Incidental Toddler Presence

[kscott]

My wife wants to attend a couple of slots this year. We have a 3-year-old though, and no sitting for the weekend. So he's coming down with us: while she's playing in her game slots, I'll be hanging out with the kidlet; the rest of the time while I'm playing, she's going to be seeing the sights of Seattle with him.

That's background. What we're wondering about is how to manage the Friday Night Feast. We were figuring that a kidlet at dinner might be OK (we've put a lot of effort into him being civilised while eating out, because we like our nice restaurants), so we'd planned to get weekend + FNF tickets for us both and just figure it out at the time. But, I just noticed the age verification on the tickets and the language is firm and clear: no minors!

Can I get some confirmation from organisers about that? Is that an artefact of the ticket system, a conscious policy of GPNW, the venue liquor license rules, or something that hasn't really come up before? For reference I know there might be booze and that usually precludes underage participants, but in our experience whether that includes infants/toddlers and the like (who are incapable of sneaking booze and wouldn't be snuck booze by an adult!) varies by the venue, leaving it unclear from where I sit how to handle the Friday Night Feast.

If it turns out that the ban is absolute, we'll probably send just one of us, which is fine. It'll be easier to plot our parental plan of attack for the weekend with full knowledge, though!

As an addendum, the absolute language of the tickets makes me wonder how to handle switching off for our gaming slots. Will whichever of us is kid-minding be able to come into the venue with him to meet the other for the handing off, or will we have to arrange the hand-off to happen outside of the GPNW venue?

[tonydowler]

Heya Kynnin!

I don't think there's any problem with an incidental toddler presence. The main thing is to make sure that people can game without feeling self-conscious, so you may want to steer the kids away from any Apocalypse World Games.

[skinnyghost]

Heya Kynnin!

I don't think there's any problem with an incidental toddler presence. The main thing is to make sure that people can game without feeling self-conscious, so you may want to steer the kids away from any Apocalypse World Games.

Kynnin - disregard what Tony says here. I am going to get your kid drunk and teach him how to play Macho Women With Guns.

[Philip]

That's background. What we're wondering about is how to manage the Friday Night Feast. We were figuring that a kidlet at dinner might be OK (we've put a lot of effort into him being civilised while eating out, because we like our nice restaurants), so we'd planned to get weekend + FNF tickets for us both and just figure it out at the time. But, I just noticed the age verification on the tickets and the language is firm and clear: no minors!

[…]

As an addendum, the absolute language of the tickets makes me wonder how to handle switching off for our gaming slots. Will whichever of us is kid-minding be able to come into the venue with him to meet the other for the handing off, or will we have to arrange the hand-off to happen outside of the GPNW venue?

We'll call this a trial basis if anyone asks, but yes, for the Friday Night Feast, having a toddler along should be okay.

During the gaming slots, we'll ask that the toddler's presence be kept to a minimum; however, you can certainly bring the toddler into the venue in order to facilitate the switch-off. The main thing is just that we have no way to provide a kid-friendly space during the gaming, so it's not fair to the gamers or the parents to allow minors during that time.

Thanks for asking, we're looking forward to seeing you!

[Philip]

I hope it's clear, by the way, that I'm just expanding on what Tony already said.

[kscott]

Thanks all, that's good and clear and about what we had been hoping to hear!

Plans have changed though and I'll be coming down on my own, so it's moot in our specific case. See everyone there!