Gone with the wind^H^H^H^Hsocial worker

[pne]

I had wondered what happens when Sim children come home while their parents are at work.

Now I know: not only do you get a disapproving message "It's not a good idea to leave $NAME home alone" but a visit from the social worker who takes your kid away :(

Fortunately, I had an older savepoint. Guess I'll have to call the babysitter in each time, then.

Comments

[kamara.livejournal.com]

Hee. I adopted a child once, forgot that the child was coming at 10am and my sim went to work at 8am. The child arrived at 10am, and by 4pm she was taken away. My sim came home at 5pm never knowing her adopted child. How sad.

[pthalo]

how old was the kid?

[rozallin.livejournal.com]

You're talking about the Sims 2 I assume? In the first edition of the Sims the sim children just raid the fridge and amuse themselves until an adult sim comes home.

[ladyortyger.livejournal.com]

That seems a little harsh for one day by himself :) heh

[node-ue.livejournal.com]

Yes - that's not realistic. It usually takes a few infractions, or depends on the age of the kid.

If the kid is a newborn, then it makes some sense, but if he's like 10 it's really stupid... even unrealistic on the first time for maybe 3 or 5 year olds.

[coretta.livejournal.com]

you can get the babysitter to track your adults' schedule, so she'll "always be there when you won't!" < / obsessive geek >

[pne.livejournal.com]

Two kids, both grade school age.

So in "real life" terms, maybe 9 and 11 or so (one was a couple of Sim days older, the other was newly adopted as a school-age child).

[pne.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Which is another reason I felt it was a little strange -- because in the Sims 2, they can feed themselves from the fridge as well (well, only crisps and biscuits, but they won't starve).

In the Sims 2, parents won't leave for work if they're the last adult currently on the lot and there are still children there -- they'll say, "I know I have responsibilities, but I just can't bear to leave $NAME home alone!" and they'll miss their carpool. But I hadn't known what would happen if the parent leaves after the child is already at school but doesn't get back from work until after the child comes home at three.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know... but I dislike the babysitter, for some reason, so I try to avoid her.

I've had her in a couple of families for newborns and toddlers, but I don't really want to call her in for school-age children.

(Incidentally, she might be there, but I'm not sure how much she cares for the children—one child was lying in a full nappy and she didn't change him for hours, at which point the parent came home and took care of it. The babysitter just got them food, got them out of bed when they woke up and put them back when they were tired, and that's about it; the rest of the time she spent eating, watching TV, reading the newspaper, or doing the odd bit of housework—or raiding my money trees.)

So I don't really want her to come in regularly, but I guess I'll have to do that. And then, yes, I'll probably use the "track my schedule" option so I won't have to keep calling her every day.

[node-ue.livejournal.com]

I'm not familiar with Sims 2. Is there a function where you can lock her in the bathroom? So she's 'watching them', but she can't fuck stuff up?

[node-ue.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I don't see the dilemma leaving them home alone.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Hee - I could try that.

Not lock up as such, but I could try removing the door while she's in there so she can't get out.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[node-ue.livejournal.com]

Removing the door? Wouldn't that just make it easier for her to get out?

[pne.livejournal.com]

No, because you put doors into walls. Once you remove the door, what's left is the section of wall into part of which you had placed the door. And she can't walk through walls.

Removing doors is a pretty standard way of killing a Sim :) (If you leave them in the room too long, they'll starve; a day or so, though, won't hurt the babyistter.)

[pthalo]

ah. I was staying home alone from age 9 on because my mother had to work. I was fine. :p