Balancing Work and Play: Finding Time for Videogames as a Busy Parent

As a busy parent, finding time to play video games can be challenging, but not impossible. Here are some tips that can help you find time to play video games:

1. Schedule gaming time: Set aside specific times during the week when you can play video games. This can be during your lunch break after your kids have gone to bed, or on the weekends.

2. Involve your children: Play video games with your children. This way, you can spend time with them while also getting some gaming time. We have a growing number of articles for Family Game Night.

3. Prioritize: Assess your daily routine and identify activities that you can cut back on to make time for gaming. For example, you could spend less time watching TV or scrolling through social media.

4. Optimize your gaming setup: Make sure that your gaming setup is easily accessible and ready to go. This could mean setting up your console or computer in a convenient location or investing in a handheld gaming device.

Remember, finding time to play video games is all about balance. By prioritizing your time and incorporating gaming into your schedule, you can enjoy your favorite hobby while still managing your responsibilities as a parent.

Sophima | Guest Contributor

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Dear Parents: Don't Smash The Game Consoles... and Here's Why! + Pinball FX Table Showcase: Garfield Pinball

I just want to say that for the most part... parents aren't going to damage their kid's game consoles. Consoles aren't cheap, but it didn't stop someone from smashing their son's Xbox because they caught him playing it at 12am on a school night. Their son didn't want to talk to them after that, and they wanted him to understand why it was his fault, but... that's the wrong play to make here. Before considering such a thing, know that there are other options to prevent them from playing the console.

You can take the Xbox controller, which takes away their ability to play.

You can take away the power cord, which takes away their ability to power it on.

You can take away the console, which takes away the unit and the ability to play it.

You can take remove the cord from their TV if they have one in the room, and let's say it has the Samsung Game Hub or it's a Fire TV with Luna on it (which allows them to play without consoles).

You have plenty of options that eliminate the need to replace the console, the apology, and the potential rift it may cause. I know you're the parent and they need to understand when they're doing wrong, but if it's that harsh, it's showcasing violence as the answer over strategic punishment.

They can lose one of the things mentioned above for 1 day of no gaming. Get caught again, 1 week no gaming. Caught again, 2 weeks of no gaming. Caught again, 1 month of no gaming (follow up with a month from that point on), and let them know the reason why... because you don't want them lacking sleep and being unable to focus to do their best in school, not to mention their health, attitude, etc.

This podcast episode breaks down what happens with a lack of sleep, and you'd be surprised. 

So consider taking a route that makes a positive impact, delivers a better understanding of the reasons why, and showcases a great example of how to approach these situations that doesn't require violence.

I wanted to mention this because while they did play the console at an unacceptable time, it was the wrong move to try and get them to understand why violence was their fault even if it's unjustified.

Imagine them walking away with that notion and applying it to their relationship with their significant other and their children, especially if they truly believe that they're doing the right thing because you taught them that. That would suck. 

So... I hope this helps more than a few parents out there. Enjoy your kids, be creative with your solutions, and... I wish you the best. By the way, if they have a console, that's also an opportunity to get in some family fun gaming. Cheers!

Pinball FX Showcase: Garfield Pinball

Garfield Pinball

Feast your way through mounds of lasagna to score big in Garfield Pinball!

Dig up bones with Odie, woo Arlene, fight the alarm clock, and find Pooky the teddy bear to reach Feast Frenzy, all for a perfect feline day of eating and sleeping.

Table features

• Help Garfield order pizzas, put lasagnas in the oven, or get rid of pesky mice to start the many multiball modes
• Woo Arlene and collect flowers for growing awards
• Garfield needs his sleep! Turn the lights off and gather more time so the alarm clock doesn't wake him
• It's TV Time! Garfield wants to sit in front of the TV all day -- keep him entertained
• Dig up bones with Odie, but watch out for the Vicious Dog
• Get frenetic scores in the Feeding Frenzy wizard mode

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Mosaic

Mosaic

You live a monotonous and repetitive lonely life in a cold overpopulated ever-expanding city. The phone is distracting you with meaningless notifications as you move through anonymous crowds on your way to work at a megacorporation where yet another long day with overtime awaits. You have no real sense of meaning - until one crucial day, when strange things start to happen on your commute to work and everything changes.

Mosaic is a dark surrealistic and atmospheric adventure game about urban isolation and the dread of being a piece in a giant machinery you can’t understand.

From the creators of Among the Sleep, Krillbite Studio is going from horrors of childhood to the dreadful lonely adult life.

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