Gaming and Family: 2.0

It seems my dad duty to alone time ratio hasn't improved much since the last time I wrote about this. Once again I'm feeling the full weight of the fatherhood responsibility. For those of you who are uninitiated, there isn't anything quite like it. I know that primary caregiving fathers are becoming more common, but it still not an experience which many are accustomed to. If you want to get a glimpse just imagine that you had a laborious work day in which you return home to an endless pile of domestic chores, handyman work, and somehow have to contend with a baby who both seems to hate you but also wants your undivided attention. Time management for me has completely gone out the window and I find myself, obviously, prioritizing my boy over all the there "musts" in the house. When I finally do get the monster bed I sneak around like a little elf getting all the chores I can do.

Needless to say, there hasn't been much gaming going on. I had a rather entertaining PUBG night with some friend on discord over the weekend. I don't know if it was totally worth it because even though I had no dad responsibilities that weekend, I had many handyman responsibilities to take care the next day on far too little sleep.

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Again it probably sounds that I'm half-assing far too many things, but I assure I do whole ass being a dad as much as possible.

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Even when I'm in the dad zone I do have time for some things, I can catch up on some tv, read articles online and plan. I've been hitting the planning fairly hard because the household duties I've been taking on large-scale painting projects and small renovations around the house. More importantly, I'm finally about to embark on creating my own office/study/gameroom etc. Please do not confuse this with a mancave... although it will essentially serve the same purpose I loathe the idea of a mancave because it gives me the imagery of a treehouse with a sign written in crayon stating "No girls allowed". This is much more of a personal domain, suited to my tastes and maybe a more solitary place of enjoyment.

I've always like the idea of a study, and I've been enamored with the idea since I first stepped foot into the office of a former teacher and friend of mine. To set the mood to imagine a large room with old shelves bursting with books everywhere, very old and well-used leather furnishings, a grand desk, and various bits and bobbles of various hobbies being proudly displayed. This guy had some truly interesting, and rather Victorian tastes... he reminded me of the quintessential English explorer from a bygone era.

Growing up my father had his own solitary space which was not nearly as elegant. This is the place we nicknamed "The Barn". This was a detached garage, with a sizeable edition. Inside was a bit of everything, but front and center was whatever classic car my dad was restoring at the time and the parts were strewn about everywhere else. It served as a workspace, a collectors display room and whatever else he needed. The walls were covered with antique tools, license plates, road signs, posters, or anything else that looks interested. It was packed literally to the rafters in some cases. Proudly off to the side was an old castiron woodstove it was old but there were many drinks, laughs, and nights of work carried out in front a fire that it held.

So what does all this have to do with me? or gaming? Well, I've been the times when my son is amused with other things, napping, or when I'm given a break to carefully create my own space. The wall in the basement where I want my fortress of solitude to be is full of lists of measurements, supplies, and ideas. I'm actually looking to somehow combine the previous styles that I showcased above and throw my own identity into the mix.

At this point, I'm already set on a few particulars. My computer desk is an old desk without legs which I'm refinishing and repurposing to suit my particular needs. The desk will be really important because it will be the housing for my gaming PC which is what I game on the most. I'll be pimping this out with black iron legs, a special sidecar shelf to hold my the PC tower and the works.

The rest of the room is pretty much a giant feature wall. The two longest walls will be clad in stained reclaimed wood, built in shelves with ledges to display cartridges from old consoles. Larger shelves near the ceiling to display gaming statues, game boxes, and other things I find worthy to display. The rest of the room is simply a space to display things like shelving for old consoles, antiques, signs, posters, flags, and anything else which catches my eye.

It will be a lot of work but I meticulously planning this area because I want it to be my place to escape the stresses of work, and family and reclaim some of my previous identity. This whole thing has however opened a new can of worms as I've caught the retro game collecting bug hard... I'm not trying to find all my favorite consoles and handhelds from the past in working order so I can both display and play them.

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I'll see what I can do about posting photos of the project, but I'll definitely be getting into my collecting and family stuff as this little series continues.