Gaming and Kids
June 27, 2008
I am entirely in love with and immensely proud of my kids, but each in their own way have been squaring my circle when it comes to my hobbies. Liam is on the verge of walking, so his added mobility and attraction to the buttons and cables of the ‘Siddy and Triple makes video gaming nigh-impossible until he settles down for a snooze. Abigail is transitioning from pre-schooler to kindergartener: growing out of her nap requirement which is causing some sleep disruption, particularly in the evenings. We used to be able to count on her being asleep by 8pm at the latest, which allowed Mel and I some personal time. A year ago, this meant that we could play D&D every other Saturday night with few interruptions. Not so much anymore.
Over at Fear the Boot, the topic of episode 105 is gaming when there are kids around. Much like Dan mentions in the podcast, we had a similar experience with our first Eberron campaign where the couple who joined the group would need to bring their toddler along. In order to make sure he could sleep at his regular time, they would need to haul a playpen, blankets and assorted stuffed animals along for every session. It worked pretty well, but as the kids have gotten older and ours gained a sibling, kiddie juggling is no longer a viable option.
So, where does that leave us. My obvious preference is to run a game out of my home as at least 2 players can attend with no problems. However, as any parent can attest, kids are like living alarm clocks: there’s no sleeping in any day of the week because they rise with the sun. Not being able to start a game until 9pm, which also happens to be the time that our energy reserves are utterly depleted, only allows for a 3 hour game. That may seem like a substantial amount of time, but in reality, I’m not able to bring my A-game to the table when I’m half asleep. Finding players who are free is also difficult, particularly when a game like 4E D&D’s default for party balance is 5 characters. Dark heresy is a little more viable, by the time restrictions still apply.
So that leaves traveling somewhere else to game. I swear I’m not a hermit, although I prefer to entertain rather than travel. However, when you get to my advanced age, one is reluctant to fish about for groups or players you don’t know. I also feel bad about leaving Mel at home to deal with the kids’ bedtimes when she’s been wrangling them all day. I fear I may not have much of a choice.
Anyone out there know of a way to get around this dilemma?