The Swinton Family

Hmmm ..... that's four elders in the neighbourhood now, and they're all women. I don't particularly mind, it's just difficult to create stories or be that optimistic about sims who could 'pop their clogs' at any moment. I do however have a cunning plan for this pair, which involves adopted children and their Graduation money. I'm planning on adopting a couple of children, not just to make the house more like a family home, but also to use their graduation moving home money to buy a business. It will benefit the kids eventually, and in the meantime, Mary gets a shot at her LTW, and Edna gets to meet loads of new people. It may be that the oldies expire before the kids come home, as time is of the essence. But I think it's worth having a go. I would be so pleased if just one of my CAS elders died having achieved either a lifetime or impossible want. I am just so competetive, and need to earn those bonus points. Sad, but also very true!

Edna's not a bad looking sim, for an elder! It's a shame she never married, but she chose to put friends before family throughout her adult life. She never felt the urge to get hitched, let alone have children. And dating just didn't appeal. As an elder she has made the ultimate sacrifice for her sister. Poor Mary, who didn't inherit the family looks, was the source of much of the town gossip. Edna would agree her sister is strange, but people began comparing her to Olive Spectre, and small children would cry when she was around. Word on the street, was that Mary was a witch. Edna decided that it was time for a new start when Mary's health began to suffer through stress. It's sad, but Mary rarely smiles anymore, which doesn't help to foster friendship, especially in a new community. Maybe adopting and opening a business is just what Mary needs.

Mary Swinton. Happy looking soul isn't she? Maybe she should open a Funereal Home. The clients would still probably look happier than she does at the moment.

Even the local Werewolf doesn't fancy his chances against her in a fight! The woman is seriously scary. I don't think the black dress helps, but unfortunately there's no spare cash for new clothes. Every simolean is needed to rustle up the adoption fee.

Finally the sisters become best friends again. They've not been this close since first grade!


Edna finally raises enough cash by catching the first Golden Trout in the neighbourhood. Although she wanted to hang it on the wall (what Popularity sim doesn't like to have something to brag about?), she sells it for the greater good.

Edna gets straight on the phone, and is quickly approved. She can hardly wait for tomorrow!

As narrator, I had to have first peek. I'm almost as excited as Edna! All I can say is it's a boy, and he seems really cute.

Colby fits right in, and strangely finds Mary 'cool' rather than scary.

As soon as Edna has welcomed Colby she's back on the phone to adopt another child. Time is ticking, and it's already Saturday of the first week.

Sunday morning sees the arrival of Amin. Both kids are really good looking, and both Edna and Mary are pleased with their decision to adopt.

With the family now complete, it's a race against time to get those scholarships and ship the kids off to University.

Haven't you forgotten something Edna? Any clue Mary? Aren't the boys a little young yet! There's a whole week of childhood to get through in the meantime. And you may be in for a few surprises along the way. After all, if child rearing was that easy, every sim would choose to do it!

The Middleton Family

I think the problem is that one elderly sim hardly makes for a family. Also, for the life of me, I cannot think of a convincing storyline for poor Esther. Who, in their right mind,would up sticks and move into the middle of nowhere, especially for their retirement years?. Knowing Esther will never obtain her lifetime want makes the process of playing her seem pointless. In addition, the household will cease to exist when she expires, which doesn't provide any impetus or stimulus to me, the poor narrator. Knowing I love Family sims, I decide to let Esther adopt. Even if it doesn't make her that happy, it'll make me ecstatic!

Building a house on a budget takes some doing, but with a bit of fishing thrown in for extra income, Esther soon has a house and a $3,000 nest egg. Enough to adopt hopefully!

Esther seems quite excited by the prospect of adoption, and hangs around outside the house on the pretext of recycling the newspaper.

Amar soon makes himself at home, and goes platinum within moments of arriving. Making friends does that for sims!

Finally a sim that Esther can feel comfortable with, and relate to. Eliza King recently moved to the area too, and is busy bringing up a family single handedly. Esther listens to the advice about college, and vows to get Amar straight on the easel when he gets home. After all it's never to early to start working on those scholarships, as Eliza reminds her.

Komei Tellerman strikes again! Esther quickly composts the rubbish for the garden lot she's planning once funds allow.

Esther decides in for a penny, in for a pound, and adopts another child. Well, as she reasons, they'll be company for each other if anything happens to her. Also she's starting to wish she herself had more family.

When Cherry arrived I was immediately struck by her resemblence to Abijheet Depiesse. Is it possible Abijheet has had a secret love child, and I'm the only one to have discovered his guilty secret? On another note, that hat has got to go!

That's an improvement Abijheet, oops I mean Cherry.

Esther's very proud when Amar becomes a Star Pupil after just two days at school. The boy is either incredibly lucky, or extremely gifted. Either way, he's made his new Mama proud.

The following afternoon Cherry proudly displays her report card. Esther's over the moon. Who would have thought she'd be lucky enough to adopt not one, but two child geniuses.

The family spend alot of time fishing, as it's they're only income at the moment. It seems the kids excel at most things they turn their hand to.

Amar soon hauls in a monster catfish!

Not to be outdone, Cherry soon acquires her Bronze Fishing Talent Badge. She's decided to work hard and hopefully steal the 'Young Angler of the Year Award' from Elliot Clarke next year!

This family was really hard work until I adopted the kids. I'm now looking forward to playing them next time, to discover how Amar and Cherry grow up.

The Clarke Family

The two elder boys hugged their Aunt Lindy, and thanked her for travelling with them this far.

"Why my sister and her husband left you this plot of land, way out in the sticks, I just have no idea. Be grateful mind, when our Papa died all he left me and Mindy was a pile of debt and heartache. The pair of them passing so sudden was a real shock, but young boys like you, you'll soon get over it. It's not like either of them spent much time with you. Too intersted in their careers I suppose. That viral outbreak at Simantico Technologies was a complete suprise though. More than just you four boys ended up being orphaned. The lawsuit will take years, so don't you be counting on that to survive. I'd stay longer, but I have to get back to my own 5 kids. Look after little Mickey. And don't forget to change your underwear."

With that Aunt Lindy climbed into the taxi, and suddenly the two elder boys realised they were on their own.

"Well one of us had better learn to cook. And I need to gain a cleaning point, my aspiration just tells me that's the right thing to do."

With that Simon settles down with How Clean Is Your Home, by television stars Kim & Aggie. Dorian's not so selfish, after all his aspiration tells him to 'ask a sim on a date', or 'buy a hot-tub', but he decides to put his needs on a back burner temporarily.

His first attempt at Mac'n'Cheese isn't so successful.

The second attempt is a total disaster. The resulting fire knocks everyones aspiration meter, the whole family stinks to high heaven, and it takes the boys a whole week to recover. Simon is the worst affected, and his relationship with Dorian takes a serious hit.

Finally Dorian produces a decent meal of Bass with Squash, freshly caught by Elliot in the pond outback.

A welcoming party of local residents arrive, and the family sit down to eat with their guests. The three old ladies leave as soon as the meal is over. That's the trouble with elders; no bladder control. With only one toilet in the place, Simon decides now is the time to take a bath. After all his comfort is way down, and his hygeine hasn't recovered from the fire. Adding bubbles to the water, he settles back for a nice long soak.

It's Simon's turn to watch Mickey, and he blows the last of the family budget on an expresso machine. Both the elder boys are in serious aspirational trouble by now, although both Elliot and Mickey seem to be coping. Simon finishes his coffee and calls 'Service'. He's not that happy leaving Mickey in the care of a Nanny, but is realistic enough to realise there's simply no alternative.


Calista Despret arrives next morning. Simon expected Mary Poppins; boy was he disappointed. Calista looks a tad formidable, and certainly not happy to be in her current position .....

..... unless she's juggling. Which she seems to do alot!

Well the money comes in handy, but Simon is not impressed.

"You never told me Mum had a secret cookie recipe. And how come you never make us anything nice, like cookies, or cake, or that lovely cheesecake Aunt Lindy always makes? All we ever eat is fish, now that Elliot wants to become 'Young Angler of the Year'."

Elliot asks Simon to teach him to do homework. The elder boys are both struggling with the household chores, and raising Mickey, and suddenly Simon decides he would also like to learn to do homework. So much so it's in two of his want slots, and just won't go away.

"I havent intervened until now, but get a grip will you? There is no one here to teach you. Your parents are gone. You do nothing but whinge at Dorian, who frankly is a godsend. Do you see him complaining about his failed aspirations? NO. Don't you think he might like to go on a date, or have his first kiss? Anyway, I'm going back to narrating. And tell Elliot well done on the fishing award for me, will you!

Mickey is blissfully unaware of the trouble he's been to raise, and gets on with acquiring another charisma point.

Dorian's determined to get Mickey into platinum before he becomes a child. He's made it a one teen crusade to potty train his brother. It couldn't have been achieved at a better time .....

..... as moments later Mickey grows up .....

..... and he grows up well, thanks mainly to Dorian.

The following day, thanks to his homwork efforts, Elliot becomes a Star Pupil.

To celebrate the families recent successes, Dorian celebrates by inviting local 'hottie' Siobhan O'Reilly over for a date. It was a disaster. The following day she sent him a really smelly card, shown in the top left corner. As far as she's concerned, he may as well think of her as dead!

With Mickey grown up the family falls into some sort of routine. Dorian finally masters Mac'n'Cheese, and the boys make an effort to eat together each evening. The two older boys are both still feeling the effects of the rough start they had, and neither has managed to complete a single homework assignment.

Mickey and Elliot are oblivious to their brothers' struggles, and become firm friends, and fishing buddies. The sale of fish is the only thing that's kept the family afloat financially. So well done Elliot - Young Angler of the Year.

By Friday both Dorian and Simon are failing in school, and won't be elegible for University unless they improve their D- report scores. Both are also completely covered in zits, which isn't such a good look for a Romance sim in particular. Both boys will spend the weekend catching up on homework. The younger two will spend it fishing. Oh well, that's just proof of the pleasure/pain principle.

Hopefully next week will prove to be a little kinder to Dorian. After all, he's the first Romance sim I actually like!

The King Family

This family is seriously into earning simoleans. When Hepzibah becomes a teenager I hope she's not a Fortune sim as well. Why can't I roll a Family sim? Just one would be nice!

"Sorry Ma, gotta dash! Just had a call from that O'Mackey woman over in Riverblossom. She's just got her first ship, and wants me to roam the skies with her as a Space Pirate. If we plunder anything valueable I'll be sure to send you a share of the booty. Look after the kids, and I guess this is goodbye. See you when I see you."

By the look on her face it's pretty obvious Eliza was not expecting that! It would seem her dream of earning $100,000 will have to fall by the wayside.

Luckily Elijah seems unconcerned about his Father's departure. He's a level headed kid, who has the misguided belief he's Dr. Doolittle. 6 pets, top of career track? Yeah right!

Eliza takes to child rearing like a duck to water.
"Don't sound so suprised, I have done it before you know. How do you think that ungrateful, self indulgent git who abandoned his own offspring got to adulthood?"

Awww, she is so cute! A walking, talking, livin' doll.

I can't believe I just quoted Cliff Richard!

"And what is wrong with Sir Cliff I ask you? Bring back the oldies, that's what I say. Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosbie. Ahh, they don't make them like that anymore, do they?

Thank heavens.

***sings***"For little girls. Thank heavens for them all, no matter where, no matter who. Without them what would little boys do?"***sings***

Kill me now. And you're off key. Way off key!

Eliza may not be much of a singer, but she's great with a hook and worm. Within hours she's caught enough fish to buy a guitar. I immediately put it into Elijah's inventory. I don't think I could bear much more of her musical renditions. If she can't sing, I bet sure as eggs is eggs, she can't play guitar.

Elijah does his fair share of looking after little Hepzibah.

"I'm not sure there's that much difference between pups and kids. I'm looking on it as practice for when I get my own dog. Actually, I'm hoping to adopt neighbourhood strays. Gives them a good home, and it won't cost me a simolean!"

It would seem the boy already has a good head for business.

It's moments like these which make Eliza realise the sacrifices she's made are really worth it.

Hepzibah grows up well, no thanks to her Father. Eliza seems shocked! She loved having a littleun round the house, and I don't think she was prepared for the inevitable quite so soon.

Hepzibah is still a cutie.

"You mark my words, that girl is gonna break hearts when she's older."

Being an elder seems to force sims into quoting one line cliches of advice.

"You don't get to my age without learning a thing or two about life. And I'm tellin' you, mirrors are gonna beg that girl to look in them!"

Great! I'll send her over to the O'Reilly house when she's old enough. Siobhan can help her practice.

It's the end of the week, and Elijah gets a chance card at work. He's already a Star Pupil, only I missed the photo, as I was busy taking a picture of Hepzibah. Scholarships seem to be going well in this neighbourhood. Ironically, until playing the challenge, none of my teen sims had even had a job. I'm actually considering trying for the hidden ones, like dancing. Pool seems out of the question, as not one of the families could afford the luxury of a pool table. I suppose I could sell the guitar, as I don't think anyone would miss it.

"Don't you dare! I didn't fish my fingers off for nothing. Mark my words, that girl's gonna take to music like a ... like a ..... hmm, a simile just doesn't spring to mind. But if it did, she'd be it!"

Reaching the top of a Teen Career seems to entail catching the 'flu. Maybe I overwork them, but they'll be grateful once they get to Uni. Eliza however is not so grateful, as she spends all day Sunday on the toilet. 'Flu seems to be at epidemic proportions in the neighbourhood, and I'm not sure why! With both Eliza and Elijah confined to bed, Hepzibah spends Sunday fishing. Luckily enough there were leftovers in the fridge for her.

"You don't get to my age without realising its always best to have a little something tucked away in the freezer incase of emergencies."

Elderly sims, no wonder I've always avoided them! Mind you it would seem on this occasion 'Granny' does actually know best.