Our 696th Dad in the Limelight is Jama’l Chukueke, otherwise known as Diversity Dad. I want to thank Jama’l Chukueke for being a part of this series. It has been great getting connected with him and now sharing Jama’l Chukueke with all of you.
- Tell me about yourself, (as well as how you are in the limelight for my readers knowledge)
My name is Jama’l Chukueke (pronounced Ja-mel Chick-a-wake-e), creator of Diversity Dad. Diversity Dad highlights the uniqueness within the dad community through podcasting, blogging, and video interviews. Diversity Dad was created to impact our community with resources on fatherhood. We want to support dads regardless of their parenting situation whether dealing with toddlers, teens, divorce, separation, or adoption. My goal is to “buck conventionally” and celebrate doing fatherhood differently.
Find out more about Jama’l Chukueke here: www.diversitydad.com
Listen to Jama’l Chukueke’s podcast show: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/diversity-dad/id1034219591?mt=2
- Tell me about your family
My wife works as a property manager and I work full time within a higher education institution. Our daughter, Simone Reyna Chukueke, is the light of our life. We couldn’t ask for a more precious little girl.
- What has been the largest challenge you have had in being a father?
My largest challenge has been adjusting to not always doing what I want to do with my time. I use to do all sorts of activities like playing video games, leisure travelling and hanging out with buddies. Most of these have lessened in frequency since becoming a dad.
- What advice would you give to other fathers?
My advice for other dads is Always come prepared when addressing your child’s feelings. You may cry or you may laugh, just prepare to share your emotions when dealing with children.
- How have you come to balance parenthood and outside life?
I have learned to balance parenthood and outside life by making a priority to contact at least one friend per week. This in a way to remind me of life of what use to be before becoming a dad, and we can laugh at the great times that we had.
- What have you learned from the fathers that you have interacted with?
I learnt from other dads was the gift of patience. I’ve learned by talking and observing it from other dads. Trust the process in everything you do as a parenting. Anything you do for your child today will get better each time that you do it.
- What else would you share regarding your experiences as a father thus far?
Another word of advice that I would share regarding my experience as a father is your family has all the trust in you. You just have to trust yourself. You’re better than you think you are.
- What have been the most memorable experiences that you have had thus far as a parent?
Some memorable experiences that I’ve had was when I was learning how to swaddle my daughter. It was around 12:30 a.m. and I tried to put the swaddle back on her. So without my wife’s help, I attempted to swaddle her. I said to myself, “well that was easy” I heard her cry what I thought was 2 hours later, when actually it was 20 minutes later. I swaddled again and went back to sleep. What I felt was a really successful one, once again a failure. So it’s 30 minutes later. I was so frustrated and I felt like I was having an anxiety attack. I just started a new career, was sleep deprived, and felt the pressure of being the dad that I dreamed about before my daughter was born. I was determined. I finally got it after 3 tries. Nice and snug around her body. Success!
If you have any questions for Jama’l Chukueke, please leave a comment here and I will make sure that he gets them so that he may be able to respond!
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The post Dads in the Limelight – Diversity Dad, Jama’l Chukueke appeared first on Dad of Divas.