Video games are a huge part of my life. They helped me get through school. I made my best friends over games of Call of Duty Black Ops on Xbox 360 lasting until four in the morning.
Even now, hopping on discord and playing Overwatch or Street Fighter online is how we all stay in touch.
But I also have a baby. And since the birth of my child, my gaming habits have changed.
You have a lot less time. And family always comes first.
I have a lot less time now. I have a lot more responsibilities as a father now. I need to make sure my son is fed, bathed and sleeping. I need to play and bond with him while he is awake.
I also need to support my wife so she’s not taking on all of the household responsibilities and that she can also find time to relax and decompress.
It can be tempting to hop on the PC when I see my friends green on discord playing games. But I can’t play Overwatch with the boys every night anymore. I need to do my job as a father, close the app and get back to looking after my family.
Portable gaming is a (gaming) lifesaver
I bought a gaming laptop a couple years ago and even though I still use it daily as both my gaming and work PC. I somewhat regretted buying it. The laptop cost more than a desktop with similar specs. It is heavy and needs to be plugged into power in order to get maximum performance. Which means it spends most of the time on my desk hooked up to a monitor. So it’s not really that portable.
But it was a godsend during the first few months of my child’s birth. He wasn’t the best sleeper. He would only sleep while being held. Being able to bring the laptop into our bedroom and play Cyberpunk 2077 while holding him really helped me get through those tough first months.
He’s older now and can sleep without me holding him but is still quite attached and I still need to be around. I can’t be bothered to bring the laptop into the room anymore but did buy a Nintendo Switch 2.
It’s been amazing.
Besides the great library of games. The killer feature is the ability to suspend and resume your gaming session from right where you left it. This makes it so much easier to play for a bit while baby is asleep and put down it down once he wakes up.
Wake up early
Most gamers are night owls and I was one of them. Often playing until the AM.
Not anymore. Becoming a father means waking up when your baby wakes up. In my case it’s usually around 7am. But I need to wake up earlier because I need time to prepare for the day. So now I sleep much earlier but also wake up earlier, around 5am.
This gives me time to prepare for the day and also get some gaming in before baby wakes up.
And games are a great way to start your day. Who doesn’t want to kick off their morning grinding for Rathalos rubies in Monster Hunter.
So there you have it, for any soon to be fathers out there, these are the biggest changes I’ve had to make as a gamer and new father.