Very true, and this can't be overstated! Once kids get their own personalities you actually want to spend more time with them, understanding and developing the

Very true, and this can't be overstated! Once kids get their own personalities you actually want to spend more time with them, understanding and developing their interests. In between work and kid sports (or music, or scouts or whatever else) commitments the time the kids spend entertaining themselves is important parental 'downtime' and personal projects often just have to wait, potentially forever, depending on one's ambition and sleep requirements. I now actively resist pulling many of the threads that interest me, just because I know it'll be yet another half-complete mess that's fundamentally less important than the development of the kids. Choose your side projects wisely (Perkeep sounds like a wise one).