Men, how do you manage to play video games and spend time with family?

Uh...are they in conflict?

Same way people watch TV and spend time posting on internet social networks, yet have time for a family.

When my wife and I have opposite work schedules sometimes , instead of sitting around wishing we didn't , I use that time to play video games or do other things that make the time pass.

With that said , you might have to consider limiting your video game time more than you want to. But if you limit it to times when you and her cannot be together anyway , it will go more smoothly.

I will answer on behalf of my husband! He usually plays when the kids are in bed and I'm not around. Or else we play together. he very rarely plays if either of the kids are awake. as ds gets older I'm sure they'll play together.

Being and adult gamer and having kids definitely changes things. You will have to understand that like anything else in life, getting married and having kids requires sacrifice and compromise. I don't play as many games as I used to. You will have to play less, and find times that just work as you time. My wife works a couple nights a week so I put the kids to bed around 8-9 pm and that is my time to play video games for a couple of hours. I also own a portable PSP so sometimes if they are all sitting on the couch watching spongebob I will sit there and play games on my PSP (with the sound off of course). My wife might sit in the room and read a book.

I'm an early riser so sometimes I get up very early on the weekends and play for an hour or two as well.

Ok.. Guilty with the games here.

And yes, it is different, (not much) playing games then posting on forums, especially if you play MMO's like Ever-Quest and the like, because the game is based on real time interaction with other people, so you have moments of complete attention grabbing that you simply can't just put aside.

So, how do I handle it?

Well..... I married a fellow gamer. So we sit side by side and blow each other to kingdom come in many games, or work as a team to accomplish goals.

This way, the games get welcomed into our life as opposed to something that could vie for each others attention.

So, that is what we do. It works for us, and it gives us something to talk about, the games change over the years, but we still play them, and it allows us a casual way to communicate.

I think it has been a saving grace in our relationship that we both play games together.

But that is just my view on things.

God Bless

After you spent time with first God, then your spouse then your kids (if you have any), done the work for the day.......an hour or 2 isn't bad at all when you set an alarm clock for your self.

Be giving. Give your time to God, your family, friends, your work (or mission in life) and then yourself. After that, you're doing alright.

I'm not a guy but I can tell you what my husband does. He and my son play co-op games together. They've beaten Blazing Angels, Medal of Honor, Lego Batman, the first Lego Indiana Jones and are currently working on Lego Starwars the Complete Saga. Some of the games are quite entertaining for my daughter and I to watch and cheer them on and if they aren't entertaining, we can usually find SOMETHING else to do. Provided the kids do well (both B averages) in school this year, they will be getting an Xbox this summer and my son is virtually chomping at the bit for he and his dad to play Halo together.

Like Key's wife, I'm also a fellow gamer and so is my daughter. However, we prefer more RPG type games. My daughter is into Final Fantasy and I like to play old PC RPG's like Ultima and Might and Magic. So we all understand the need for each others' game time.

There's also games that all 4 of us can play together like Mario Kart and Wii Sports. We do need to invest in more 4 player games because those are the only 2 we have right now.

Oh so apparently it's just men who are gamers.

Nienna_Lady_of_Tears said:

Oh so apparently it's just men who are gamers.

Click to expand...

This is true. How are women supposed to play video games? Unless of course they're learning to read... Which would naturally lead to all kinds of trouble. Before you know it they'll be asking to vote and work etc...


To the OP, I generally play with my wife. Sometimes when I am wanting to play games that she doesn't like we'll play different games, which is kind of nice as having some alone time is also kind of nice. At least for me it helps me to be more affectionate with my wife at other times.

if it's a problem, seriously, grow up. ditch the video games and hang out with your wife and children, they're a lot cooler.