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Meet the Parents: Joy and Bob Cho

The founder of design blog Oh Joy! and her surgeon-husband are teaching their kids to love color, embrace imperfection, and be as happy as a rainbow.

Joy and Bob Cho family portrait in house under construction

Q: You two are in very different lines of work. Do you approach parenting in the same way?

JOY: We are different types of people. Bob is a pediatric spine surgeon and heā€™s very scientific. Iā€™m a creative, artsy person. In many ways, I think thatā€™s reflected in our parenting. I tend to be more emotional and he tends to be moreā€¦

BOB: Matter of fact. :) But weā€™re on the same team and we present a united front. When we find ourselves not doing that, we regroup when the kids arenā€™t around to get on the same page.

Q: How do Ruby and Coco get along?

B: Theyā€™re best friends but they spend too much time together right now. I think all of us are dealing with the fact that no matter how much you love someone, you need time away from them. I go to work every day and Joy goes into her office, but the kids are in the house most of the time and havenā€™t had a lot of time apart.

Q: You built your house from the ground up. How was that?

J: It was the most stressful time of my life.

Q: Did you share the burden?

J: We made big decisions together, but for the little things, I mostly did itā€”plus the managing of the loans and all that stuff.

B: Joy probably stressed more than the average person because design is her job. She put a lot of pressure on herself, but I think she did a great job for all of us.

Cho family portrait on stairs
Bob, Joy, and their kids, Coco, six, and Ruby, nine, can often be found frolicking on Joyā€™s Insta feed (@ohjoy).

Q: What are you most proud of with regard to the house?

J: I love that it feels like itā€™s exactly meant for us. There are decisions that people make for renovations based on future owners and resale. Since we plan to live here a very long time, we made decisions based on our needs, and Iā€™m so happy about that.

Q: Do the girls love color? What happens if as teens theyā€™ll only wear black?

J: As of now, they both love color. If I ever give them something plain, theyā€™re like, ā€œWhy is this so boring?ā€ Because thatā€™s what they know. Someday theyā€™ll want to choose their own things, and I think weā€™ll let them!

B: I think I will let them more than you. [laughs]

Q: What are they into right now?

B: Our older girl loves crafting and our younger one is starting to, as well. I wish I could say they werenā€™t so into YouTube, but they love it, mostly to learn crafts. Weā€™ve also been playing games, like the old board game Mouse Trap. And weā€™re on Nintendo Switch. We try to do as many things together as humanly possible.

child holding large green leaves

Q: How do you guys stay connected as a busy couple?

B: We try to watch TV together after the kids go to bed, though I refuse to watch The Bachelor.

J: He loves anything Star Wars-ish, like The Mandalorian. My shows are more like Emily in Parisā€”things that you would watch if you were 18, even though Iā€™m 41!

B: Weā€™ve also gotten into gardening. We have this LettUs Grow aeroponic unit. Weā€™re growing Sumo tangerine trees.

J: Before COVID, we were pretty good about date nights. Now weā€™re hunkered down and enjoying things that we can do at home.

Q: Where do you spend the most time as a family?

B: In the kitchen.

J: Weā€™re cooking way more together. Heā€™ll do the main and Iā€™ll do the sides, or vice versa.

ā€œI just love these people. Celebrate all the little things, enjoy the wins, and be OK with not always being OKā€¦this is the messiness and beauty of life. ā€

ā€”Drew

Q: Joy, looking at your Instagram, people might think your life is perfect. Do you ever feel that way when scrolling?

J: Oh, my gosh, totally. You can get sucked in and find yourself on your phone scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. I once took a break for a few days for my own sanity and I noticed how much better I felt. But social media is part of my job, so I canā€™t just drop it. And I love the good partsā€”the joy and inspiration you can create.

Joy with daughters in front of colorful flower field

Q: Your vibe is so optimistic. How do you keep that rosy outlook for the kids when the news is bringing all of us down?

J: To be honest, there are some days when you just have to say, ā€œThis sucks.ā€ Early in quarantine, I was having a really hard time. I was crying and overwhelmed with the change to my work schedule, the kidsā€™ school, and having to manage all of that. Bob was good about letting me feel that but also reminded me of what we have to be grateful for: being healthy, being safe, being employed, having a houseā€”so many things that other people donā€™t have.

B: There are positives for us. I usually travel a lot for work, but I havenā€™t been on an airplane since last March. So Iā€™ve been home, which is awesome. Weā€™ve been able to get a lot of family time.


linda and drew scott at home podcast cover

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Join Linda & Drew At Home as they talk to Joy about family, design, and more!

By Laura Morgan | Main photograph by Lily Glass | Instagram images courtesy of Joy Cho

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