From Teacher to TikTok’s Wholesome Musical Dad
by Alyssa Hernandez | WeINSPIRE Journalist
PEMBROKE, N.C. - Jason Linton is on a mission to spread positive vibes through sharing his family’s story all over social media. He and his wife started out as foster to adopt parents and are now adoptive parents to three kids. Over a span of a few years, they had fostered 11 children. To make these children feel comfortable in their new space, Linton always asked what kind of music they liked.
“I always wanted to be around music since I was a little kid. My mom tells me when I was in the tummy, she used to strum a guitar over her tummy because she wanted her son to be a musician,” Linton said.
Jason Linton TikTok’s wholesome musical dad. Courtesy of Jason Linton.
Linton’s interest in music also comes from his father. He shared how his dad would take him to the music store every Saturday when he was a child. Linton said he would miss Saturday morning cartoons to “play on a keyboard he knew he could never afford.” Another memory Linton has is of his father’s record collection.
“One thing he always did around Christmas time. He would take us all down to the living room and he had a precious record collection. He would take it out, show me how to clean his record and how to prepare it. I would clean it with this felt cloth. His music was everything to him, so I better not scratch these records,” Linton said.
He has incorporated this into his family now, starting with asking the children he fosters what kind of music they like when they walk through the door. Although he and his wife are no longer fostering, they still incorporate music into the home with their three children. Each of his children has shown an interest in something music-related. The oldest Harper is a dancer, Chris is a singer, and the youngest Lillian is a performer. Linton shared his son Chris had no language when he entered the home. He said Chris was a “singer before he could talk.”
Chris Jason’s son who was a singer before he could talk. Courtesy of Jason Linton.
Prior to doing TikTok, Linton wanted to be a worldwide music producer. Instead, music found him after quitting his job as a special education teacher because of the pandemic. His son has medical needs, so Linton decided it would be better to keep him home. Linton said he was luckily able to support his family through creating content on TikTok.
Linton wants people to feel accepted both on and offline. He said people share their stories through his social media about feeling as though they are connecting with a lost family member or how his content gives them serotonin. “ The whole reason for doing this is, so people do not feel alone,” Linton said.
Offline he feels he spreads positivity and acceptance in the way he speaks to people and by seeing people the way they want to be seen. With his kids, this is done by fostering who they are as people. He discussed how his daughters have become more confident since entering the home and how his son went from having no language to now roasting Linton. While Linton can see the impact he and his wife have made on his kids, he feels they have changed him just as much.
“ I feel like I had to be in control of a lot of things before fostering. Our kids showed me I don’t have control over anything. It’s humbling,” Linton said.
He explained when someone is shown they do not have control, there are two options to try: reestablish control or “to follow within that loss of control and let people be who they are.”
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