Do Single Parents Game (via Outsyder Gaming)?

Posted on Monday, July 13, 2009 by Kristian Serrano

I stumbled across an interesting post via the RPG Blogger Network's feed regarding single parents and gaming. With the mission of The Dice of Life in mind, I decided to start that same conversation here as it's something with which I have no knowledge or experience but in which I am greatly interested.

The post, which appeared on Outsyder Gaming, was titled Do Single Parents Game?

We're pretty in tune with the idea of gamers who have a plethora of responsibilities and obligations to family above all else, but I don't think any of us can imagine the difficulty that comes with being a single parent. I've known a few single mothers and fathers in my life, and I know its a difficult challenge to just carry on everyday routines; however, how does a single parent find the time to play in an RPG campaign? (I'm just going to assume that it's impossible to run a campaign.)

If you're a single parent, or know of a single parent, who manages to make time for gaming, please drop a comment either in this post or over on the Outsyder Gaming post describing how a single parent might be able to make accommodations for gaming.

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3 comment(s):

  1. Thanks for stopping by! I'll keep up with both discussions if they amount to anything. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to wonder if single parent roleplayers even exist.

    The more I think about it, the more I think that the reason this doesn't come up too often is because of gender stereotypes... trends maybe...

    Single parent fathers seem to be outnumbered by single parent mothers, and female gamers seem to be outnumbered by male gamers. Thus, the overlap between the two groups is probably quite small.

    Couple this with the tendency to cut back on gaming when one gets a family and... could it be that all the single parent gamers that do exist have to put away their dice?
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  2. I think you have a point there.

    I do recall one single mother I gamed with for a short period of time. The group met at her house for game sessions. She had a large collection of pets around the house, and she was talk lovingly about all of them. Her child slept on a couch in what appeared to be a finished, closed-in porch while we were gaming. It seemed like she was always yelling at him. She would get angry with him if he woke up. I remember he asked me for some chips one time, and I made him a small plate with just a handful of chips. She began to yell at him because he was "begging for food." I was completely shocked. This was definitely not someone who had a good sense of priorities. After a while, I just had a hard time enjoying the game anymore because of that. It was a sad scenario.

    Coincidentally, one of the topics I hope to cover soon will be what to do with your RPG supplies (i.e. - books, dice, maps, miniatures, etc.) when you have a small child crawling or walking around your home. Even beyond choking hazards, how do you handle a 5- to 8-year-old child asking about your RPG books, particularly those that have content inappapropriate for a young child (i.e. - sexual or violent images, adult situations such as death, murder, or moral ambiguity)?
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  3. Wow... that does sound like a bad situation. I don't think I would have been able to game with her after an incident like that. Not only was she mistreating her son, it was rude to treat a guest in her home the way she treated you. I sure hope she has changed some things in her life since then.

    If that's what it takes to run a successful game with a kid in the house, maybe single parents shouldn't game at all. Of course, I'm sure she was an extreme example.
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