My experience has been mixed. Most of my friends who game still game after getting married - until the kids arrive. Kids, particularly pre-schoolers, really cut down on the parents time to do *anything*. I have one parent in my gaming group, and he makes about one meeting in three. It's just the price you pay.
I did have one interesting experience that crystalized this for me. I was a play-tester on an adventure for some convention or other a few years back. Four couples were involved, and two had children. The GM's wife had the task of watching everyone's kids. She rented a bunch of Disney movies and put the kids in the den, hoping that that would keep them occupied. As we *should* have expected, the kids were much more interested in the unusual event happening in the dinning room, and refused to stay in the den dispite her best efforts. In the end we were trying to play with a hord of kids sitting in everyone's lap, grabbing for the dice, and asking questions constantly.
Finally, there have been conflicts between married couples over who gets to play and who stays home with the kids. Since the experience detailed above, we don't try playing with kids around anymore. If only one person in a couple plays, the other resents being stuck with the kids once a week, every week. If both play, one is cut out of his or her hobby or at least can't play in the same game with their mate.
In the end, nobody said it was easy having kids! You just have to make do...
K.Paul McDonald
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