we went to the Student Nationals this weekend, and we not only survived, but we thrived there! it was amazing!
for those of you who don't really understand, me and Coyote do something called 'Roleplaying' (nope, not the dirty kind, get your minds out of the gutter) what it is essentially is playing 'lets pretend' only with more rules, a kind of a collaborative acting without a script. you'll have a system (think of it as the back drop and setting) and then you have your character (which will have various skills and attributes that are pre-determined, but can be improved upon as your character progresses) and the GM (games master) who runs the world around you and guides you through the plot (or struggles to catch up with you as you grab the plot and run in a different direction) and you make decisions for your character that effect the world around you and the GM reacts to it, how well you do it is determined by your character skills and a random element (normally a dice roll).
so for example, i could be playing a knight and the GM describes that i'm in a big forest and in the distance i see a mountain, but in the other direction is a column of smoke, i say i mount my horse and ride towards the smoke. when we reach the smoke it turns out to be a cross dragon. i attempt to calm the dragon using my 'diplomacy' skill, i roll a dice to see if i manage it and talk through the conversation with the dragon (who is a NPC, a non player character), it goes badly (critical fumble!) so i decide to fight, i draw my sword and roll to attack...ect.
you can do versions of this (LARP, live action roleplay) when rather than just describing it, you actually act out what you are doing with foam swords, and safe arrows and armor everything!
it sounds complicated, but really its very very fun and social. its pure escapism. You get to spend time "being" someone else, someone fabulously wealthy, or very attractive, or hideously emotionally broken, or from feudal japan with magic, or a beast creature, or a super hero, or a fairy, or a cyber enhanced hit man...or anything really. with the right setting and someone to run it, you are only limited by your imagination.
and the Student Nationals is about 600 people all getting together for the weekend to play lots of different games and dress up and drink and socialize and have lots of fun.
and this year we took Tabitha to it (it was hosted by the university of Leicester) and we had a wonderful time! I was playing in the LARP category with her, because I figured it would be easier than trying to keep dice out of her mouth while sitting around a table. I was really worried about going because I didn't know if there would be someone in the group who didn't like children, or if she would get really shy and scared, or if she'd get too tired and hungry or if the car journey would be too much for her...or...lots of things could have gone wrong.
But it went really well, Tabitha was her normal, happy and social little self. Going to people for cuddles and laughing at the fallen down monsters, she stayed really happy (it helped i packed snacks for her each day to nibble when she got hungry) and when she wasn't busy charming the socks off everyone and being the Cargo and a figment of my imagination and a fey princess, she was asleep. Everyone was lovely with her, and really kind and patient and willing to help accommodate me, the GM was brilliant as well and ran 3 amazing games for us...it was just such a good experience for her and me and Coyote. other years we've done a lot of drinking and chatted until 4 am, so this year was much quieter in that regard (Tabitha was asleep by 9 both nights, and we were asleep by 11!) but I still managed to have a couple of pints and chat to some very good friends, so even that wasn't too bad.
all in all, I'm feeling really happy and positive. You really don't have to give up all your hobbies when you become a parent...they just take a bit more work and organisation than before!
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