How to extend Python class init
You can just define __init__ in the subclass and call super to call the parents' __init__ methods appropriately:
class SubThing(Thing): def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs): super(SubThing, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs) self.time = datetime.now()Make sure to have your base class subclass from object though, as super won't work with old-style classes:
class Thing(object): ...
You should write another __init__ method in SubThing and then call the constructor of the superclass to initialize its fields.