Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree it might be unprofessional but I would totally love to work with a team that doesn't find this annoying.
On the flip side I totally love working in a team that does find this annoying.
oh you
Ask HN: Developers with kids, how do you skill up?
201–210 of 530 posts
Re: Ask HN: Developers with kids, how do you skill up?
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
OK, I'm completely baffled by this. Am I the only one who thinks taking your young children on a conference call is somewhere between totally unprofessional and, well, very annoying? I get that your children are your priority - but surely they shouldn't be the priority of everyone else on that call? Is the work at hand not the priority? My 3 year old makes a lot of noise and is quite prone to tantrums. Some of my cli…
I agree it might be unprofessional but I would totally love to work with a team that doesn't find this annoying.
One of my colleagues has a large dog who is often asleep, snoring, during conference calls :-)
Re: Ask HN: Developers with kids, how do you skill up?
#203For me it's helped me _really_ come to terms with the KISS principle and avoiding needless stuff. Understanding the value of proven and stable technology, and convenient, flexible, yet fast workflows. Spending a bit of extra time to get things right from the beginning, and then settling.
The past me would have messed around playing with Linux distros trying to find what's most cool and best for me, totally wasting a lot of time in the process, perhaps kept building websites using more obnoxious workflows because I never saw a need to change.
Now I'm using a combo of gohugo and surge.sh to build my site, on Debian Stable Xfce. No distractions and stuff just works, man, with a minimum of fuss. Xfce on SSD is just laughably fast and slick. I think I audibly laughed. It's not just for low spec PC's! Anyway, then came the realization I could evolve my new site with these new tools to build a better face to the web for my career. I'm blogging in convenient, fast near-prose Markdown and I type one damn command to puzzle everything together and deploy. Now I realize these new insights will probably be good for me as a professional too, not just sparing time at home. It's not only at home time is considered valuable...
It's especially good to get this thinking into the "core" of yourself, you know. That it's automatically part of everything you do. It's honestly too late I've had that happen but kids probably helped.
Re: Ask HN: Developers with kids, how do you skill up?
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
This. PG wrote a post a while back about how kids really only have the magic of Christmas a handful of times (ages 3-11?) and then it's gone. When you're making choices, realize there will always be another framework, another conference, another chance to try out that new tool but your kid is constantly changing, learning, and is fundamentally different today, tomorrow, and a week from now, especially when they're yo…
I have two kids, and I love the time I spend with them. My life's goal at the moment is "Have a good time with my kids and teach them the good stuff". There is this song "Cat's in the Cradle" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat's_in_the_Cradle which I really love. It shows the pitfalls of living a fast life. Pasting the lyrics here ( http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/harrychapin/catsinthecradle.h... ) : "Cat's In The Crad…
I know the song well, but it's the first time I've really read the lyrics and ... wow... (running my own business with 3 small children, one a son)... listening to it on Spotify now.
Re: Ask HN: Developers with kids, how do you skill up?
#205It's really hard for the first few years while the kids are very young but it gets easier. I wouldn't worry.
Re: Ask HN: Developers with kids, how do you skill up?
#206I just had my first son 3 months ago and I must say he is a delight.
I have felt a little guilty about my productivity but it is totally worth it.
My best advice is just to stop comparing yourself or your family to other people.
Re: Ask HN: Developers with kids, how do you skill up?
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
I work in a professional team, and one of the things that makes us even more professional is when we all get our kids together for a gathering, and let our kids inter-mingle. It has helped us become less of a group of cold-hearted single-minded professionals and more of a coherent, self-interested group with aligned survival potential.
Having kids sometimes come over while we work is pretty cool. They ask questions about what we're doing at times and we have to ELI5, it's great practice. My desk has a number of puzzles and they have a ton of fun playing with it. Sometimes they draw on the whiteboard or write a quote. A++, would definitely recommend bringing kids a couple of times a year.
I've found it really breaks the ice between colleagues .. especially when our kids make friends/make drama independently from the office politics - it somehow unites us. :)
Of course it helps to work in a company producing things that might be actually interesting to kids in the first place. If all you're doing web-blah, ymmv..
Re: Ask HN: Developers with kids, how do you skill up?
#208I'm on PTO today and could notice how distant I am from my kids' daily routine. They see me home, but they are not sure if they can play or even talk to me, even though I'm completely available to them. I work an average of 12h a day, mainly attending project status meetings with clients, which require all my focus, no background noise or distractions, meaning that my wife and I have to keep our kids away from me. I lost count of how many times I had to ask them to be quiet or leave my home office. And it was only TODAY that I realized the profound impact that this lifestyle has on my kids firstly, and secondly on me. My kids don't know what it is like to have an available daddy. Don't know how it works. So they stay with her mother, which is routine to them. This sucks big time to me, especially because I don't know how to reverse it, nor if it is even reversible. I'll do my best. (or maybe I should consider finding myself another job)
Re: Ask HN: Developers with kids, how do you skill up?
#209For me:
Don't use the computer to waste time - if I need decompression time, try and make it doing something w/ kids (LEGO!)
A solid dev. environment where you can walk up, crank an iteration, and walk away. (Like in the time it takes a kettle to boil)
Learning to code in my head - basically planning the path of changes/tests I will make next time I am back at my machine. It feels to me somewhat like the 'method of loci' - a definite journey. Often times, the plan goes awry, but the successes make it worth it. After 12 years of reading to the kids, I can do this whilst reading a story to them :).
Re: Ask HN: Developers with kids, how do you skill up?
#210This thread is slowly filling up with stories of enthusiastic workaholic parents who are disciplined and fit enough to take every single 15 minute break to sit down and get some code out. If you're able to code up a blog engine with one hand while holding your baby in the other, I envy you. I wish I could muster up the energy and discipline to do something like that. But to other readers: for many people this is not…
"Consider letting off-time be off-time and getting yourself a better job :)" - Those two conflict. Most jobs want the next buzzwords in the job description, which you aren't learning in the current job.
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