Question for you busy dad's

twss · Mar 23, 2013

I shot my first match this year. Actually it was my first in a little over 4 months. I have 2 adopted and 2 foster kids, 4 total. My youngest ones are 6months, and 2 years old. How have the family men here juggled shooting, family, more than full time employment, and any other duties/hobbies you may have. I am at the point where I assume I won't be competing much for the next couple of years. I thought I would ask the experts here how you have managed to be competitive without neglecting the family?

Just for the record my first match of 2013 went gloriously bad. I blew 4 of the 5 classifiers at USSA today.

Bob Sanders · Mar 23, 2013

Probably not what you want to hear, but for me at least, I waited until my kids were old enough to join me. It was about 14 years. But in the interim, we had soccer, basketball, baseball, football, fishing, horse camping, triumph, and tragedy. My kids were my focus, but worth it. But I did miss the shooting.
B

drmitchgibson · Mar 23, 2013

My kids are 6 and 10. I take them to the range with me all the time. Last year I didn't have enough babysitting to attend all that many matches, maybe 10 total, but I was able to practice a lot. I've taken them to two matches this year, both at H&H, which is indoors AND a short match AND it ends very early, and that turned out pretty well. I don't have a wife to neglect, so no worries there.

jeffhughes · Mar 23, 2013

Sounds like a SIRT gun is in your near future...

It goes fast, John was that age just last week(or so it seems)...

jeremys · Mar 23, 2013

First off, kudos to you for your commitment to a family!

I don't have an answer for you, but I feel your pain. My work eliminates 3 of 4 weekends a month. The 4th is usually booked with family events that I can't say no to.

Luckily I have a very supportive wife that understands my needs...for my hobbie.

I don't have the option of getting my daughter invloved. If you can involve your kids in the near future, I would say that is your sweet spot.

Fam first. shoot when you can.

Avezorak · Mar 23, 2013

Be willing to give your spouse a weekend to do whatever they want to all on their own and take one for yourself. Everyone need time to do their own thing, even if its just a day or two per month. I dont get to shoot near as much as I would like because of work and family stuff, I just make the best of the time I have.

twss · Mar 23, 2013

I share time with the wifey every chance I get. She went to some multi level marketing party for purses tonight. Sounds crazy, but ladies actually like that crap. Family is definitely first in my world. I hope to get my son out there sometime soon. He is 6, about the right age to attend and watch. He just needs to calm down a bit first. He is buck wild. A little more growing up and he will be good to go.

dennishoddy · Mar 24, 2013

My kids are long gone from the house, but by the time they were 6 years old, they knew how to shoot and load any gun that I owned, that wasn't too large of a caliber for them.

I didn't shoot matches back then, only informal stuff with friends and family. I used big bore pistols and rifles to show them what real gunshots looked like vs the little spot of blood they saw on TV.
A 10lb carp hung from a fence, and a .44 mag HP was a great learning tool.

Just because they are young doesn't mean you can't stop shooting. You just have to change the focus of your shooting from matches to education, then later on back to matches with them.

Eellis · Mar 24, 2013

They make those baby strap on carriers, you could put one in front and one behind! Haha jk!! Probably a good idea to put those guns in the safe for now.

Obiareus · Apr 7, 2013

I want to say i can relate.. but i can't. I have only 1 child and she is 2yo. I have decided to cut back on my major's for my family. I am only shooting 4 this year(not including sectionals) as opposed to 8 last year(also not including sectionals). What i do is give my wife some time to herself on the weekends that i am home. I have 2 club matches a month(but they are only one day) so i get plenty of shooting in during the "Offseason". Try to work something out with the significant other to get a club match in once or twice a month that being said family is DEFINETLY more important than shooting but i would exhaust all options (even if it means having to get early and goto bed late).

if you don't get a chance to actually go shoot. spend the time that you have in either Live or Dryfire practice. Work on the basic's at home with dryfire that way when you ARE able to start shooting again your basic's should be FLAWLESS and you will eat up the competition. just my $0.02

Ragnar · Apr 7, 2013

My son will be three at the end of this month... I hear ya... I still go to at least one or two club matches a month but I find that my tolerance for after match stuff has gone down.. Meaning I want to get there and get home. I also travel some with my job so if I have to be out of town the week before a match I sometimes will end up skipping... It is hard to leave again when they want you around... I figure there will be plenty of time for him to be embarrassed of me later in life

.

In all seriousness until he is old enough to go with me ( as I did with my dad) I am content with 3 big matches a year. With two of those being close to home. The harder part is what you experienced .... The non practice = not as good at matches.. That has been an adjustment to know I use to shoot better ( at least in my own mind)

But I would not have it any other way ..... I type this while watching bubble guppies. By the way

Zekernst · May 4, 2013

Alright, so here I go.... A lot of you guys out there know me. I have a 10 year old and a 15 year old. Conners been shooting matches since he was 11 and his younger brothers getting closer. When they were younger all I could do was pick 1 match a month and make it a short one close to home. My 10 year old comes to the H&H match I co-direct. He hangs in the lobby area while we shoot. If your close by he would definitely hang with your little ones while you shoot. While generally shooting and disappearing is frowned upon, I think we all would understand ya hanging with the little ones when you weren't shooting, as long as you didn't hold up progress. Just a thought. (Side note, the fam does come first, we dropped out for about a year when Conner was going thru chemo, but when he was done Louis, Denny, Aaron and Robert at the H&H match really made him welcome!)
Zeke