The Life of a Gaming Dad (4m - 6m)
Another two months have passed, and little Leon has grown with the time. There's a bit more going on in this post, but not a whole lot of new ground to cover.
The theme of this post, is alert. Because Leon has become the definition of that word. He's awake longer throughout the day and wants to do things while he's awake. Up until now, he's been fully content just sleeping and eating and lazing away the days in his swing. Now, though, he wants to play with his toys, and he above all else wants to be with mommy and daddy. Which can lead into this months sub-theme of frustration, but only in a very narrow area of things.
If you remember our good friend, the pause button, it won't be that frustrating because hey, stop the game, pick him up to play with him and you're good to go until he wants to be left alone again. The only area this can really feel like it's against you is if you run a channel like I do, and are into doing Live Streaming. Because you don't want to ignore your child (obviously) but you also don't want the background noise to become overwhelming to any viewers, as well as have them staring at a pause screen for the majority of the time while you take care of your child's needs. However, there's a work around for this to make it easier for everyone, which I'll discuss below, as well as Leon's specific growths. Also, from this point on, I'll be including sections in this post to discuss how things are for me specifically running the blog, as well as the YouTube and Twitch channels.
Interaction - This (for Leon) started closer to him being 6 months. By now, the depth of his vision has reached more than a few feet in front of him, and he's also starting to see colors. His exersaucer is placed right in front of the living room TV, where I have a couple of consoles hooked up. No matter what I'm playing, he's always watching intently. The more action that's going on in the game, the more entertained he is. Even when he's not in his saucer, I can sit him on the couch between my legs facing the TV, and he ends up leaning forward watching what I'm doing. He's also stretching himself vocally, and has gotten into the habit of letting out these cute little "Ooo"s when he sees something he likes which is pretty much (at this point) anything with colors and flashes...so the majority of stuff I'll play.
Being Played With - Obviously, this is the area that "takes away" from video games. But come on, it's watching your own child grow and learn things on their own. There's nothing more exciting that, no matter what the game is. He loves time with both of his parents, whether it's sitting with us on the couch, or being tickled and played with directly, or even just using one of his toys. One of Leon's favorite things is getting to sit up like a big boy on the couch by himself. We can prop him up with a couple pillows, and one or more of his toys, and he's all set. So there's plenty of times where he likes playing with one of us, and there's also times he likes playing more independently.
Growth In Previous Areas - Everything I've mentioned in the two previous posts is still happening, and more frequently. One afternoon, I sat him down with a PS2 controller and one of the Cars racing games on for him, and he tried to grab the controller himself, but while he was doing it he kept looking at the TV. Obviously he didn't know what did what, but again, it's the understanding the connection between the controller and the screen, and it's incredible to see the determination in his eyes. When he does these things around the games, you can see that he wants to know more, and it's the same thing when he makes his talking sounds, or when we talk to him. He'll stare directly at our mouths, sometimes even reach out and grab them, because he wants to know how to do what we're doing.
Honest Gamer : Running The Channels - Even with how interactive he wants to be, these are a lot easier than someone might think they are. Typically, in the mornings (he usually wakes up around 7-8am) he's pretty calm and relaxed. He'll either wake up with a ton of energy and want to go right into his saucer, or he'll wake up and not want to be awake, in which case he'll take his morning bottle and pass right back out. When it's the latter situation, this is when I can get in some extra work time. If I have some gameplay I need to capture, or a video to cap off, or even crank out the last few paragraphs of a review, this is the perfect time for me to squeeze that in. And if I'm all caught up? then oh darn I have time to just play whatever I want to.
As for the live streams themselves on my Twitch channel, I've been trying to do these with audio and with a camera on me. What's made this a lot easier is the schedule my fiancee and I have locked in in the house. She also runs her own business from home, so we took a few days out of the week where each one of us gets a chunk of time in our respective room while the other takes care of Leon. So this is when I try and dedicate my time to my streams. I usually get a block of two hours per stretch, and I try to keep my streams to about an hour, maybe an hour and a half max (but that's only if I'm in the middle of a quest or mission). So this still leaves me a chunk of time after my stream to work on other projects as well. In addition, I do run no-commentary streams where it's literally just the gameplay so I don't have to worry about if Leon gets fussy or if I need to pause for a few minutes for diaper duty.
What You Can Take Away
The main thing you can take away is what the main point of this series is. Having a kid does not mean giving up your hobby/passion. So many people are going to say that to you, and it's just not true. It probably stems from them feeling like they had to give something up themselves when their first child came along, but that's a whole other discussion. Whether you try to game full time, or it's just a fleeting interest for you, you can keep the consoles powered on as well as parenting duties. Especially once you reach this stage, this is when they start actually seeing and enjoying things. But at the same time, they're still too young to really hold any comprehension from what they're seeing, so you don't really need to censor what you're playing. Plop them in your lap and go play anything, from Call of Duty to a Lego game, to just a simple racer.
If you have a console that supports a rumble feature on the controllers, use this around them, because trust me they will love it. And the biggest thing is that they're going to learn. It'll be just like what Leon did with me. He saw me, he saw the controller, and he drew the line from that to the TV. Your child wants to learn, and they'll want to grab, pull, press, and yes, even try to eat your controllers. So let them! Throw in a racing game and have them hold the controller when the car goes crashing.
The great thing is there's a lot of cartoons that have video games based off of them as well. So if you get your child watching a cartoon that has it's own video game, add the game to your library. It might not be something you'll ever play yourself but in a year or two, they'll fall in love with it. They'll get to control this character that they've been watching for months and months. I've already added Blue's Clues and Bob the Builder on PS1 to my library for that specific reason. I even had a 2nd box from Video Games Monthly for a few months, and I had them focus the 2nd box on Leon and more kid-friendly games. So in the coming year or two, this kids mind is going to be blown.
So if you're reading this, just hear me and trust me on this. You can have your games, and your child, all you need to do is find that sweet spot that balances the two. And trust me on this as well when I say it's not that difficult to find it.
And now, for the highlight of this series...pictures of my son :) Thanks for reading, see you with the next post in another two months!
From Top to Bottom :
Leon turning 5 months old and going for a bit of a drive
Helping daddy start his PS3 Highlights project
This is how excited he gets when he gets to hang out while daddy's working in the game room
My first employee, Leon : officially The Little Gamer (I think he loves his job)
His 6 month photo, hanging out with his namesake, taking a break from slaying zombies
The theme of this post, is alert. Because Leon has become the definition of that word. He's awake longer throughout the day and wants to do things while he's awake. Up until now, he's been fully content just sleeping and eating and lazing away the days in his swing. Now, though, he wants to play with his toys, and he above all else wants to be with mommy and daddy. Which can lead into this months sub-theme of frustration, but only in a very narrow area of things.
If you remember our good friend, the pause button, it won't be that frustrating because hey, stop the game, pick him up to play with him and you're good to go until he wants to be left alone again. The only area this can really feel like it's against you is if you run a channel like I do, and are into doing Live Streaming. Because you don't want to ignore your child (obviously) but you also don't want the background noise to become overwhelming to any viewers, as well as have them staring at a pause screen for the majority of the time while you take care of your child's needs. However, there's a work around for this to make it easier for everyone, which I'll discuss below, as well as Leon's specific growths. Also, from this point on, I'll be including sections in this post to discuss how things are for me specifically running the blog, as well as the YouTube and Twitch channels.
Interaction - This (for Leon) started closer to him being 6 months. By now, the depth of his vision has reached more than a few feet in front of him, and he's also starting to see colors. His exersaucer is placed right in front of the living room TV, where I have a couple of consoles hooked up. No matter what I'm playing, he's always watching intently. The more action that's going on in the game, the more entertained he is. Even when he's not in his saucer, I can sit him on the couch between my legs facing the TV, and he ends up leaning forward watching what I'm doing. He's also stretching himself vocally, and has gotten into the habit of letting out these cute little "Ooo"s when he sees something he likes which is pretty much (at this point) anything with colors and flashes...so the majority of stuff I'll play.
Being Played With - Obviously, this is the area that "takes away" from video games. But come on, it's watching your own child grow and learn things on their own. There's nothing more exciting that, no matter what the game is. He loves time with both of his parents, whether it's sitting with us on the couch, or being tickled and played with directly, or even just using one of his toys. One of Leon's favorite things is getting to sit up like a big boy on the couch by himself. We can prop him up with a couple pillows, and one or more of his toys, and he's all set. So there's plenty of times where he likes playing with one of us, and there's also times he likes playing more independently.
Growth In Previous Areas - Everything I've mentioned in the two previous posts is still happening, and more frequently. One afternoon, I sat him down with a PS2 controller and one of the Cars racing games on for him, and he tried to grab the controller himself, but while he was doing it he kept looking at the TV. Obviously he didn't know what did what, but again, it's the understanding the connection between the controller and the screen, and it's incredible to see the determination in his eyes. When he does these things around the games, you can see that he wants to know more, and it's the same thing when he makes his talking sounds, or when we talk to him. He'll stare directly at our mouths, sometimes even reach out and grab them, because he wants to know how to do what we're doing.
Honest Gamer : Running The Channels - Even with how interactive he wants to be, these are a lot easier than someone might think they are. Typically, in the mornings (he usually wakes up around 7-8am) he's pretty calm and relaxed. He'll either wake up with a ton of energy and want to go right into his saucer, or he'll wake up and not want to be awake, in which case he'll take his morning bottle and pass right back out. When it's the latter situation, this is when I can get in some extra work time. If I have some gameplay I need to capture, or a video to cap off, or even crank out the last few paragraphs of a review, this is the perfect time for me to squeeze that in. And if I'm all caught up? then oh darn I have time to just play whatever I want to.
As for the live streams themselves on my Twitch channel, I've been trying to do these with audio and with a camera on me. What's made this a lot easier is the schedule my fiancee and I have locked in in the house. She also runs her own business from home, so we took a few days out of the week where each one of us gets a chunk of time in our respective room while the other takes care of Leon. So this is when I try and dedicate my time to my streams. I usually get a block of two hours per stretch, and I try to keep my streams to about an hour, maybe an hour and a half max (but that's only if I'm in the middle of a quest or mission). So this still leaves me a chunk of time after my stream to work on other projects as well. In addition, I do run no-commentary streams where it's literally just the gameplay so I don't have to worry about if Leon gets fussy or if I need to pause for a few minutes for diaper duty.
What You Can Take Away
The main thing you can take away is what the main point of this series is. Having a kid does not mean giving up your hobby/passion. So many people are going to say that to you, and it's just not true. It probably stems from them feeling like they had to give something up themselves when their first child came along, but that's a whole other discussion. Whether you try to game full time, or it's just a fleeting interest for you, you can keep the consoles powered on as well as parenting duties. Especially once you reach this stage, this is when they start actually seeing and enjoying things. But at the same time, they're still too young to really hold any comprehension from what they're seeing, so you don't really need to censor what you're playing. Plop them in your lap and go play anything, from Call of Duty to a Lego game, to just a simple racer.
If you have a console that supports a rumble feature on the controllers, use this around them, because trust me they will love it. And the biggest thing is that they're going to learn. It'll be just like what Leon did with me. He saw me, he saw the controller, and he drew the line from that to the TV. Your child wants to learn, and they'll want to grab, pull, press, and yes, even try to eat your controllers. So let them! Throw in a racing game and have them hold the controller when the car goes crashing.
The great thing is there's a lot of cartoons that have video games based off of them as well. So if you get your child watching a cartoon that has it's own video game, add the game to your library. It might not be something you'll ever play yourself but in a year or two, they'll fall in love with it. They'll get to control this character that they've been watching for months and months. I've already added Blue's Clues and Bob the Builder on PS1 to my library for that specific reason. I even had a 2nd box from Video Games Monthly for a few months, and I had them focus the 2nd box on Leon and more kid-friendly games. So in the coming year or two, this kids mind is going to be blown.
So if you're reading this, just hear me and trust me on this. You can have your games, and your child, all you need to do is find that sweet spot that balances the two. And trust me on this as well when I say it's not that difficult to find it.
And now, for the highlight of this series...pictures of my son :) Thanks for reading, see you with the next post in another two months!
From Top to Bottom :
Leon turning 5 months old and going for a bit of a drive
Helping daddy start his PS3 Highlights project
This is how excited he gets when he gets to hang out while daddy's working in the game room
My first employee, Leon : officially The Little Gamer (I think he loves his job)
His 6 month photo, hanging out with his namesake, taking a break from slaying zombies
