Dad Chat – Ninja Dads Tribe

Here’s the next instalment of my Dad Chat series for you. This time it’s Jason from Ninja Dads Tribe. This blog is focused on ‘connecting, supporting and inspiring hands on, stay at home dads’. It’s a great blog, and there is also a forum to enable dads to connect with other dads which is a great idea.

You’ll find links to his great blog at the bottom of the interview.

Please read on, enjoy, and check out his blog and social media.

1. Tell us about yourself and your family

Hi, I’m Jason, aka @ninjadadstribe. I’m a 48 year old ex Marketing Director, happily married to Catherine with one son (James, aged 9) and 2 step sons (Dom and Laurence, who are both in their 20s).

I gave up full time work 4 years ago to focus my time and attention on James and it’s been a blast. I do occasional consulting work to keep my business brain active but there’s nothing more important to me than being there with and for my son; doing the school runs, watching him in his various clubs and sporting activities and enjoying weekends and holidays together.

We both practice the Korean martial art of Choi Kwang Do. I gained my black belt 18 months ago and James is testing for his black belt in September. It’s great to have an activity we can both learn and practice together.

I’ve wanted to be a dad since I was old enough to realise what it was all about. Weirdly, from the age of about 18, I said I would have one child, a son and his name would be James. It took a while to happen but now it has, exactly as I knew it would.

For me being a dad is about nurturing, helping and developing my son in all areas. I love that I can spend so much time with him and that I’ve got to know all of his friends too. In short I smile when he smiles.

I’m sure there’ll be more challenges as he reaches his teens, but right now it’s just a complete joy. As I’m a stay home dad it’s sometimes tough not having so much social contact with other adults but I keep myself busy with consulting, working out and cycling whilst he’s at school or not around.

James is 9 and for the first half of his life I hardly saw him due to pressures and commitments of work, including lots of international travel. The second half has been totally different and I can now say I am always there for him. If I were to do something different it would be to have a much better work/ life balance during those earlier years of his life.

Get involved. There is nothing more joyous than being an engaged dad, nothing! But you get what you give and if you are present in your children’s life you will reap amazing rewards. You can do this from day one, changing nappies, feeding, cuddling, playing, reading etc. Go for it, you won’t regret it!

@ninjadadstribe

@theninjadad

There You Have It…

Thanks for taking part in my Dad Chat series Jason! The answer to question five was particularly interesting to me as I firmly believe it’s essential to get a great work/life balance.

Look out for another interview next week.

For previous interviews check out my ‘Guest Posts‘ category.