What can I say, I LOVE being a mom! It’s something that I didn’t realize could have legit changed the entire course of my life until it happened! I feel like it was only yesterday when I was coming home from the hospital. That being said, Being able to game whenever I wanted to, and coming home and having the world revolve around a tiny human is a HUGE change. Here is how I balance doing both as a new mom!

Overwhelmed is an understatement for sure. Days pass SOOO quickly when you have a baby you barely have time to shower. I know it’s gross. I feel like you are running on fumes for the better part of the first month and then you kind of feel normal when feedings at night aren’t every 3 hours but more like every 5-ish hours. I didn’t even stream until my son was 3 weeks old and even then it was just an hour to introduce him to the community that I have grown over the past 3 years. I barely even posted on social media (Which I don’t want to say I regret because it feels wrong to say that, but I wish I would have done it a bit more that way when I decided to come back to streaming I would have had some retention of my previous viewers). Other then that once a schedule is kind of formed you feel a bit more human in the sense you can enjoy certain things again too!

Time management was extremely hard for me when looking at game time and when I want to go back to gaming regularly (If possible) as well as how to spend my time gaming as well too. I knew I wanted to get a some what regular streaming schedule however time wise was not really possible either due to the fact that I can’t sit here and say I will be live at 1pm if he is just about to have a bottle. Not only that but with a boyfriend who also games it had to coordinate with him so that we both can have that on screen time. For me, I choose the afternoons because eventually my son will be sleeping in the afternoon and if it is more regularly than I will be able to stream while he sleeps. However that will probably change to evenings once he sleeps a bit earlier though! He goes to bed closer to 9pm and sleeps anywhere from 7-11 hours straight. Once that changes a bit he will probably be asleep from say, 7-8pm and sleeping til maybe 6-7am. So certain days I would probably change to maybe a 830-11pm stream schedule 2.5 hours per evening! instead of afternoon (Though afternoon bonus streams are always a good idea too!)

What to play is another challenge. Sometimes off stream I will play point and click games like teamfight tactics, plants vs zombies or whatever and have him sitting on my lap if he is content. Other times Ill play Dead by Daylight if he is asleep. Normally survivor so that way I can leave somewhat easier than if I was playing killer. I can’t exactly play a game where I need to be committed or with a team like, a battle royales or a ranked game in Rainbow Six Siege or Overwatch. In case he wakes or is fussy and I have to leave a game quickly. Which was a challenge for me when I only played DBD to find games that only require a mouse after he was born!

I don’t think I could be anywhere near as regular if I didn’t have my boyfriend home on paternity leave either. He watches my son while I have this gaming time, and I do the same for him. If I was a single parent I don’t think I could do this. And the only time I could remotely stream would be when he was sleeping at night, like if he fell asleep around 9pm.. I would stream after for a few hours.. but that’s risky because if he wakes up early and I was gaming late I will have very little sleep. The fact that he also took time off is great since he took about 8-9 months. Though I think keeping regular gaming is important and I also think if I would be unable to do streams if I was a single parent I don’t know if I would even game often with friends in the beginning only because you want to leave games ASAP when he wakes and with a team it can be quite challenging for sure, let alone the penalties in certain games for doing this also!

I probably game more off stream now, than I did before. Mostly because any opportunity he catches a few zzz’s I try to get a game or two in. Especially on DBD where I have the “battle pass” and I try to chip away at the challenges any moment I have to not fall behind.  On stream I do keep it regular to some extent however it really depends I think. Like doing blogs I could do them technically if he was awake and sitting on my lap though I don’t think I would. Eventually I will have to change stream times to when he is sleeping but for now I think games on stream can be tough. Not to mention, trying to ACTUALLY stream can be tough. If  he was awake frequently through the night or up very early by the afternoon I feel drained and don’t want to stream if I don’t have the energy for it. Or if he is fussy or teething (SOON OMG) then they may be harder to get the time in for.

Overall I don’t think I could be any type of regular streamer if I was a single parent or if my boyfriend was working either. I would have to really pick days for myself and him to game/stream so that way we both have certain times to have a bit of fun. Not to mention also, time together which is equally as important since we like to binge watch Netflix due to not being able to go out anywhere with the Covid-19 virus floating about.

-StaySeeJ