Interesting recent piece in the St. Petersburg Times by staff writer Joshua Gillin, about being a geek forced, by impending fatherhood, to “grow up.” Being a geek is all about obsession, Gillin writes. So he’s preparing for an obsession transformation, from movies, martial arts, and video games to his first child:

My wife and I made a promise to each other, that we would love our children and devote our lives to them, but that we would keep some part of our previous selves intact. My own father always kept at least a little time for himself, whether it be to read a Western novel or simply take a nap. He never ignored me — in fact, he was quite doting — but it was always understood that he was his own person, not a slave to his children. He was to be respected and looked up to, not be beholden to his offspring’s every whim at a moment’s notice.

That means I will still take time to watch a samurai movie or play an online death match in the latest Call of Duty, but there will be a rebalancing of these pursuits. That actual calibration won’t be up to me, but I understand it will happen.

A decade into fatherhood, that’s something I’m still struggling to find: a balance between feeding myself (pursuing my own interests and doing the things that keep me energized) and feeding my kids (being as present as possible for them, nurturing and loving them the best way I know how).

This kind of balance is always hard. How does it play out in your life?