I'm trying to get back into tabletop games after a few years, and one of the big changes since I last played is parenting. I have 2 kids under 6, they are wonderful, and they make it very hard to schedule things in multi-hour blocks. I know I'm not the only one in this situation, so I just wanted to open the question up to the board. If you are a gamer with small kids, what has worked well for you? Particularly if you're in an online group. Is your game night strictly a "hire a sitter" activity, or have you found other things that worked? Do you warn your GM/group there's a nonzero risk of screaming children? Have you found other players sympathetic?
Two-parent household or one-parent?
Both parents gamers? Both parents in the same gaming group?
Any other adults in the household?
Two-parent household or one-parent?
Both parents gamers? Both parents in the same gaming group?
Any other adults in the household?
Two parents. My partner isn't as much of a gamer. Nobody else in the household.
Gaming when you have young children at home is challenging. That's true under normal times, and it's even tougher in this time of COVID.
My kid is in college now, but when she was young, we did the following. (Note that this was the Before Covid times, when meeting in person was a viable thing to do...)
1) Put together a baby-sitting circle with the families of other gamers with children. Have all the kids to to one of the houses, where one (or more) of the parents hosts a kids sleep-over. The rest of the adults meets at one of the others' houses to play the game. You switch off whose house hosts the sleepover and which hosts the game.
Or, if you're playing during daylight hours (e.g. Saturday afternoon), the parents on kid patrol coiuld take all of the kids out somewhere, like a park or playground or beach. Or maybe even just to play outside in the yard, if you have one.
2) Variant of the above: If somebody in the group has a sufficiently-large house, where the kids can be sequestered into a playroom (or the adults can sequester themselves into a game-room), hire an outside baby-sitter to watch the kids/let them watch movies. The gamers play their game and let the sitter worry about the kids. The good thing is you're all in the same house if something goes wrong.
For online games where you're playing from home...
If your spouse isn't a gamer, they can watch the kid while you play. You agree to let them do something on their terms while you watch the kid at a different time.
Also: Plan for shorter sessions. 2-3 hours instead of 3-4.
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The most obvious answer is time-trading.
You give partner a full evening/afternoon off by providing total child-minding duties so they can enjoy something that they love which you aren't interested in doing with them.
Once you've done that, they provide the same child-free time for you.
I strongly suggest you do your share first if you two aren't already in the habit of doing this. Demonstrating your commitment first is a much better place to be than them going first, and something interfering with you doing your bit.
When mine were small, my partner was an avid golfer. Very easy to trade an afternoon of golfing for an evening of gaming.
Honestly though, sometimes I was just glad to have an evening to read without interruption and without having to contend with feeding, bathing, and bedding.
Put together a baby-sitting circle with the families of other gamers with children...
Yeah, we've done that for other events, back before the plague. Good idea.
Also: Plan for shorter sessions. 2-3 hours instead of 3-4.
^Wisdom.
The most obvious answer is time-trading.
Good advice. We certainly apply that idea for occasional activities, but I'm not sure either of us have set up a regular 'night out' since we've had kids, so it'll be a new undertaking.
Thanks for the advice and encouragement. One of these days, I'll have a group again!
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