Careem Mullings — Making a man into a father

WE often hear of the many adjustments that women make to every aspect of their lives when they become mothers, but scant regard is given to the changes that make a man into a good father.

We caught up with serial entrepreneur Careem Mullings, who fathers two children — Connor and Dylann — with mom Denyque, to whom he has been married for three years.

“There are so many changes that come about in a man’s life when he has children,” he shared. “As an entrepreneur, one of the major adjustments I made was to put down the party promotion thing for good. I was considering it before having kids, but becoming a father was the final nail in the party coffin.”

Mullings explained that while he still goes out to socialise every now and then, he no longer sees himself hosting his own parties, as those require him to be out every night promoting his events.

“Also, having kids shows you that one source of income cannot work,” he added. “So becoming a father increased my ambition and my drive, made me ‘dig it’ harder.”

Mullings pointed out that since his son Connor was born in 2018, with the help of God he has been able to multiply his streams of income. The restaurateur, known mainly for his ownership of Terrace Bar and Grill which he co-founded, has since ventured into several other areas of business. “The motivating factor behind it were my kids,” he said.

But Mullings highlighted that apart from the major financial and time management changes, fatherhood also entails a series of smaller changes that are hardly talked about.

“Even when I’m buying food, usually I would only buy what I want or what I feel for, but now I have to buy things that I know my son can eat, and soon I’ll have to consider my daughter too,” he shared as an example. His three-month-old daughter Dylann is still being breastfed.

“There are so many things that you adjust, you can’t list them all,” he maintained. Nevertheless, he would have made those changes all over again, and he did when his daughter was born.

“I can’t even find the words to describe the level of joy!” he said of when he heard that he was going to be a dad. “This was something that we were trying for, planned out, and something that was extremely tedious, so when we finally got that good news, there is nothing in the dictionary to describe that mood.”

Though little Dylann is a little too young to kick it with the boys just yet, Mullings looks forward to when they can all spar, and he can become her favourite parent, just as he is Connor’s (Denyque disagrees).

“Connor is at an age where we can click now, so although he can still be cranky he is easier to please than Dylann. Because she can’t express herself yet, she is a bit hard to please sometimes,” Mullings said.

Regardless of which parent they favour, however, this proud dad hopes his children will emulate them both.“I want extreme success and healthy lives for them both,” he said. “I want them to have my ambition and their mother’s brain.”