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<blockquote data-quote="CanadienneBacon" data-source="post: 3362704" data-attributes="member: 11146">This hasn't been the case in our family.&nbsp; We have four children, all of them under the age of six.&nbsp; The older three play together while we game.&nbsp; The baby sleeps, or sits on a lap.&nbsp; We schedule game time to start an hour before the older three's bedtime, and then we continue on until perhaps 11 pm.&nbsp; We've played on later than 11pm but it isn't pretty the next morning for Mom and Dad.&nbsp; I think there's a boomerang effect when it comes to kids and gaming.&nbsp; In our case, we played with an infant, then we took maybe a year off while we learned to modulate being parents, and then we resumed gaming fairly painlessly after things at home settled.&nbsp; Kind of like sex in that regard.&nbsp; All's not lost; gaming might go on hiatus at first but if you want to play, you can easily make it work.&nbsp; The trick is helping the children find things to occupy their time and capture their attention while you play.&nbsp; I cycle through having the kids color w/washable crayons (God's gift to parents), watch a movie, play outside in the backyard (we have 180 degree windows in this funky round house we live in so it makes it easy to watch them), or have them play in their rooms.I have noticed, however, that in homes where the children are completely disregarded and felt to be more of a nuisance or pest while the parent or parents game, said children will become more disruptive, possibly for attention.&nbsp; I therefore shoot for inclusivity because it seems to help the children be calmer.&nbsp; That, and they're funny little creatures who do the goofiest, oftentimes most amazing things.&nbsp; Blink and you'll miss it...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CanadienneBacon, post: 3362704, member: 11146"] This hasn't been the case in our family. We have four children, all of them under the age of six. The older three play together while we game. The baby sleeps, or sits on a lap. We schedule game time to start an hour before the older three's bedtime, and then we continue on until perhaps 11 pm. We've played on later than 11pm but it isn't pretty the next morning for Mom and Dad. I think there's a boomerang effect when it comes to kids and gaming. In our case, we played with an infant, then we took maybe a year off while we learned to modulate being parents, and then we resumed gaming fairly painlessly after things at home settled. Kind of like sex in that regard. All's not lost; gaming might go on hiatus at first but if you want to play, you can easily make it work. The trick is helping the children find things to occupy their time and capture their attention while you play. I cycle through having the kids color w/washable crayons (God's gift to parents), watch a movie, play outside in the backyard (we have 180 degree windows in this funky round house we live in so it makes it easy to watch them), or have them play in their rooms. I have noticed, however, that in homes where the children are completely disregarded and felt to be more of a nuisance or pest while the parent or parents game, said children will become more disruptive, possibly for attention. I therefore shoot for inclusivity because it seems to help the children be calmer. That, and they're funny little creatures who do the goofiest, oftentimes most amazing things. Blink and you'll miss it... [/QUOTE]

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