Forked Thread: Rules for Parents who Bring Their Kids to Their Game

[roguerouge]

Forked from: Mamacat's helpful hints for gaming with couples with or without kids

Yes, I agree that there ought to be a list of parent's responsibilities to their fellow gamers with regard to their children, and someone could slap those up.

This issue arose in the popular Mamacat thread on ways that childless gamers need to adapt to gaming with parents who bring their kids. So, what responsibilities do parents w/kiddies have for the gamers in their group? What compromises do they need to make? (... since we spent some time on what compromises childless gamers and parents with babysitters need to make...)

 

[SSquirrel]

Well I have a 3 month old and a nearly 3 year old and my wife and one of our friends take turns DMing. If we're at their house, Beryl is busy playing w/the 4 dogs they have. If they're over here we have things for her to color, a movie on w/the volume low so we can ignore it, etc. We let her roll some dice from time to time (need to buy her one of the BIG dice sets for her own sometime so no danger of swallowing dice, tho she's pretty good about things like that) and this last session I was splitting my time between the game, cooking us all dinner and keeping Beryl entertained. Oh and holding the baby from time to time Luckily Maeve slept in her swing a good bit.

Parents just need to be adults and bring enough things to entertain their children and/or include them in what you're doing as much as you can. Session before last Beryl was rolling d6 damage dice for us sometimes and rolling high

 

[Mamacat]

Oh and holding the baby from time to time Luckily Maeve slept in her swing a good bit.

Parents just need to be adults and bring enough things to entertain their children and/or include them in what you're doing as much as you can. Session before last Beryl was rolling d6 damage dice for us sometimes and rolling high

How fun - my daughter's name is also Maeve!

I agree with this - you have to be responsible for your own kids, of course. Our best solution was to offer to host games at our house. That way, there is plenty for our daughter to do, and she's comfortable.

 

[WayneLigon]

I can't say it's been something I've encountered. For many years, I've played with parents that had small children and one of two things has always occurred: either we played at their house, or one person would play and the other would be at home with the kids. I can't say I've ever seen where parents would consistantly bring small kids off to a game, simply because they're so unpredictable and you'd have to bring their entire 'support system' (snacks, drink, books or toys, etc) along to keep them quiet and entertained. Also, there was the bedtime thing. I've never known a less-than-10-year-old to go to bed later than 8-9pm. Usually by the time they'd be going to bed later, they're to the point they can stay up and color or watch a movie or something and entertain themselves.

If someone did bring a kid into my house and I was the host, I'd expect them to keep a close watch on the kid and have provided some means to keep them entertained (and that means 'don't put them in front of my TV', mainly because it's both distracting and not in line-of-sight of my play area, unless one of you will be staying in there with them). I'd expect both parents to come, so in case Junior gets to crying, that they can switch off trying to stop him (sometimes they'll only stop for one parent). They need to be prepared to clean up after him.

On my end, I'd child-proof the play area and other areas of the house they have access to. I'd provide some snacks or such that the kids could eat as well, after confering with the parents as to what they can have. Since this would be an every-week affair, I'd probably either lay in a supply of common medicines they might need or something, or get the parents to suggest something to keep on hand.

 

[Nifft]

Rule #1: if you bring children, you must bring enough for everyone.

"Bon Appetit", -- N

 

[Fifth Element]

So, what responsibilities do parents w/kiddies have for the gamers in their group? What compromises do they need to make? (... since we spent some time on what compromises childless gamers and parents with babysitters need to make...)

In all honesty, I don't think you'll have nearly the same number of compromises as in the other thread. Gamers with young kids already make one huge compromise: not gaming nearly as much as they'd like. Gamers without kids, in general, have much more flexibility in their schedules and non-game lives than those with young kids, so asking those with kids to compromise just as much would be simply unfair.

One of my single gamer friends complains that he has "only" 7 hours of free time each day after work. Enough said there.

Obviously, if you have your kids at the game there are some common-sense things you need to take care of. But the gamers-with-kids and gamers-without-kids do not start off on equal footing, and that needs to be taken into account.

 

[Terwox]

Also, there was the bedtime thing. I've never known a less-than-10-year-old to go to bed later than 8-9pm.

I wish this was also my experience. I play with a couple, at their house, and their 3 year old goes to bed at consistently around midnight. Apparently, their daycare has the kid sleep all day...

 

[Kaodi]

Jeez, Nifft, it was a satire! Swift did not mean for you to tak him literally!

 

[SSquirrel]

I wish this was also my experience. I play with a couple, at their house, and their 3 year old goes to bed at consistently around midnight. Apparently, their daycare has the kid sleep all day...

My 2 year old is a night owl, like pretty much everyone in my family. My wife is a stay at home mom and we usually get Beryl to bed sometime between 11 and 12 and she sleeps till about 10. We're hoping to get her potty trained in time for pre-school this fall, but we'll see if that happens It could be worse, she used to sleep during the evening and want to be awake all night heh.