A Parent's Guide to Balancing Family and Work Responsibilities with Gaming

Video gaming has been a part of my life for pretty much as long as I can remember. I have fond memories of sitting down in front of my Nintendo Entertainment System as a child and losing countless hours trying to save one princess or another from various vaguely-defined perils.

When I found out I was going to have a child of my own, I realized that my gaming habits were definitely going to be affected. No longer would I be able to commit to raiding with my guild whenever they called or spend countless hours grinding various factions. Neither would I be able to stay up as late as necessary to finish that one last quest or finally topple some troublesome dungeon boss.

The way I saw it, my gaming life was pretty much over.

Fortunately, that was far from the truth. Like most things when you become a parent, you simply find a way to adapt your hobbies around your new responsibilities. So, while I’m not quite the 40-hour-a-week player I may have once been, I still find time to play my favorite MMORPGs. With my help, you can too. Check out these hints and tips for incorporating gaming into your new life as a parent.

Think of it as a real-life walkthrough.

Before we proceed, a disclaimer: A parent’s foremost responsibility should always be to their child. This article is not intended to encourage people to neglect their children in favor of MMORPG prowess. I absolutely believe you should walk away from any game if your child needs you, no matter what you’re doing.

One great thing about babies and young children is that they sleep, a lot. Once you’re past the initial few months of no more than three straight hours of sleep, you can pretty much count on 10-12 hours at night and another few hours of naptime during the day.

If you’re home during the day, this naptime is a fantastic opportunity to get in a few daily quests or hop on and check the auction house. I don’t recommend getting into anything too serious during this time - that Naxxramas run is definitely out of the question as any parent can tell you that babies are fickle and usually less than considerate of your need to down that last boss.

Just remember that you may be called away from the computer at any time by the sound of a bottle flung across the room or the wail of an unhappy child in need of your attention. It’s a good idea, at least during naptime, to avoid doing anything that you cannot simply walk away from at a moment’s notice.

Daily quests, faction grinding, solo questing, working on tradeskills, etc… are all easily-accomplished during naptime. Instance runs, raids, battlegrounds, arenas, basically anything where other people depend on you to be there the whole time are definitely out of the question during the day, at least while you’re the only one at home with your son or daughter.

Check out page 2 for advice on finding time to raid and gaming with your kids.