dads and father figures take center stage. The free biweekly morning sessions are built around a simple idea: Dads need community too. The hour-long meetings bring the community support model back to parenting — especially for dads, an often-forgotten population for supportive care.

In Los Angeles, support groups exist to help moms move their bodies around strollers while blowing bubbles, and tour fire stations with the kids while fostering connections with other caregivers. Fewer opportunities exist for dads even as gender roles continue to evolve and men spend more time on the care of their children.

PlayLab’s Dads’ Group hopes to soften some of those sharp edges of fatherhood. Sessions are casual and small — usually with four to eight participants — and operate on a drop-in basis (though reservations are preferred). It’s a dad-led model for dads and father figures to receive the kind of care traditionally offered to mothers.

The bonus is the space: PlayLab’s indoor play space is designed for young children to frolic and, in this case, witness dads build their emotional muscles. Here, vulnerability is welcome and the chance of an interruption from a child asking for a third snack is high.

In this meeting on a warm June morning, Leo, 5, wanders off to play the drums in the next room. Then he falls silent. His dad, Andrew Jacobs, quietly slides out of his seat in the support circle to check on his son. Leo is tucking an elephant stuffed animal into a toy bed. It’s nap time for the dolls and the elephant, and it turns out for dad talk too. The children ask for quiet. Voices drop to a whisper.

The next minute, the dads toggle their attention between the discussion and an impromptu game of catch between the kids and a heavy toy.

“Dads are going through all the same things moms are going through,” said Jacobs, 44. “Being able to talk to other people is really important and helpful.”

Nick Bender shares parenting tips with other dads in a discussion facilitated by Andrew Thomas, right, while Henry, 6, plays.

This meeting was Phil Klain’s first. He chose not to bring his 2-year-old son so he could be more present. Klain has been searching for a community like this. Earlier in his fatherhood journey, he joined a new dads’ group on social media, but found the space difficult to form connections — a challenge that sometimes seeps into real life.

“I’ve got friends I can talk about stuff with,” said Klain, 45, after the meeting. “But, do I?”

Modern parenting can be isolating — now more intense and more individualistic than ever with hyper-scheduled monitoring of children’s every milestone and moment. Sociologists call it “concerted cultivation,” said Jennifer Hook, a professor of sociology at the University of Southern California.

“Our expectations of parents have gone up, but we haven’t really provided them additional resources,” said Hook.

At the same time, connections to supportive systems — the “village” of friends and family that helps raise children — have faded or become untenable. PlayLab’s ethos, said co-founder Jason Shoup, has always focused on the growth of the village’s connective tissue — especially for dads. When PlayLab’s new space in Hollywood opens this month, he hopes to launch a second version of the dads’ group in the new location.

A man sits in a chair on a deck with another standing beside him.

“If you’re part of a team,” said Shoup, 45, about parenting, “you should support the team.”

Shoup’s earlier iterations of a dads’ support group — including a sporadic weekend gathering called “Dadder-day” — all fizzled. Then last winter, Thomas, 39, a children’s television writer and a parent coach, pitched his services. Why not start a group for dads by dads?

They kept the name simple: Dads’ Group. A necessity, said Thomas, because otherwise, dads won’t know the group is for them. In January, the meeting of the dads began.

Robert Tellez, 42, has attended most of the sessions. Before the first one, he anticipated a lot of silence.

“Like, crickets, right?” said the dad of two daughters. “And just awkwardness.”

Instead, he found a space that felt surprisingly safe.

“I didn’t know what I needed and how it felt. And so now that I’ve put myself into the situation of being a part of a dads’ group – participating, and being vulnerable, and giving advice, and taking advice – I know what that feels like now,” said Tellez.

If the rest of the week is a high-octane rush of services for the children, these Sunday sessions are a reserve time for some of the dads to just be present.

In little moments, connections form. While shoes are being put back on, dads trade birthday party venue recommendations. Talk is also burgeoning about going to a nearby deli together after the meeting for lunch.

Main character energy

A man sits at a teal desk while working on a laptop.

In a traditional parenting binary, the mom is often labeled the default parent. Dads? They are cast in supporting roles.

“Like the stereotype of the dad ‘babysitting’ his kid, right?” said Shawna J. Lee, a professor of social work at the University of Michigan. “It’s a very vexing phenomenon.”

Especially since fathers today are increasingly tackling more diverse childcare tasks like sculpting the perfect hair bun for a child’s ballet class or packing roasted broccolini in a school lunch.

“We, as a society, don’t do a great job of treating dads as equals,” said Lee. “I don’t know that every single mom out there is optimally well-prepared to parent any more than a dad is. It’s a little bit of a sink or swim, maybe for all of us, to some degree.”

If dads are continually being sidelined into secondary roles, added Lee, then they never get the chance to become experts in their parenting and in their parent-child relationship.

Because of these lingering gender norms, the barrier for dads to seek support can be high. Nick Bender, 39, saw the poster for Dads’ Group several times during visits to PlayLab with his 4-year-old daughter. It took a while to work up the nerve to go.

“I didn’t know any of the other dads,” he said. “So, you know, it’s obviously nerve-racking to go into any new situation and, let alone, prepare to potentially be vulnerable about our lives.”

Now after each meeting, Bender feels seen. Last month, Thomas had to cancel a meeting at the last minute because of a family emergency. Bender didn’t get the message, so he showed up anyway and ended up chatting with some other dads for an hour.

Solo time is precious, he said with a laugh at the end of the meeting.

So is connection time.

Frank Lopez, 29, meant to bring his partner’s kids to attend the dads’ group, but he misread the start time. He missed the meeting, but the kids — a 4-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy — still got to play in the sandbox. Lopez is new to fathering. He recently moved in with the kids and their mother. Today is a milestone: his first solo outing with the children.

“It feels great, honestly, one for her trusting me to do so,” he said about his partner. “And then to the kids for cooperating. They’re usually like, ‘Where’s mommy? I want mommy.’ But now they like — wow — have that trust to just come with me.”

Lopez pauses and watches the kids fill a bucket with sand.

“I just want to make sure that I’m a good example,” he added.

He’s already planning to come back.

“And I’ll be on time next time.”

Lifestyle

Appeals court denies Trump’s request to halt removal of his name from the Kennedy Center

Published

5 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Press Room

Appeals court denies Trump’s request to halt removal of his name from the Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center on June 28, with its facade signage still covered by a tarp and scaffolding.

Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images

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Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images

On Wednesday, a federal appeals court denied President Trump’s request to stop the removal of his name from Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center. The signage on the building has been covered with tarp and scaffolding since June 13, but in a court filing last month, the center’s current executive director said that Trump’s name has been removed.

In their decision, three judges from the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that the president had failed to prove that the arts center would be “irreparably injured” without Trump’s name attached to it.

A tarp covers the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on June 13. A federal judge has asked the arts complex's leadership to explain the purpose of the tarp and the surrounding scaffolding.

NPR requested comment from the Kennedy Center, but did not receive an immediate reply.

This latest round of court decisions is part of the ongoing litigation filed by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, against President Trump and the board of the Kennedy Center. In a statement emailed Wednesday to NPR, Beatty said: “Today’s ruling again affirms that this administration’s efforts to rename the Kennedy Center were unlawful. His name no longer desecrates this sacred memorial, which belongs to the American people. Now it is time for the Trump administration to accept this, comply with the law, and take the tarps down.”

In previous court filings, Trump’s legal team had asserted that removing the president’s name from the arts complex, both on the physical building and in its digital materials, would inflict irreparable harm in both time and money already spent. In the denial, the three judges — Patricia Millett, Robert Wilkins and Gregory Katsas — wrote that since Trump’s name has already been removed, “a stay would not avert those harms.”

Furthermore, Trump had claimed that without his name attached, future fundraising would be threatened “and [will] contribute to the financial decline of the Center.” In response, the appeals judges wrote: “Appellants, however, have failed to support this assertion with any specific facts or evidence. They offer only the conclusory assertions of the Kennedy Center’s Executive Director that were made in a factually unsupported declaration.” The center’s current executive director, Matt Floca, specializes in physical plant management.

Lifestyle

A meal with an animated Mona Lisa? Immersive dining goes high tech — but will L.A. eat it up?

Published

6 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Press Room

A meal with an animated Mona Lisa? Immersive dining goes high tech — but will L.A. eat it up?

My dinner course is served. It is a Campbell’s-inspired soup can, lightly angled so strands of broccoli are peeking out. I lift the can to uncover a slow-braised short rib and mashed potatoes. An American dish to represent an American artist, here Andy Warhol.

The room is overtaken with projections, scenes of bustling New York traffic paired with bachelor-pad-like guitar riffs. Shown on a wall above a dinner table is a selection of Warhol silkscreens. It’s a Friday night in West Hollywood, and I’m surrounded by a mix of out-of-towners and those celebrating an anniversary. And while this is a special occasion, we’re urged to get a little messy with our food — to use our hands, to paint with a salad, to draw on a cookie.

The main course: A tomato soup can? “7 Paintings” is an immersive event that occasionally hides dishes in artist-inspired presentations.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Play is the primary side dish at “7 Paintings,” a tech-infused dinner theater that aims to be a crash course in fine art. That selection of veggies paired with multiple mini cups of colorful dressings? Guests are encouraged to mix and match the vinaigrettes into a mess of hues, a nod to abstractionist Jackson Pollock. And yellowfin tuna with dashes of avocado and taro chips? That’s an edible tribute to Banksy, of course. What does raw fish have to do with stenciled street art? It’s bold, heavily angled and has a short shelf life? Maybe? Perhaps don’t overthink it.

“Have you ever eaten a painting before?” says Nadine Beshir, the Dubai-based creator of “7 Paintings.” “We try to get people out of their comfort zones and eating paper. I want to bring out the child in them.”

“7 Paintings,” held at Sunset House L.A. through the end of August, is the latest example of immersive dining to arrive in this city. These experiences often involve guest participation and are accentuated with advanced multimedia technology and sometimes theatrical elements.

Worldwide, there have been standouts. For instance, Eatrenalin at Germany’s Europa-Park, a dining room-meets-ride where participants are whisked around the space on trackless “floating chairs,” has just received a coveted Michelin star. Ibiza’s Sublimotion has similar haute ambitions, pairing 12 diners together in a room that will come alive with otherworldly projections and performers. At times, diners will win don virtual reality headgear.

But tech-driven immersive dining experiences have never quite taken off in Los Angeles as a trend. Last year, the Gallery, where fantastical cityscapes and projections surrounded downtown L.A. diners, stood just a couple months before the concept was abandoned.

A dinner event titled "7 Paintings" is a 7-course meal with projections

Bartender Luca Famulari shakes a cocktail at the immersive dining event.

“The economics of a restaurant are not the same as the economics of theater and the challenge of combining the two lies in thinking outside the box with respect to pricing and cost structure, such that the customer perceives high value from both the food and the experience,” says the Gallery co-founder Daren Ulmer.

Entrepreneurs keep aiming for that careful balance. “Le Petit Chef and Friends” is currently running at Tangier at downtown’s Hotel Figueroa, an event in which a fully animated film is projected on our plates and tables. Long-running pop-up event Fork N’ Film leans more dinner and movie, pairing dishes directly inspired by what is happening on screen. Upcoming films include “Ratatouille” and “Lilo and Stitch.”

The field comes with challenges. “The costs are very high,” says Joanna Garner, an immersive designer and former creative director with experiential art firm Meow Wolf. Garner has been experimenting herself with communal, immersive dinner events, and her next, the flirtatious “Please Open Your Mouth,” is set for July 11. (No tech there, as Garner is after a more sensual, adult-focused gathering.) Tickets for her event are $150 and a spot in the “7 Paintings” dining room runs $175, priced on par with a number of city’s most acclaimed restaurants.

There is also the reality that all public dining is in some fashion immersive, usually requiring varying combinations of engagement, communication and presentation. And then, are all these added elements distracting?

An animated Mona Lisa sits on the wall as guests enjoy their meals.

Throughout “7 Paintings,” for instance, an animated Mona Lisa, situated on the wall next to the main dinner table, will provide brief biographical details of each artist represented.

“Being able to nail the food, and nail the story, those are two very difficult threads to weave,” Garner says. “I do think, ultimately, people come to a dinner table to talk to the people at the table and to have intimate experiences. To have an experience where you’re constantly being taken away from the food, I’m not so sure if that’s what people are looking for.”

Food is framed as a star of “7 Paintings” but tasting it is just one component. At one point, we must uncover a cheese course in a tiny treasure chest, the code for the lock hidden in the projections (don’t stress, it’s not a hard puzzle). Beshir highlights the Pollock-inspired salad course, which is accentuated with a jazz soundtrack, as the thesis of the evening.

1 A guest uses a silicon brush to apply sauces onto an entree, a nod to abstractionist Jackson Pollock.

2 Projections fill up the dining table during meals.

1. A guest uses a silicon brush to apply sauces onto an entree, a nod to abstractionist Jackson Pollock. 2. Projections fill up the dining table during meals.

“This course is really about getting people to free their minds from preconceived ideas,” Beshir says. “Like, you have to eat with a fork and knife, or the salad comes and then the dressing. No, the dressing comes and then the salad, and it’s trying with big brushes to paint the way he did. A lot of people do not understand Abstract Expressionism, and they think it’s people just splashing colors around. But when you understand the link between the rhythm of the music and painting, you live it. We give you time to paint with your salad dressing.”

In L.A., Beshir has partnered with nightlife impresario Kim Kelly, who is plotting a “Sleep No More”-inspired walk-around theatrical show for the Sunset House venue later this year. “7 Paintings,” however, is fully seated, and purposefully a little silly. Beshir and Kelly have been evolving it during its L.A. run, recently adding a stronger painting component by giving guests their own canvas to work on throughout the evening. Each night crowns a winner.

“Everyone comes over to look at their art,” Kelly says. “It just kind of changed the whole thing, to be honest. People are now being creative throughout the entire evening. Instead of just watching and occasionally painting, you’re now painting the whole time.”

As for what, perhaps, soba noodles with edamame and mushrooms have to do with Pablo Picasso, or why Salvador Dali gets an unexpected dessert course of a white chocolate potato souffle, Beshir clarifies the goal of the evening. While the animated Mona Lisa will provide backstories on each painter, this isn’t an educational night. “It’s fun dining, not fine dining,” Beshir says.

And by the end of my night, strangers were socializing, showing off their painted cookie creations, sharing Banksy tidbits and asking for recommendations on various vinaigrette combinations. Ultimately, it’s an evening of discovery, packed with surprises like finding an entire course hidden under a canvas.

Two men smile as they dine at a dinner event

“We try not to have too much sophistication, like fried ants or something. I’m personally very adventurous in how I eat, but if I want to have this in 100 cities around the world, I cannot be too meticulous.”

And Beshir has big goals.

“I want this be your movie and dinner thing,” Beshir says. “I want people to be waiting for our next show, and to be able to afford to come every couple months.”

And to come home not with leftovers, but perhaps a painting of their own.

Lifestyle

We unpack the 2026 Emmy nominations : Pop Culture Happy Hour

Published

15 hours ago

July 8, 2026

Press Room

We unpack the 2026 Emmy nominations : Pop Culture Happy Hour

Matthew Rhys was nominated for his role in Widow’s Bay.

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The 2026 Emmy nominations are here. We’re unpacking the record-breaking nominations for Hacks, plus a big day for Widow’s Bay, The Pitt, and The Bear. We’ll also talk about the snubs and make some early predictions of who will win.

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