#TTRPG #MomLife
I’ve spoken a few times in the past about my love and involvement in table-top role-playing games, otherwise known as TTRPG. I run games, play games, design games – and, yes, I am a girl. It is actually terribly refreshing to see so many women in the TTRPG world now. I do recall a time when that was not the case or, if it was, seeing women at conventions or at a table in a game store was quite rare. Now, that hardly seems to be the case. Girls pervade the gaming community in droves, like little daisies in a field of green.
Recently, thanks to Covid, I have been playing quite a few games online using the Roll20 platform or Discord servers. I’ve also been running a lot. It trashes my voice but it is a great deal of fun – except when one of my kids comes in to ask ‘Mom, when will you be done?’.
In case you missed it, I am a mom. It is nearly impossible to juggle all of the things a mom does with all of the things a person does. Then, I do something crazy like add in p/t work, a publishing company, I write, and now I’m gonna be homeschooling.
Where does gaming come in then?
Blending it Together
After my previous post that was semi-rantish about the current state of our schools (or lack thereof), I took a moment to really think, to really sort things out. After all, that’s what I do: I tame the cHaOs around me, right?
Gaming is as much a part of my being as writing. I can no sooner give one up over the other. But now I have monumental responsibilities, a lot less time for games and words… and a kid that loves both.
My teenagers don’t really count. My 15-year-old claims to want to play #ttrpgs and then just as quickly slinks away to his room like the broody teen he really is. My daughter has no interest. My Tyrant, however, is all game, all the time, teach me, teach me, teach me. He also has wild ADHD so getting him to focus on a 4-hour game is nearly impossible.
So, we blend it. We turn the game into a learning tool. We make the game the lesson in problem solving, in simple but quick math, in adapting to new scenarios, in socializing. Yeah, it may only start at the dinner table with his father and brother, but it’s something. It’s something that will grow with him, that will teach as he learns the ins and outs of a game.
Anyone that says you can’t learn nothin’ from a game never actually played D&D – or any other TTRPG for that matter.
My Game Time
I’m a mom. I know how important it is to set aside time for me before I take a dull spoon to the entire household. I need my game time even if it is at a reduced capacity. One campaign is coming to an end, I play in 2 others, and just started running a 4th. That will bring the count down to 3: 1 that I run, 2 that I play. That seems fair, right? I think so.
Plus, depending on who runs the at-home games with the kids, I might be able to play then too. Most likely I’ll be running, but I enjoy that as much as I enjoy playing. There is something to be said for interactive storytelling. I am, after all, a writer. It’s my job to tell stories. So, stories I shall tell and hope that the lessons they teach make their way into my children’s minds. Or, if nothing else, maybe we’ll just have a little bit of family fun time that does not involve a television.
A lot is changing and shifting, sometimes in good ways, sometimes in bad ways. No matter how things may slip or slide, TTRPGs will always be there as an escape like books that you ‘read’ on an open table instead of in your lap.
The post #TTRPG #MomLife appeared first on Taming Chaos.
