next door
MEET JORDAN:
Sacramento Parent’s newest writer on moving to Sactown and his non-traditional approach to fatherhood By Michelle McDaid
Name: Jordan Venema Children: Cassian, 6 years-old Writer, Jordan Venema is Sacramento Parent’s newest contributor and we decided to turn the tables, putting him in the hot seat to learn more about how he landed in Sacramento, his relationship with his son, Cassian, and how he became a writer. “It’s weird being on the other end of this,” Jordan begins before continuing to try and disqualify himself as an appropriate interviewee for the magazine. He self-describes the parenting style that he and his ex-wife, Jenny, share as “non-traditional", having mutually decided to separate some time ago. “My ex-wife and I, we were married very young,” he explains. “At some point we just realized that we were two completely different people with completely different interests and so we decided
that it would be in our son’s best interest if we separated. Some people say they stay together for the kids, we decided we wanted to do the opposite: to model for our son what it meant to be happy individuals. And we felt that, to do that, we had to pursue our own happiness separately.” Jordan and Jenny’s divorce was amicable, making their own custody arrangements outside of the courts. Theirs is a co-parenting relationship that works well, with Jordan following his ex to Visalia and now Sacramento to ensure Cassian can spend time regularly with both of them. “It just so happens that, with her work, she moves more. I know that if the tables were turned and I ended up moving somewhere, she would entertain the idea of moving as well,” he says. “We do have a great relationship, with our son being the focus. I have the key to her house and she has the key to mine.” Cassian and Jordan both share a love for detail. A typical afternoon home from school looks like Star Wars LEGOs strewn across Jordan’s midtown apartment floor,
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father and son sprawled-out beside one another zooming spaceships through the air. Cassian builds the complex LEGO characters almost without any help from his dad, who was a big LEGO fan as a kid, too. “Being a parent, play is sort of enforced,” Jordan muses. “You have to stop and play. I don’t think a lot of us realize how important play is and I really try to make time for that.” When they’re not building extra-terrestrial worlds out of plastic, they play