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Ok, my wife and I are expecting what should be (according to the ultrasound woman) a baby boy late May/early June. Whilst this will of course be a very happy occassion (if all goes well, touch wood), I find myself pondering what time will be left for hobbies, specifically painting Skaven which as any warpstone muncher will tell you is a very time consuming process. My sister was on the phone this morning telling me that brother-in-law has had no time to go running on account of their recently newborn son. Now if you can't squeeze in 45 mins for a 6 mile training run, what hope do I have of cracking open the paint pots?

Any Dakkaites conquered this problem?

(I also have a new house to decorate, triathlons to train for and a Masters in Transport Planning to finish)

HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT.

your baby comes over your hobbies.

this disgusts me.

any way, raising a baby is tough work. ask your parents.

I'm no father, but change as many diapers as possible, before he starts to eat solid stuff.

then you get more free time later

Lol, I don't know.

This is just a question of you guys helping each-other out.

If the baby becomes the ENTIRE family (as opposed to simply a slightly helpless member of said family)....then you are SOL. Then I believe your loss of a gaming-life will seem insignificant compared to the loss of your sex-life, your family-life and your personal-life.

Oh, and get a paintstation and a high shelf. Easy to pull out the models, paint for an hour or two, then put it away.

at firs tyou will be expected to do your bit as the wife will be tired and emotional.

You might get the odd paintnig in while waiting for them to wake for a feed ifthey woke you up earlier. also depending on how often they want fed you may get time to paint as going to sleep would take too long.

First off, congratulations!

I imagine you'll be pretty well consumed when your little fellow first arrives getting used to being a father. But I'm sure you will be able to work in some hobby time as things go. Of course your child comes first (Captain Solon should be renamed Captain Obvious) but you also need to keep in mind that you're not just somebody's dad. Better to realize that now then have to deal with it eighteen years dwn the line with a midlife crisis.

Manchu wrote:First off, congratulations!

I imagine you'll be pretty well consumed when your little fellow first arrives getting used to being a father. But I'm sure you will be able to work in some hobby time as things go. Of course your child comes first (Captain Solon should be renamed Captain Obvious) but you also need to keep in mind that you're not just somebody's dad. Better to realize that now then have to deal with it eighteen years dwn the line with a midlife crisis.

Many thanks I envisage it being a short term issue. As soon as he's three, he'll be handed a tank brush and told to get on with the base coating.

My plan exactly. I'm only a Level 1 (engaged) Family Man at this point, however.

Lol, in which case my advice is to try and avoid doing everything (buy house, have baby, go back to uni) in the first year of marriage

I have the same dilemma too. My missus is expecting our first soon too (coincidentally late May/early June as well!). I'm envisaging most if not all of my free time to disappear rapidly.

We'll have both graduated law school by the time we're married (hopefully in November). Despite that, I doubt we'll be able to afford a house for a long while. We also both want children but I don't think we'll have them for the first few years. As you can see, I will be gaining levels at a very slow rate. :(

Just paint at night, when the little 'un is sleeping. That way, you will be able to do midnight feeds etc, as well.

And Captain Solon - how can you admit to not being a father, then attempt to give another man advice on being a parent? How do you know what raising a baby entails?

Becoming a parent does not = life over.

filbert wrote:I have the same dilemma too. My missus is expecting our first soon too (coincidentally late May/early June as well!). I'm envisaging most if not all of my free time to disappear rapidly.

Well, congrats also. Guess we'll have to compare notes. Good luck (I mean with the whole baby thing, not just the constrained miniature painting)

Flashman wrote:

filbert wrote:I have the same dilemma too. My missus is expecting our first soon too (coincidentally late May/early June as well!). I'm envisaging most if not all of my free time to disappear rapidly.

Well, congrats also. Guess we'll have to compare notes. Good luck (I mean with the whole baby thing, not just the constrained miniature painting)

Comparing notes is good - I'm shocked they don't come with some sort of instruction manual (babies that is, not miniatures!). It's amazing how every little fear and concern is distilled and grows to gargantuan proportions when you are expecting (and that's just for me as a father, I dread what my missus is like!)

Manchu wrote:We'll have both graduated law school by the time we're married (hopefully in November). Despite that, I doubt we'll be able to afford a house for a long while. We also both want children but I don't think we'll have them for the first few years. As you can see, I will be gaining levels at a very slow rate. :(

I really don't think this is such a bad thing, plenty of time to enjoy it before the chaos starts. I think we've kind of rushed the last six months, not knocking the good stuff, but it's been kind of stressful too.

Congratulations! Now, here comes the fun part. I have three kids, so I have a few tips...

Never hand a three year old paint. They'll paint themselves, the walls, the floor, any nearby siblings, animals, or sleeping parents. Even if you don't hand them paint this will still likely happen, because they'll see you paint and want to try.

Secondly, you're almost certain to loose models to tiny grabby fingers. You can take all the precautions in the world, including an arrangement akin to Fort Knox, and one day you'll find the pieces of a model that you left on a shelf that was fine two weeks ago but Baby had a growth spurt.

There are, however, a few things you can do to increase your modeling time. My two youngest both liked sleeping in a little rocking chair thing, so I created a painting case with brushes and water that I could pop open, pick up a model and start painting away whike I rocked the chair with my foot. Not only did I finish my Marines I also got calves like steel.

Your biggest enemy is going to be a lack of sleep. My wife and I co-sleep with the baby when small, and my wife breastfeeds, so the baby sleeps pretty well pretty fast. Baby whimpers, boob appears as if by magic. More sleep for me!

Otherwise, it's simply a case of finding a way to alter your routine to add in the baby's presence. It's gonna be awkward at first, obviously, but I'm sure you'll adapt. Or go mad. One or the other.

On the plus side, when they get older you get the fun of gently nudging them towards the Geek side for the force with cool robots and stuff. My son occasionally borrows a battered Dread to have a fight with one of his toy robots. Fun times.

filbert wrote:It's amazing how every little fear and concern is distilled and grows to gargantuan proportions when you are expecting (and that's just for me as a father, I dread what my missus is like!)

My wife thinks I compartmentalise quite well and don't appear the least bit stressed about it. This is partly because I'm stressing about other things (£2500 for a new boiler!) and also because I stress internally. So yes, I am a little alarmed about the impending arrival as well.

Meh, parenting isn't all THAT hard - just keep 'em alive!


That's my approach, anyway.




Congrats, chaps!

Flashman wrote:

filbert wrote:It's amazing how every little fear and concern is distilled and grows to gargantuan proportions when you are expecting (and that's just for me as a father, I dread what my missus is like!)

My wife thinks I compartmentalise quite well and don't appear the least bit stressed about it. This is partly because I'm stressing about other things (£2500 for a new boiler!) and also because I stress internally. So yes, I am a little alarmed about the impending arrival as well.

Sometimes I feel a little like Homer Simpson in that episode where his pent up rage manifested itself as boils appearing on his neck. I sometimes imagine a whole series of them sprouting up as I compress my rage and fear into a tight little ball. I'm like a duck; calm and serene on the surface, flapping away like an epileptic disco dancer under the surface!

@ Garrett - Sounds like good advice. I have been thinking about some kind of lockable cupboard...


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Albatross wrote:Meh, parenting isn't all THAT hard - just keep 'em alive!

Is it working?

Flashman wrote:Ok, my wife and I are expecting what should be (according to the ultrasound woman) a baby boy late May/early June. Whilst this will of course be a very happy occassion (if all goes well, touch wood), I find myself pondering what time will be left for hobbies, specifically painting Skaven which as any warpstone muncher will tell you is a very time consuming process. My sister was on the phone this morning telling me that brother-in-law has had no time to go running on account of their recently newborn son. Now if you can't squeeze in 45 mins for a 6 mile training run, what hope do I have of cracking open the paint pots?

Any Dakkaites conquered this problem?

(I also have a new house to decorate, triathlons to train for and a Masters in Transport Planning to finish)

You don't. Welcome to Life (TM) Babies suck all the money from your wallet, all the time from your schedule, and all the minutes of your sleep.
Babies, nature's way of saying 'well enough about you.'

In my experience 3 year olds can learn to paint only on the proper surfaces fairly easily, as long as you don't mind making them clean up any messes- they're smart, and quickly learn what is expected if you are consistent. Definitely, definitely agreed on keeping minis away from them though- not only will they break them unintentionally, they really are at risk of choking.
I'd say they could easily help out with base coating scenery of a certain size adn so on though, and they'd probably REALLY enjoy being part of Dad's hobby.
(Note: I am not a father, but I used to work in a creche minding 2-11 year olds. Fun times!)

Albatross wrote:How do you know what raising a baby entails?

I thought everybody watched The Family Guy.

Flashman...Congrats mate.Welcome to the best exclusive club called 'Fatherhood'.Believe me I also panicked about fitting in time for my son and painting 4000pts of guard, and being a full time soldier. I was in Afghan for most of my missus pregnancy and when I finally got home it struck me like a kick in the stones....How the feck am I going to fit a baby into my (what I thought at the time) was a busy and event filled life.........one year on and my son is a year old,starting to walk and grab at the kitchen table,which reduces my painting area to the size of a drinks coaster.I have learnt to manage my time,with my son taking priority.I help the missus,feed and bath and play with my son,chase him away from the Sky digital,stop him from hitting the t.v. with random farm animals and still find time to paint a death guard army at the weekends. Its all about time managment. You'll work it out. And believe me,when you first hold your son in your hands.....the love is instantaneous.

My wife and I are also expecting by the end of February. Honestly, the pregnancy had sort of slowed my modeling to a crawl. Then I set up a mobile tray with some paint, a model or two, some super glue and a sprue and just followed her around wherever she needed to be at that point. She's become quite codependent during the pregnancy, which I think will ease my transition to fatherhood. Keeping your area set up and secure will help you pop in to put a layer of paint on something and get out. Other than that, I look forward to other tips from this thread. Help us noobs, experienced fathers!

It's perfectly fine to be ambivalent about having children. Say good bye to anything spontaneous, weekend skiing trips, bars, free-time in general. The first five years will be the roughest. Realistically you should be able to game once a week and have an hour at night for painting. I would say that if you are planning on having another child do it quickly.

When mommy and baby nap, that is your painting time.

I would just get used to having a bit less time. Try to speed up your painting techniques, learn or use a little shortcut here and there so you get more done in a shorter time.

Or, just sell the kid for some new Tyranids.

Congrats. I dont have kids but when my sister-in-law and her hubby, who is also a gamer and a great mate, had a kid he had similar thoughts. It was very important to them to recognise
that despite their son being of prime importance it didn't equate to them losing their lives. They make sure that whenever possible they have 'me time'. My mate ensures he does as much as possible round the house and with his son, thus ensuring that his wife doesn't mind the occasionally gaming weekend nor the few hours of painting.
Good luck and all the best.

Welcome to Fatherhood! I can speak from experience, too, since I've got a baby right now.

Firstly, if you love the hobby a LOT, you'll have time for it. As for me, this is my ONLY hobby right now - there isn't time for two hobbies.

Secondly, yes, as babies get older, they're gonna want to grab and eat your miniatures (and everything else). I am lucky enough to have a gameroom which I keep locked at all times. ALL my models are there. Except for a box which holds the models I'm currently painting (yes, ORKS!) So start thinking now about putting your models somewhere safe. Of course, when Baby is first born, she isn't going anywhere under her own power (yet) but this will change. Probably time to think about this after Baby is born - if you're like me, all your attention is on helping your wife right now (as it should be) and probably using your painting skills on the nursery walls, etc.

OK, the best news - even though you will be home lots more (both because you have to be and because you want to be) painting is a wonderful hobby for you! It can be done almost anywhere, and especially, it can be done in the house. If you have 5 minutes, you can paint a little. After baby is born, your attention will probably be needed every few minutes, so the first thing to adjust to is the fact that you will be constantly pulled away from your work. I get in about an hour every day, however, it is 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there. Still, it all adds up and yes, models DO get painted eventually.

About money for the hobby - this is the other good news. You will be painting more slowly, that's for sure, so your money will stretch further! My advice - don't buy more models until your current models are painted and you probably won't need more models for a long time.

How to Play - The way we do it at my house - I get one night to do whatever I want (wife watches the baby) and then she also gets a night each week to do whatever she wants (I watch the baby). What do you do on that night? Play games with your mates, of course! On every other night, we share the childcare responsibility and do things as a family.

What's cool is getting your baby a huge pair of dice to play with. Found some for my baby - she already knows how to roll these.

So will you have less time for gaming stuff? Yes! But it is not the end of the hobby. If you love it enough, there will always be time to do some. Just be patient and expect it to take a little longer to get that new unit painted. You'll be fine.

Solorg
Who is trying to paint a Green Tide while also taking care of a baby

What did Ricky Bobbys father say to him--something along the lines of "See you when you're all grown up."

I learned to wake up at about 3 am and paint while everyone else was asleep. I had to convince myself that sleep was a crutch.

BTW, congrats. I've got a 3 y.o. and a 5 y.o. that are a blast.