geordie Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I'm married with four kids, despite my best efforts there always seems to be something 'more important' to do than modeling, working, homework, bills, running the kids around, fixing stuff around the house..... Do any of you guys have similar issues and does anyone have any novel ideas to create more time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mopar01lee Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 man i hear ya on that .. i have 6 kids between me an my wife.. work 50+ hours aweek.. hears what i try to do after dinner , kids get showers an ready for bed , i go to my bench at 8 pm an do some work till 10 .. work almost every night .. oh an 4 out of 6 have softball prac an or games... later days ... Davin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbowser Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 (edited) 4 and six kids! When do you find time to sleep? It's tough for you younger guys, that's why I was out of the hobby during the child-rearing years. Edited April 3, 2012 by bbowser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mopar01lee Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 hahaha... i sleep from 11 pm to 5:30 am...an i can never step away from this hobby for too long ... the wife an kids love what i do to these things... oh an i use most of sundays to build or try.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 My formula (or secret, if you want to call it that) is hitting the bench while everyone sleeps, which means, often working from 11pm to 3am, and on the weekends from about 6am to 11-12pm. You'd be amazed how much work you can get done while everyone is asleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 You'd be amazed how much work you can get done while everyone is asleep. You got that right. I borrowed a tranquilizer gun from a veterinarian friend so now I don't have to wait until night time. Of course my wife isn't real happy when she wakes up and figuring the correct dosage of horse tranquilizer was real tricky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Yes, I don't think that there's any alternative to going nocturnal. As long as they're awake, they're are distraction.....in the nicest possible way (of course) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 You have to prioritize, of course, and family and other responsibilities come first, but you should still be able to designate an hour a week (minimum) for getting some building time in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 What's the best gift for an 18 year old? Luggage - as in here it is. Fill it up. Go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Another waste of time….that I know I’m guilty of is the TV. Now I don’t watch much TV, about 4-5 hours a week. That’s the time I have, to watch what I want, in peace. I have a DVR set to record a bunch of car shows. So what happens when the wife takes all the kids out, on those rare occasions, is I slump in the sofa and watch a program. I gotta cut that back and use some of that time to work on a model car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darin Bastedo Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 What I always did, was I had a set of drawers next to the recliner I sat next to my wife in while watching TV in the evening. In those drawers were projects I needed to do prep on. I would sand and clean up bodies while still spending time with my wife. When I had a project ready for paint, then I would wait until I had some free time, like after I drove my daughter to school but before my wife woke up and throw some paint on it. Then as time allowed I would do some assembly here and there until it was done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Good idea Darin !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 I have tried to combine my modeling efforts with introducing the kids to the hobby. Never really worked, I got nothing productive done. So in the past I have tried not to work on my project, when I was working with the kids. Also from a sefety perspective I want to keep a good eye on what they are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badluck 13 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 ....Single dad of a 10yr girl,my pride n joy,40-48 work week,Baby Girls bowling on Mondays,Girl Scouts on Wednesdays,Baby Girls allergy shots on Thursday evenings,Fridays usually grocery night,Saturday house cleaning and with the girl friend and her family....and what ever else comes in between,so I manage to get an hour or two a week in on my builds.....but you know what?????? wouldn't trade it for anything.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Yeah Mike, I know what you mean, but multiply your workload by four and you start to question your own sanity...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Kren Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 LATELY been building fro 9-10pm til 2am on fridays or sat if nothing going on and there is some weird stuff on the raido at that time like coast to coast on am! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastardo Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 (edited) I'm not married (any more...) and have no kids, but I do have a lot of hobbies (model cars, playing drums, photography, drawing, ..) and car modeling is one of the most-fav, if not THE most-fav. Also, I live in a house, have a dog and you know how that is - always lots to be done around the crib and my lil monster puppy deserves all the time I can give him I work from 8 am till 4 pm, leave house at 7 am and come back at about 5 pm or even later (bowling on modays and/or tuesdays, german language lesons on thursdays). The weekends are usualy dedicated to photo sessions and photo editing, concerts, parties with my friends, dates... So when do I build models? Well, mostly only from 5 am till 7 am. Yes, I get up an hour and a half earlier than I actually should and "invest" that time into model cars. A cup of hot tea, news on the radio or some fiiiiiine jazz and that wondeful smell of plastic, fillers, paint and glue It's my meditation in some way, otherwise I'd snap from the kazillion of things I have to do every single day... Edited April 5, 2012 by Bastardo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
106miles Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Great topic! This is always an issue for me. I have two young daughters (3 and 7). I have to spend some wife quality time after the kids go to bed. So, my time is pretty much 5 to 5:30 AM or so. I might shoot some paint at 9:30 at night or so. I've tried to work when the kids are doing crafts, but usually I can't get two seconds in before they are over picking up my paint or something! Modeling, however, is easier to work on than the MG I have sitting in the garage. The bodywork requires me changing clothes and making lots of noise...can't be done at 5 AM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Television is indeed a great enemy, and hardly one you are going to win against, so I keep all of my tv viewing to Sunday night. Like Tom Kren says, Friday and Saturday nights are great nights to build models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imarriedawitch Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 single + retired = nothing but time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Television is indeed a great enemy, and hardly one you are going to win against, so I keep all of my tv viewing to Sunday night. Like Tom Kren says, Friday and Saturday nights are great nights to build models. But there's WWE Monday Night Raw and Friday night Smackdown. Plus Monday & Tuesday night is Dancing with the Stars - with Katherine Jenkins! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Great thoughts guys, I appreciate them, I think I'll be pulling my first ever late nighter on Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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