jamesg's Blogs

For almost three decades, I could more or less dedicate as many hours as I wanted to my favourite hobby. Now I find myself competing for gaming time with feeding schedules, naps, and the only TV with MySky capabilities in the house. So in the interest of helping others who may find themselves faced with a similar situation, I present this helpful guide to gaming as a parent.

Pace Yourself

So she just went down for a nap. You have an indeterminate amount of time to now turn on your console, load up whatever game you’re playing, and get some play time in. If you prepare yourself ahead of time, there’s a much better chance that you’ll be able to maximize your experience. For example, I’ve recently been playing Red Dead Redemption. The great thing is that you can play for 10 minutes or you can play for 10 hours. So if I’m in the middle of tracking down someone, and I hear the familiar sounds of an infant waking up, I can just stop the current mission and pick it up again later.

Say Goodbye to Online, at Least for Now

Picture this: you switch on your 360, and you see that almost your entire friends list is online, playing Battlefield 3. Your instinct will tell you to grab your headset and dive right in. But wait! The baby is sleeping, and when she wakes up, she’s going to need a bottle and a nappy change. First of all, that headset is little more than an invitation to wake up your sleeping miracle and be reminded that at this age, they only have one means of communication. Secondly, you don’t want to be the guy who has to bail in the middle of a Squad Rush, leaving your team one man short. No, for the next few months, your gaming will be a single-player affair.

Get Creative

The only thing I can say for certain about having a baby at home is that nothing is certain. You may find yourself settling into a comfortable pattern where the baby is sleeping 7-8 hours at a time, she’s eating on a regular schedule, and you are convinced that you’ve got everything on an even keel. But no one told the baby that, and she doesn’t care. The very next day, you could very well find yourself with a child that does nothing but scream for hours at a time, before falling into a deep one hour sleep, and there’s no way to know when the shifts are going to happen. This means that it’s up to you to find alternative ways to get some gaming in. For me, this has meant downloading a host of games onto my iPhone.

There’s no hard and fast rule to parenting that applies to everyone all the time. Babies are, well, they’re people and as such they’re apt to be unpredictable and capricious. Having a baby in the house in no way means that you have to give up video games, but you do have to prepare to make some choices and sacrifices that you may not have expected. It’s important to remember that you’re literally helping to create the next generation of gamer, and the choices you make, good or bad, will be reflected in your household’s demeanour. With a little preparation, and a lot of patience, gaming can still be a part of your life, just on someone else's schedule.