I have a one year old daughter, so I don't get to play nearly as much a I would like.
It's hard to balance my lifelong love of gaming with my new responsibilities as a father.
Combined with working full time, I spend much more time thinking about skyrim than playing it.
It used to be that I couldn't go to bed unless I had some mental stimulation like a video game, but now it's not always possible. I guess it doesn't bother me unless a new bethesda game is out...
I'm just curious as to how others manage similar situations.

I have a three year old daughter, a boy due in March, and a full time job. I also do some freelance work on the side, so I'm a busy dude. But everyone needs down time everyday, and I make sure I get that time. Since Skyrim came out, I don't think I've watched even a minute of TV. I haven't cracked open my web browser at all to surf (I do that at work!), and I put off all my other free time activities for another time. So I still get plenty of time to play, I just don't do some of my other freetime activities now, that's how I make time.

Since my wife is 5 months pregnant and also works full time, she is basically exhausted most days and goes to bed around 8:30 at the same time as my daughter, so I have from 8:30-11:30 every night to play, that's plenty of time for me... :goodjob:

One son in the army serving in the Mid-East. One teenage daughter who wants nothing to do with daddy anymore. One wife that is always shopping.

This seems to work for me.

Hang in there. My kids are 7 and 5 now and they spend most of their time playing with each other or neighbor kids. So I guess this is not much consolation in the short-term, but have another kid quick and right around the time they are releasing TES VI you will be golden! :thumbsup:

Oh god for a second I thought this was a parent complaining about the game being violent and corrupting or some crap.

Only one thing to say. I dunno how you do it. I hate almost all small children.

3 kids, 9, 12, 14, full time job 50+ hours a week. Plenty of time to play ... I can sleep when I'm dead.

When they are younger it does take more time away from games, but you can have time for it if you work out a schedule for things.

Replace "one year old daughter" with "new girlfriend" and I'm right there with you. Those things take up SO much time. :shakehead:

Yeah it wouldn't be so bad if my little girl wasn't teething...
I think I've watched one football game since release, thats it for tv.
Four day weekend coming up, gonna get my dragon slaying on

Sorry if this has been mentioned to death already, but you have a young daughter. once she starts getting into a good sleep routine, going to bed at a set time, not waking up though the night and so on, you'll have more time.

That being said, I still played the heck outta some videogames when my daughter was younger. The night time is the right time.

3.5 year old, 1.5year old, 2 month old, full time job and a wife. I try to play when i can, but not easy. The oldest kid falls asleep at 8.30 or so, and then they start waking up at 5.30. After 8.30 i need to spend some time with my wife though, so basically i can play after 22 or 22.30, but that doesnt leave a lot of room for sleep..

I have managed to play a little most days though, and sometimes my wife has gone to bed early or has taken the kids out so i could play a bit. The oldest son loves to play too so i've played a bit with him, but then i am very careful not to get any violence so only walking around in towns, talking to people, selling stuff etc - and ofc he gets to use magelight and summon familiar which he loves.

They are pretty annoying unless they are yours, because then they are cute so they can get away with it sometimes

I thought that also apart from the hating small children bit.

I got a 2 1/2 year old boy. I try to do crafting and selling things/exploring while he's awake and not go to dungeons I think would have big monsters until naptime/bedtime.

Though, my 2 1/2 year old if I just give him a phone with angry birds won't pay attention to anything else...

When your kids are grown up and leave home, when you are comfortably settled in your domestic life, when you aren't clawing your way to the top in your job....it's time for your second childhood.

It gets better when you get older.

Edit:

The downside is that you get to come onto gaming forums and have arguments with people just like you used to with your own kids

You must be one of these poor buggers that needs to sleep.

One three year old daughter, work full-time and salvage metals on the side. I play about 10-12 hours a week.

It's good that you can save anytime. It helps you to sneak in some hunting before mommy comes home...

I'm a father of a 3 year old girl and a full time student. I find a little time to play in between my responsabilities. I always make more time for my wife and daughter, of course, but I have to reward my hard work by putting in a little me time. I can't understand students who pull all nighters all the time and do nothing but study. I'd go bonkers, besides what's the point in living a life if you can't enjoy it every once in a while.

To sum it up, I have a routine and I put in about an hour of gaming a night after my wife an little one have gone to bed and if I'm lucky, I have a few more hours of play time on the weekend when my wife goes out shopping with the little one.

However, this being said, my daughter has caught me playing at times and now has a new past-time. Trying to slay the dragon, which is Daddy! I bought her a fake sword for her halloween costume. She was a pirate and now she tries to mimic the finishing moves from Skyrim. :/

Nice thing about this game is few quests you do will take more than an hour or so to accomplish. Helps to fit gaming in around the domestic stuff.

Of course the really hard part is to not keep taking on new quest assignments......

I will move this to CD as it is really about gaming and family life in general. Good topic though.

i agree... No Kids only a girlfriend. Does help out that your able to save at whatever time of the game. usually only spend a few hours a day after i get home from work.

Here's an idea: make every day have-your-kid-do-your-work day!

I do this too. I'll play with my little one around, but just the non-violent parts. No dungeon crawling, just wandering around the towns/world. Occasionally I'll get attacked in the wild, but I'll usually find a way out of fights without having to kill anything, Laughing about the silly bear chasing me usually disarms the slight look of concern during an animal encounter. 3 years old is just too young to be subjected to that kind of thing... :sadvaultboy:

Well, I'm not a parent of any kind. But being a uncle of three kids who loved me and always wanted to be with me when oblivion came out (Yeah I was a big fan of TES even when I was young.) The way I dealt with it was deal with them. Then stay up all night because it was a weekend. (I can't stand small children anymore because of those three. I get a headache and I walk away before I decide to shoot myself who just deal with it. I pick the former. But in total, just go with the flow.

Um, it's natural to lament the loss of things as your life changes. I went through a bit of a roller coaster with it.

Thing is, look at all of the new cool things you and your family are doing that's one way to cope.

Other things are doing the tag-team parent thing, or give each a night-off. Sure it might only give you a few hours per week, but that's better than nothing. Just think, by the time you start logging some high number character hours, Beth might have a working patch

Oh, and I found that even gaming for 30 minute intervals was OK. Sure it might not have been an all-nighter, but it's better than nothing. I game for a short bit or web surf right after the kids go down; wife does essentially the same thing by doing Facebook. After that time, we talk to each other :rofl:

Finally, USE Fast Travel :bolt::P

Cherish the moments with your child as they will grow up very quickly. Mine is finally over a year old and my brother's is starting public school. Time flies man, better to have time for Skyrim later on a newer rig that will max out it's settings than to miss the best moments of your family life. I hope you still made time for the spouse too. That too is VERY important.