THE POPPET CENTRE

Culture, faith, values and family life in mixed-heritage households

 

"Love recognises no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope." 

- Maya Angelou -

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Some families inherit one clear set of rules.

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Others inherit two calendars, three food traditions, four grandparents with opinions, a handful of festivals, a few faith questions, and a child asking why home feels different from everyone else’s.

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At The Poppet Centre, we know family life is rarely simple. Parenting is often part instinct, part inherited script, part guesswork, and part “let’s just get through dinner without anyone crying into the rice.”

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But for families raising children across cultures, faiths, languages and family traditions, the work can feel even more layered.

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One parent may carry the values of sacrifice, respect, family duty and achievement.

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Another may carry the values of independence, emotional expression, choice and self-discovery.

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One side of the family may expect children to greet elders properly, study hard, attend religious or cultural gatherings, and know where they come from.

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The other may worry that the child is being pressured, controlled, or asked to carry too much.

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And somewhere in the middle is the child. A child trying to belong to everyone without feeling like they have to choose one part of themselves over another.

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Our Approach: This is not about choosing one culture over another

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Raising Children Between Worlds is not a “tiger parent versus western parent” program.

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It is not about deciding which culture is right, which faith wins, or whose family tradition gets the final word.

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It is about helping parents slow down and ask better questions:

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• What are we really trying to protect?

• What values sit underneath our parenting differences?

• What do we want our children to inherit?

• What traditions do we want to keep?

• What patterns do we need to soften, translate, or lovingly retire?

• How do we build a family culture that our children can actually live inside?

 

Because many parenting arguments are not really about homework, food, bedtime, school choice, religion, language, manners, or screen time.

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They are about belonging.

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They are about loyalty.

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They are about fear.

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They are about grief.

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They are about wanting our children to remember where they come from, while also giving them permission to become who they are.

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Who is this for?

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This program is for parents, carers and families who are raising children across different cultural, religious, ethnic or family backgrounds.

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It may be especially helpful for:

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• intercultural couples raising children together

• interfaith or mixed-faith families

• migrant, second-generation and third-culture families

• families navigating strong grandparent or extended family expectations

• parents who feel they are constantly translating one side of the family to the other

• couples who love each other but parent from very different inherited scripts

• families wanting to create clearer rituals, rules and shared values at home

• parents who want their children to feel proud of all parts of who they are

 

You do not need to be in crisis to attend.

 

In fact, the best time to do this work is often before the crisis, before the resentment hardens, before children feel caught in the middle, and before “that’s just how my family does it” becomes the only explanation anyone has.

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The Poppet Centre Approach

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At The Poppet Centre, we take a practical, warm and values-led approach.

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We are interested in real family life — the kitchen table, the school gate, the grandparents, the packed lunches, the awkward festival invitations, the “are we doing Christmas, Lunar New Year, Passover, Eid, Diwali, Easter, none of it, all of it?” conversations.

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We help families move from reaction to reflection.

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From “your family is too strict” to “what does respect mean to you?”

 

From “you’re too soft” to “what kind of emotional safety are you trying to build?”

 

From “my child should know their culture” to “how do we help them belong without making them perform identity for adults?”

 

From “we are so different” to “what can we build together?”

 

Our Between Worlds Family Map

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The program is built around five key areas.

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1. Heritage

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What did each parent inherit from family, culture, religion, community, migration, class, schooling and upbringing?

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2. Values

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What matters most underneath the parenting differences? Is it respect, freedom, education, faith, kindness, loyalty, safety, achievement, service, belonging?

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3. Practices

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What happens day to day  with food, language, festivals, discipline, school expectations, bedtime, spirituality, family visits, rituals, screen time and behaviour?

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4. Power

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Whose culture becomes the default? Who explains more? Who compromises more? Who carries the emotional labour? Who feels erased, judged or misunderstood?

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5. Child Belonging

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How do we help children grow up saying, “I am all of me,” rather than feeling they must choose which part of themselves is acceptable today?

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Three Ways to Work With Us

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Option 1: One-Day Seminar... 'Raising Children Between Worlds'

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This is a practical and reflective one-day seminar for parents and carers raising children across culture, faith, language and family expectations.

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This is the best place to start.

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Across the day, we explore inherited parenting scripts, common family pressure points, the values underneath conflict, and practical ways to create a shared family culture.

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You will leave with:

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1. a clearer understanding of your own family scripts

2. language for talking about cultural and religious differences without blame

3. a values map for your household

4. tools for navigating extended family expectations

5. ideas for rituals, rules and celebrations that honour more than one background

6. a practical starting point for your own Between Worlds Family Plan

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This seminar is suitable for individuals, couples, carers, grandparents and family workers.

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Option 2: Six-Session Family Coaching and Counselling Package... 'The Between Worlds Family Plan'

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For couples and families who want more personalised support, this six-session package helps you work through the deeper conversations privately and practically.

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Together we explore your family story, your cultural and faith influences, your parenting pressure points, your extended family dynamics, and the kind of home culture you want to build.

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Across six sessions, we work through:

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• Session 1: Our family story — what each parent brings

• Session 2: Values audit — what matters most and why

• Session 3: Parenting pressure points — discipline, school, religion, food, language and expectations

• Session 4: Extended family map — grandparents, in-laws, obligation, guilt and boundaries

• Session 5: Child identity — helping children belong without carrying adult tension

• Session 6: Family agreement — rituals, rules, repair conversations and next steps

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This option is ideal for couples, co-parents or families who are not looking for generic parenting advice, but want tailored support for their real household.

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Option 3: Weekend Retreat... 'Between Two Worlds: A Family Values Retreat'

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For families ready to step away from the noise of everyday life, this retreat creates space for deeper reflection, conversation and renewal.

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The retreat is designed for parents and carers who want time to explore the stories, traditions, expectations and hopes they bring into family life.

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Across the weekend, we use guided reflection, storytelling, values mapping, gentle coaching exercises, group conversation and practical planning to help participants build a clearer family culture.

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The retreat is especially suited to couples who are raising children across cultures, faiths or family traditions and want to reconnect with each other before deciding what they want their children to inherit.

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You do not leave with a perfect family. Nobody has one of those. You leave with more language, more compassion, more clarity, and a stronger sense of what your family is trying to become.

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Developed by Lived and Professional Experience

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This work is led by practitioners who understand the territory both professionally and personally.

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Shane Warren brings decades of experience in coaching, counselling, supervision and family support, alongside his own lived experience of raising children in a mixed cultural household, shaped by Catholic, Jewish, Chinese, Buddhist and Taoist influences.

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Laurence Catzel brings professional insight and lived experience as a French Jewish woman educated in Catholic schools, married within a South African Jewish family context, and raising children in Australia across layered traditions, histories and expectations.

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Together, Shane and Laurence bring warmth, humour, honesty and practical wisdom to conversations that are often tender, complex and deeply human.

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The Promise of This Work

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We are not here to tell families what culture to choose.

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We are here to help families stop choosing sides.

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To help parents understand each other before they correct each other.

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To help children inherit richness without inheriting confusion.

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To help households become places where difference is not treated as a problem to solve, but as a story to understand.

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Raising children between worlds is not always easy.

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But done with care, it can become one of the great gifts a family gives its children.

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Enquire or Book

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Ready to begin? Join our next seminar, enquire about the six-session family package, or register your interest in the upcoming retreat.
 

Don’t wait — book your first session today and let’s start building the connection and happiness you deserve.

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Book Now and let’s help your family build a home where every part of your child belongs.