Game = Life

The toddler was marginally better behaved, because, I think, her father's character was killed in the first round of the combat that took all evening, and she had his undivided attention. Unfortunately I evidently wasn't -- I wouldn't play kissy-face with her bear, for example, which resulted in her pitching a crying fit. So the GM has ejected me from the game.

Yes, I guess that's the kind of game it was. Much more about roll-playing and socializing than role-playing, and evidently much more about parenting than gaming. I'm better off without it, but I've never been thrown out of a game before. Certainly not because I don't like kids interrupting (though I've quit a game before for that reason).

I was going to quit as soon as the endless combat (carried over into the next session) was over, but was thrown out before I could. *sigh*

Rejection sucks, even when you were about to reject the rejecter. Time to find me a grownup game.

One word - Don't.

I'm not saying "don't game with your own small children", as I think that role playing is a great teaching tool for parents.  What I'm saying is: don't bring your own (screaming, attention craving, kleptomaniac) toddlers and infants to a game for grown-ups.

My Sunday night home game restarted last night, with the addition of a couple of new players.  Now, the GM has several children, and one of the other couples brings their little boy, but the kids play in the rec room under the eye of the oldest boy and the GM's wife.  The GM's kids are sternly reminded not to bother Dad while he's running, and in general it works out pretty well.

Not so last night.  By the time we finished, I had a blinding headache brought on by 4 or so hours of shrieking, howling, giggling, running-back-and-forth, dragging the bag of carrots around the house (my contribution to munchies, since as a diabetic I really can't indulge in the other stuff)... all with pretty much no discipline or attempt at control from the parents.  And yeah, right, I sure want to get a carrot out of the bag after toddler-spit's been smeared all around. Yum.

I really like my character, and in the past have really enjoyed the game... but I'm giving it 2 more sessions for the new toddler to integrate with the other kids.  If she doesn't (and given the complete lack of anything resembling discipline on the part of the parents, I doubt it will) then I'm going to have to drop out to save my sanity.

*sigh*

If somebody brought a dog that ran around jumping on everyone, barking shrilly, dragging stuff off the table and generally disrupting the place, no one would tolerate it.  But it's a kid, so of course it's "cute".  Ghaaaaa.

This is why I never had kids... don't like 'em, not a bit.