Spending Time with my Children

How do you guys and girls spend time with your children. I have a 6 year old, an almost 3 year old, and a new born. Each of them very diffrent in there needs from me. My infant needs me to hold him, burp him, cuddle him, change is diaper, and I think needs me to smile at him and tell him "Your a cute nugget".

My almost 3 year old needs me to "wresstle me dad" and then I commence to tickle and wrestle him in boyish and rough ways that he likes. He then will leave and play around me with cars, blocks, and anything that he wants, allowing me to game a little. He likes to snack on cheese, yogurt, bannanas, perperoni slices, and any meal I decide to make. He is mostly low maintaince and requires intense play time mixed with play around you time.

My 6 year old loves the things I love, and watches me play GW2 and asks me about all the things within the game. I give him back ground and what the diffrent monsters are...etc. His favorite part is making a new toon. I leave a slot just for that, erasing the old one and starting a new one. He watches the introduction and then we start another. LoL. He eats that stuff up. He would spend all day with me playing video games if I let him, me taking turns watching him play Dirt 2, Plants vs Zombies, racing games like mario cart etc...

The two boys equally enjoy going to the park, writing books, the 6 year old writes it out while his little brother colors and adds to it, I then am there to bounce ideas around with my 6 year old about what else he could write about. My almost 3 year old then entertains me with a dance as he enjoys pop music and dancing, he then proceeds to tell me "I'n cute". We read books, and have been enjoying the adventures  Rahl Dahl has written like "James and the Giant Peach".

How do you guys and girls spend time with your kids? How do you juggle wanting to play games like GW2, which can really obsorbe your attention and time, and balance it with family, and work?

Over the years i have relegated my playtimes to late evenings only, usually after the kids have gone to bed and the wife is into one of her shows. My oldest is 9 now and loves video games so I play Skylanders with him as a reward for chores or educational successes. This has had the added benefit of not blowing thru these modern MMOs that have such short leveling curves and are light on content.

At this point, playing games online is my main way of spending time with my son, Drakhar, as we're not physically close. I miss him painfully, and gaming together is something we've always enjoyed.

I am glad you get to play with your son. I played Halo 3 and Halo Reach with a family dad and his two sons and one daughter. This continued for 2-3 years untill work and schedule and peoples intrests went diffrent directions. I really felt connected to that family. Two of his sons went on to join the military and then onto higher education. I saw how Xbox live kept that family conncected with common intrests. They could just have good family time and fun together no matter the distances.

I have a 1 year old. I have to play AROUND that. Luckily he sleeps well at night.

I like to go to the zoo alot... annual pass at our local zoo here in Chicago is actually cheaper than taking the wife and kid once, and paying for entrance. It's fun, and pretty cheap because the parking pass comes with the zoo annual pass! I could actually get in and out without spending a dime if we don't eat.

Cliff, I also have a 6 year old, Two year old and a 8 week old :). Being a dad is great fun. My oldest and middle child are both girls and my baby is a boy :). I don't get to wrestle/rough house much but we do play monsters :)). My oldest daughter is a little princess. She is into all things that relate to pink and dressing up. My middle daughter wants to be with big sister. She is definitely not as girly but still enjoys just playing with her sister. Time together is really what its all about and not so much as the what. Kids just enjoy their parents and parents enjoy their kids :). Sounds like you are doing great with your kids.

My almost 5 year old son loves PC games. I often play with him sitting on my lap, or he steals the other PC and plays flash games he's found Mario and Sonic on facebook. We like to go for walks, swimming (got a public pool across the road), feed the ducks etc when not gaming). He's a very independent boy who often prefers to play alone and who tries to help himself to food in the kitchen (I've had to put good food in his reach as he doesn't like getting me to get it for him, even if I ask him if he's hungry he says 'I'll get it mum, I'm a big boy') . We like to sing together so I don't often speak on raidcall cause Stefan and I are listening to music and singing together.

» Edited on: 2013-01-06 18:27:01

Best way to feed your baby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W1Nmm6rjho

I have 3 girls, 8, 10, and 12 and now since they are a little older, we play alot of the same games together. Like most people, I play when the kids are settled in and chores completed. When they were younger, it was more of a challenge to play as they were up at all times of the night. Being a gamer for 30+ years (yes, TRS-80 Model 1), I've learned that always put your family first. Our kids grow up quicly and you don't want to miss out on any special moment. Take everything in stride.