Skydiving with families...

[milehigheric 0]

I may sound a little selfish here but Skydiving, and the people that surround my skydiving have become an area of my life that truly makes me happy. The 'problem' is that I'm noticing it is beginning to effect other parts of my life - My family in particular. I know my fiance and my young daughter deserves the majority of my free time but when the weather is good I find it near impossible to not be at a drop zone

I'm still fairly young, I'm still probably a bit (alot) naive but whats the big secret... how does everyone play the juggling act with work, family, plus a big selfish hobby (skydiving if you didn't guess) and not drop all the balls? This is kind of a serious question, but obviously there is no magic answer to solve an incredibly selfish first world problem.

To put a simple question out there, for those of you that have done so - after getting married and having kids how did you adjust your skydiving and/or other hobbies to suit the lifestyle change? Alternatively if you had a family before you started skydiving (as is my case) how did you make it work and keep everyone including yourself happy?

[turtlespeed 226]

milehigheric

I may sound a little selfish here but Skydiving, and the people that surround my skydiving have become an area of my life that truly makes me happy. The 'problem' is that I'm noticing it is beginning to effect other parts of my life - My family in particular. I know my fiance and my young daughter deserves the majority of my free time but when the weather is good I find it near impossible to not be at a drop zone

I'm still fairly young, I'm still probably a bit (alot) naive but whats the big secret... how does everyone play the juggling act with work, family, plus a big selfish hobby (skydiving if you didn't guess) and not drop all the balls? This is kind of a serious question, but obviously there is no magic answer to solve an incredibly selfish first world problem.

To put a simple question out there, for those of you that have done so - after getting married and having kids how did you adjust your skydiving and/or other hobbies to suit the lifestyle change? Alternatively if you had a family before you started skydiving (as is my case) how did you make it work and keep everyone including yourself happy?

You need to find balance.

Sacrifice is not necessarily total and complete, you can moderate your compromise, if you really want to.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[wmw999 2,573]

You have to talk about it with your GF, and seriously consider it. With a family that's not at the DZ all the time (most don't find it it to be all that much fun), you just have to figure out what level you can skydive at, and work to that level.

for some people, money determines how much they can jump; others, health, others, their interest level, or talent. for many, it's the family commitment.

Your daughter will get older, and things will change. But you and your fiancee have a long relationship in front of you. Even if you end up not together, you have a daughter in common, and everyone will be happier if you both make it easy for her to love both parents.

So talk with your SO, do it regularly, establish what she's doing to facilitate your skydiving, then figure out what you can do to facilitate a goal of hers. It doesn't have to be exactly the same thing, but if you both talk about it with some regularity, then the little things hopefully won't become big things.

Skydiving is always there; children aren't. I quit for 13 years; I have no regrets about quitting, and have jumped for 12 years since starting back up.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Heh, like I'm the one who should be giving advice on this. Oh well, here goes. If it doesn't sound sensible you don't have to follow it.

You make time for them, you make time for you. You need some alone time, but you need some family time too. If you're going to be spending all your time and disposable income at the dropzone, your relationships are going to suffer.

This means some good skydiving days you won't be skydiving. If that's a problem for you, you should consider what you really want out of life.

I'm pretty sure you can come up with some activities everyone would enjoy. Board games, trip to the zoo, that sort of thing. You might be able to get away with a wind tunnel once or twice when your daughter's old enough to enjoy that. You could always ask them what they want to do, too.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[NewGuy2005 53]

milehigheric

Alternatively if you had a family before you started skydiving (as is my case) how did you make it work and keep everyone including yourself happy?

I quit.

My kids are in college now and I am thinking about taking it back up again.

[JohnMitchell 16]

We were both jumpers before becoming parents. We were also lucky enough to jump at a kid friendly DZ on a residential airpark with other kids to play with and lots of diversions. The kids still got tired of it. So you have to make some time off for other things.

Out of 4 kids, 3 did tandems, one made 15 jumps before going off to college and another is a current A licensed jumper.

[skymama 37]

If they don't like hanging out at the dropzone while you jump, then I think you should probably only spend one day of the weekend at the dropzone. The other day, you should make sure you are spending quality time with them. Skydiving is great, but spending time with your kid is even better. Trust me, those years are precious and your daughter will be grown in a flash!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[airtwardo 7]

FlyingRhenquest

Heh, like I'm the one who should be giving advice on this. Oh well, here goes. If it doesn't sound sensible you don't have to follow it.

You make time for them, you make time for you. You need some alone time, but you need some family time too. If you're going to be spending all your time and disposable income at the dropzone, your relationships are going to suffer.

This means some good skydiving days you won't be skydiving. If that's a problem for you, you should consider what you really want out of life.

I'm pretty sure you can come up with some activities everyone would enjoy. Board games, trip to the zoo, that sort of thing. You might be able to get away with a wind tunnel once or twice when your daughter's old enough to enjoy that. You could always ask them what they want to do, too.

^ This!


It's a matter of priorities & sacrifice...Plain & simple.

Nothing is more important than family so if ya gotta cut back on the DZ time, you do it.

It's not 'forever' ~ Kids grow up and do their own thing eventually...and trust me you can't get the time you miss with them back.

I started jumping at 18 so I had near two decades of every weekend 'Skydive, party, rinse, repeat' before the kids came along...but when they did, things changed. I was often lucky to get to the DZ twice a month.

It is what it is.

I remember one Sunday trying to help my daughter with homework between loads...the frustrated look on her face as I went to gear up in the middle of what was rather important to her, made me realize how selfish I was being.

After that I always took great pains to 'schedule' DZ time that wouldn't conflict with family matters...can't count the number of time I had everything in the car friday nite for a full day of DZ fun saturday...only to pull it all out and end up at the local water park or a track meet.

I don't regret a second of it!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[milehigheric 0]

All good points... Thanks guys!

[riddler 0]

When I was married, my ex-wife's family were all skydivers. We all jumped together

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD