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The wife gets pretty darn impressed when fancy stuff needs to be repaired or some "craft" thing she needs done for her or the kids happens.
I think that is where most of the tolerance for hobby time comes from.
(Oddly, this is usually when a "honey do" item hits the bench.)
I keep saying I can make anything, it is just a matter of time and materials at hand (plus the occasional tool purchase).
She seems to be testing me on that claim quite often.

Strangely my wife seems to tolerate my RPG gaming lot more than my tabletop gaming. I think this may have something to do with encounters in GW stores early in our relationship though! She has tried her hand at Malifaux (she loves the dead hookers) and has enjoyed it on occasion so maybe there is hope. More-so though I like to keep my hobby time as my 'me' time. she has her own hobbies that I also have zero interest in so 'tis all coo

 the_Armyman wrote:
I'm 40, married with a couple of younger children. Tabletop gaming is my primary hobby, but not my only hobby or interest. My wife and I do things together that we both find enjoyable. Gaming is NOT one of them. She has no interest in it, and I'm perfectly fine with that. In fact, I'd find it a little odd, if I were being totally honest. I'm of the opinion that spouses should have time to themselves. My hobby is my opportunity to have some "me" time, either painting in the basement man-cave or hanging with my friends, playing a game at the FLGS.

Do you have a gaming significant other? How do find that "me" time if your wife/husband/gf/bf are also interested in the same thing you are?

Like you, I'm in my 40s.
Married.
No children (can't have them, thanks for reminding me. ).

Like you, my hobby is my "me" time. The wife isn't a gamer and will never be one. Nonetheless, she understands what it means to me and is supportive of it. She has her "me" time also and we have "us" time where we share other things. I've never had a SO who was into gaming. That would be weird. I'm also the only one in my family who does this stuff (the wife's family includes model railway people, Ham radio operators and model aircraft/cars people, though. So she can see the creative side of things).

But she likes SF and she likes LEGO, so I'll call it a win-win regardless.

I used to have a GF that did not like my gaming or thought it was dumb.

My wife thinks its an awesome creative outlet and likes that it keeps me around the house (we have a game room).

Guess why I married the second one....

My wife is into gaming a lot. Can't complain about that.

My wife is definitely a gamer, but luckily our gaming tastes are meaningfully distinct.

We overlap in RPGs and some board games. She's not into the Wargaming and she'll happily play in RPG groups that I would tend to avoid. This, of course, means that there is a great deal of gamer tolerance and still lots of me time.

We play co-op games like a champ, but...lets just say that we don't play memoir 44 anymore and leave it at that, lol. We are much better working together unless we are playing with a group larger than just the two of us.

I have been amazed at her level of tolerance. I figured she would draw the line at starting a game publishing company, but she took absolutely no convincing. I had an hour's worth of arguments prepared, analysis of costs, development timelines, etc. all prepped when I broached the topic. The discussion went like this:

"I want to start a company to develop my game. It will cost a lot of money."

"That's a great idea!"

"No, I mean, it will cost a LOT of money and it will eat up a HUGE amount of time. Many thousands of dollars."

"Yea, I think that's a great idea!"

So it's all her fault really .

My wife and I enjoy board games together, but she's rather picky about the subject matter (no fantasy or science fiction) and they can't be too complex. Luckily, most eurogames have fairly 'neutral' themes so we find plenty of stuff to play. She's played X-Wing with me in the past just because she knew it would make me happy (which it did and we had a great time).

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
My wife and I enjoy board games together, but she's rather picky about the subject matter (no fantasy or science fiction) and they can't be too complex. Luckily, most eurogames have fairly 'neutral' themes so we find plenty of stuff to play. She's played X-Wing with me in the past just because she knew it would make me happy (which it did and we had a great time).

Pretty much my exact experience. If it's got Uwe Rosenberg's name on it, she'll like it. She also like Takenoko, Tokaido, and Five Tribes.

We're going to try and get her to play Imperial Assault tomorrow, but we are not optimistic.

Overall, my GF has been very supportive. When I tried to get her into it, she didn't like the Tau or SM look or feel. When I told her about Eldar and showed her a few pictures, however, she went a little nuts. I got her a farseer and a box of guardians for cheap and she paints better than I do! She is so into the painting side, and also is willing to get me models, such as my pathfinders. On top, she said she would come to a tournament at the FLGS, which makes me happy, as she is accepting of my "odd toys".

 cincydooley wrote:

We're going to try and get her to play Imperial Assault tomorrow, but we are not optimistic.

Good luck! My wife wants nothing to do with that game (because it's Star Wars!), which is fine because my group of gaming friends is all about it... and if one of us can't make it, his fiance will play, even though she's not really "into it" like we are (she just likes to play and have fun, we're all HUGE Star Wars geeks).

I can honestly say that my wife the only person I know that dislikes Star Wars and everything about it. Everyone else I know either enjoys it or is indifferent to it.

My 40k collection is based on playing home games. My wife and younger son tend to run the Chaos armies while myself and my older boy tend to run Imperials. We have a ongoing map based campaign that is basically just a dry erase poster size map we made years ago of Vogen and if you win a game you get to color a sector your armies color... My wife only likes smaller games but can be persuaded to humor me on bigger games if I'm trying to make an army for tournament play. How we play at home is like a bygone era of campaign 40k, my wife is bothered by the "combo trickery" of the newer stuff and prefers to line up her Black Legion and blast stuff.

We are one of those weird couples that don't try to have "me" time, we do everything together unless it's impossible.

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:

 cincydooley wrote:

We're going to try and get her to play Imperial Assault tomorrow, but we are not optimistic.

Good luck! My wife wants nothing to do with that game (because it's Star Wars!), which is fine because my group of gaming friends is all about it... and if one of us can't make it, his fiance will play, even though she's not really "into it" like we are (she just likes to play and have fun, we're all HUGE Star Wars geeks).

I can honestly say that my wife the only person I know that dislikes Star Wars and everything about it. Everyone else I know either enjoys it or is indifferent to it.

So, we didn't get her to play Imperial Assault (we ended up playing 3 campaign missions, so it was okay), but we were treated to this gem as we were watching A New Hope:

Porkins comes on screen during the check in as they prepare to assault the Death Star.
"I bet that fat guy dies first because there aren't any black guy pilots"

Playing off the "black guys always die first" trope in movies, apparently fat guys are next in line. So...watch out!

I made the mistake of trying to get my wife to play Car Wars one day when we were snowed in. Not the game to introduce people into the hobby

She tolerates my gaming - better than out gambling, drinking, fight clubbing. She'll admire my paint jobs from time to time

 the_Armyman wrote:
Do you have a gaming significant other? How do find that "me" time if your wife/husband/gf/bf are also interested in the same thing you are?

My significant one is an archaelogist and I really enjoy historical wargaming. We've worked together for a couple years. Being an engineer who knows his "fluff" got me that job, actually.

So, we both love history and while definitely not a "gaming spouse", she enjoys the occasional wargame. Sharing common interests and activities is great.

Met Mrs S playing an MMO, so knew she had geek genes.

She collected a small tyranid army, loves the minis, loves painting, tried and was beginning to learn the rules, then the edition changed from 5th to 6th and when I told her about learning the changes, she gave up the gaming side in frustration (I've somewhat followed her with 6th and 7th... ). We are both trek fans and so picked up ST Attack Wing and have been loving playing that, so easy to learn, quick to play and so far, her Dominion Fleet has been kicking the snot out of my poor Romulans...

She is very supportive of both this and my fishkeeping, both of which are time investing and costly hobbies. I am a lucky man.

My wife doesn't game, but she doesn't hate my hobby. Much.

Just got back from a convention where I scored some Mantic elves for $1.50 a box (ten-man). Told the lil lady, and she was super excited and demanded them so she could paint them. I may have a winner.

Good to see so many happy couples here.

The Forgemistress and I have an interesting understanding about gaming, electronic and otherwise.

I've always been a bit reclusive about my non standard hobbies, and she's been somewhat accepting of that.

Took her a while to "get" 40k, and she's really good about respecting the stuff. I'm by no means a hugely skilled painter, but I think at least some of my figures are painted to a good table top standard. My characters are full of detail and at some point she began to see some talent and she appreciates that because she's kind of artsy herself.

We don't bond on much other than our love of music, NCIS, Game of Thrones and the cyberbunnies (all four of the little things that run around the forge up here ), but it works. She plays munchkin with my buddies and I, and we took a crack at hearth stone, but to no avail.

It's a work in progress but hey, as said before, happy wife, happy life.

FM Argos

When it comes to gaming, the only thing that my wife finds interesting is boardgames. But, I tend to like the creative aspects of gaming as a hobby, so boardgames don't scratch that itch for me. I have thought about introducing her to Space Hulk, but pulling the trigger on a game that costs $125 makes me hesitant. If I needed termies or genestealers, I'd be far less hesitant, but alas...

Anyone have any thoughts on that?

My wife does prefer to watch me hobby over videogame. So there's that.

We play board games and card games. She isn't at all interested in my man dollies, but she does support me hobbying.

I'm extremely lucky. I met my wife playing WoW. She's been a gamer forever. We continue to play video games together constantly, but stopped with the raids and grinds in MMOs.

When 6th ed came out we both started 40k. She picked out Space Wolves and I picked Dark Angels. She really loves the lore and the miniatures as well as the game, but the community is what kills it for her. She still actively paints her armies (yeah, expanded a lot in 2 years), and will play the occasional WHF game. She's got Space Wolves, Tyranids, High Elves, and Skaven.

We try to keep a healthy mix of gaming hobby, video games, date nights, tv, and hanging out with friends. It's wonderful having someone to share hobbies with, especially when you see the sparkle in their eye when they get excited to work on something or get a new model that they've really wanted.

I know more than a few people who have met people that
way. You spend so much time in game, it's bound to happen.

Whumba, ever watch The Guild?

I had a lot of girlfriends who weren't very interested in miniatures gaming/painting. Most of them were still geeks (I only dated one girl who wasn't) but they were into other aspects of geekdom.

I once taught a girlfriend to paint minis- and she got really good at it very quickly. Soon, she had a playable Cryx force, and has since become a formidable adversary in Blood Bowl.

I proposed not long after that. Now she insists on painting half of my Super Dungeon stuff. Whenever we get Kickstarter minis, we have to divvy them out between us (we call this "the choosening").

We've also started a homebrew RPG with out pre-school daughter with mousling minis). She loved fighting that undead dragon.