Saturday 6 August 2011

Clocks

Round 31: August 2034 (Winter)
Araminta's last update/last update/next update

Araminta Romilly is 71, Finn and Victoria are both 33, Declan is 13, Caitlin is 11 and Keira is 3.
(Magdalena is 70, Austin, Justin and Xavier are all 13, Georgina and Annabel are both 10, Daphne is 3 and Francesca is 6 months old)

Narrated by Finn Romilly

Several months after Dad died, I convinced Mum to move in with us. She's retired now and she was on her own and I didn't see any reason why she should have to worry about making ends meet in what is supposed to be a relaxing time in her life.

I really didn't expect Mum to start taking on child care duties with Keira but she's been very insistent on making herself useful.

She even looks after Ione's new little girl, Francesca, during the day as well.

Sometimes she has her friend Magdalena over and they share child care duties. Magdalena is apparently impatiently awaiting more grandchildren, so she's happy to coo over as many little ones as she can in the mean time.

It has been really nice having Mum around, especially for Caitlin.

I hardly ever get to leave school at 3pm, so poor Caitlin often had to wait around with me until I was done with work, because there was no one there for her at home.

Now she can go straight home on the bus and we know she has her grandma there to look out for her.

I've offered to hire a nanny so Mum can go out during the day instead but she won't hear of it.

She says she enjoys spending so much time with her grandchildren and that it was one of the reasons she agreed to move in with us in the first place.

I'm leaving it but I feel a little guilty about it. For the first time in our lives, Victoria and I could easily afford to hire someone for the kids. We've paid off our mortgage and I also received some royalties from a paper I had published.

The paper was about the effect of nutrition on a student's concentration and general achievement levels. I've been researching the topic for quite a long time and it was gratifying to see it so well-received in local education circles.

Victoria was very excited for me and insisted on a date night to celebrate.

I couldn't say no to that. We try to make time for ourselves but it's not always easy with three kids, even with Mum around to help out now.

We ended up going to a restaurant at a local hotel, which was a lot of fun. We always relish any chance we get to spend time alone.

We had Declan so young, so we didn't get much opportunity to do that when we were younger.

That doesn't seem so long ago but Declan is 13 now! Victoria and I weren't really ready for the teen years but so far, so good. Declan is a pretty sensible kid.

We allow him a bit more independence now. He spends most of his weekend at the comic book store with his friend, Austin.

There's only about six months' age difference between Declan and his cousins, Justin and Xavier. They've grown up together and are still pretty close.

Of the four of them, only Xavier has a girlfriend. Declan is still more interested in comics and sci-fi for the time being.

Still, that won't last forever. He still seems so young to me but then I remember Victoria and I started dating at the same age. That's a little scary.

I hope we don't have too much to worry about, seeing Declan has a good head on his shoulders. He's still getting straight As and he spends a good part of his weekday afternoons studying.

I know he would rather be spending some of them working. Specifically, working as an assistant at a laboratory nearby.

Victoria has told him that it's not legal for him to work until next year and that we'd talk about it again then.

He knows it's out of our control but he was a little disappointed.

I told him to enjoy his freedom while it lasts, because we definitely want the kids to have part-time jobs when they're old enough. It's so important for them to learn how to take care of their own money.

I have a feeling we'll get some resistance to that from Caitlin. She gets straight As as well but she's always needed more prodding to get her schoolwork done than her brother. I can't imagine she'll be too thrilled about an after-school job.

She's 11 now and she is all about her social life.

No boys yet, thank goodness, but she has her friends Georgina and Annabel visiting here all the time.

All three of them, Caitlin especially, are desperate to start high school. Caitlin is convinced everything will be more fun once she's 12.

It's "lame" to have your dad as your teacher, apparently. That was heartening to hear.

I seem to remember her thinking it was pretty awesome to have me teaching at her school when she was younger.

Just as Caitlin is finishing primary school, Keira is getting ready to start.

Her little cousin Daphne will be starting with her, so she'll already have at least one friend.

Daphne kind of makes up for the fact that Declan and Caitlin are so much older than Keira. She's almost like a sister to Keira. I still don't think I'll be able to stop myself from peeking into the pre-school room when I get the chance during the day, just to see how she's doing.

I know Victoria will be expecting me to do that anyway! She's been feeling wistful about Keira starting school.

Keira will be the last kid we ever send off to pre-school, so we're looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time!

Extras:
A few pictures of Declan's new bedroom.

He's a Science Sim, with a maxed out interest in sci-fi, in case you couldn't tell. Finn is the same but I wasn't as into decorating by personality when he was a teen.

Also, the magazine rack has some cool "browse" animations that I'd never paid much attention to before.
I'm going to have to go through my animation hacks and see if they're included with any of them! I hope so, because they seem like they could come in handy.

Notes:
  • Title is from Clocks by Coldplay.
  • Finn's paper being published was based on a chance card win (for once, LOL)!
  • Victoria also won a chance card which got her a promotion but it was a pretty weird scenario, so I didn't write it in!
  • The comic book store is called The Android's Dungeon, after the comic book store on the Simpsons. It's a little lot that I built for a mini-challenge at N99 well over a year ago and promptly forgot about. Now that I've finally put it into action, I'd kind of like to find somebody to own it and run it as a real business. I don't see Declan doing it but I'll have to watch my other Sims to see if anyone might suit it.
  • Declan rolled up the generic want to have his first kiss but he hasn't shown any interest in any specific girls yet. So I guess we'll see if he does roll any more specific wants or if ACR wants to intervene. ;)

18 comments:

  1. Very nice update, loved seeing the kids and Caitlin is something else, love her!

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  2. This is my favorite family, I think. Declan already seems to be the classic, lovable geek, and his room seems to represent just that. Good job decorating it! :) Caitlin is as amazing as usual, I can't believe she'll be a teenager next round! I remember when she was born....*tear*..they grow up so fast! Keira is adorable, and can't wait to see what she's like when she's at school. Victoria and Finn are just as cute as ever; I'm glad that they've finally managed to get to that stable part in their lives. It'll will probably last, that is, until Declan goes to college.

    Enough of my babbling though. Great update! :)

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  3. Wow Declan is a teen?!? It seems like just yesterday he was born. I love this update and as always your house decorations look awesome! Great update.

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  4. What a great update! And I love Finn's room.

    Hey, did you see you were mentioned over at Sim Secrets, but in a good way!

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  5. This family is adorable! It seems like having Finn's mother move in has been good for everyone. Declan is such a cute nerd. I love his room. I bet his parents are dreading his and Caitlin's first dates!

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  6. I can't believe Keira is starting pre-school!! Where has the time gone; you sure do move quickly through these families! This is one of my favorite families of yours. They are just too cute.

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  7. I absolutely love this family!! I'm so glad Finn and Victoria made it and are still together, and even added little Keira to their family, who is just adorable!!
    I wouldn't mind seeing another one of these 2 ;)

    I still have trouble believing Declan is a teen already, even when I see him as one lol :) I can't believe Caitlin will be a teen next time! As much as I will be missing her as a child, I'm really looking forward to seeing her as a teen! I think she will get in so much mischief :)

    I love Declan's room! You have some many great posters, I don't think I reconize one of them, I want them all thouhj, LOL!! :D
    And the comic book store looks great!! Another lot I lack in my hood :)

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  8. Aww, they need another one!! Why are they done with three again? Don't they want one more little cutie-pie?! There are kids are all so cute, I'm looking forward to seeing Keira age up... but I LOVE her as a toddler, she's seriously too cute!

    Declan is adorable getting his geek on at the comic book store, it's a great looking lot. I love when you find lots you've made and forgotten about.

    Victoria's outfit is way cute, I'd totally wear her clothes you pick for her in real life.

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  9. Aww, this is such a sweet family. It feels really weird that Declan is a teen already because I still see Finn and Victoria like they graduated just yesterday.

    How bittersweet for Finn to see how Caitlin has grown and changed over the years. I guess it's only normal for a girl of her age to think it's "lame" to have her dad as the teacher but it must be heartbreaking for him. :)

    I love the comic book store. Do you remember where you got the magazine rack recolors? I only have the default color and it's boring.

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  10. Starr, Caitlin is really fun. She has one of those really expressive faces, like Anna, so just about everything she does is hilarious!

    Thanks for reading!

    coolkat2, Declan definitely has some pretty geeky leanings but he's very affable, so he's popular with his classmates anyway.

    I know, all the kids are growing up so fast! It really doesn't feel like so long ago that Victoria and Finn were in college! And now they're all done with kids at 33. I think they might end up being okay financially when Declan goes off to college. For one thing, I think he'll earn a few more scholarships, so it's going to be at least half price for him. But also, they've got a good amount of money to play with now. They're doing better than some older couples.

    Thanks for reading!

    Bernz, he is! Crazy, right?

    Thanks for reading!

    Riverdale, Declan's room, you mean? LOL, now that Declan is a teen, I'm noticing even more how much he and Finn resemble each other. He got Victoria's chin but that's about it!

    I did see the SimSecret - Lunar drew my attention to it on Twitter. It's very exciting. :)

    Thanks for reading!

    Sarah, I really love them too. Araminta moving in makes child care easy and it's also helped their financial situation. I had her split her money between her three kids, but she still brought a good chunk with her.

    Victoria and Finn probably don't feel quite ready for the kids to start dating and who could blame them? I'm hardly ready myself!

    Thanks for reading!

    Mandie, LOL, I feel like I'm moving pretty slowly these days, compared to getting through three families a day when I started this blog! I wouldn't want to play that quickly now though!

    This is one of my favourite families, so I'm glad everyone else likes them so much as well.

    Thanks for reading!

    Tanja, LOL, no, I'm sure you wouldn't mind another baby from them! I think 3 is perfect for them though.

    Declan was such an adorable little child too, so I think that makes it a bit harder to remember he's a teen now! I wonder if I'll have this problem when I age him to YA, because I think he's a really cute teen as well! Caitlin as a teen could be terrifying - we'll see!

    Hmmm, it's hard to tell you about any of the posters because most are recolours and it's hard to know where they come from. The posters over his desk though (which are actually one object) come from DOT at TSR.

    Thanks for reading!

    Maisie, no, Keira will be their youngest, barring birth control failures. Finn's IF is 8 and Victoria's is 5, so both would want more. But Finn is also a hoarder and I can't see him giving up a comfortable financial situation to have a fourth and they'd really need to. This place only has four bedrooms - Caitlin and Keira are sharing but Declan's room would be pretty cramped if he had to share.

    I'm really looking forward to aging Keira up. She reminds me of Caitlin as a toddler and Caitlin really reached maximum cuteness as a child. I aged Keira up to adult to check she wouldn't be freaky looking but I decided to keep other age
    groups as a surprise. ;)

    Oh, I had too much fun with the boys at the comic book store! I definitely have to use that lot more often.

    Heh, I spend way too long picking out Victoria's clothes! I'm glad you like them.

    Sari, as you know, I love this family as well! They're definitely all growing up fast!

    Yeah, I'm sure that "lame" comment was like a dagger through poor Finn's heart! It's natural at that age though, to try to assert some independence from your parents.

    Amazingly, I do remember where I got that magazine racks! They're from MTS:

    http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=303264

    I did kind of a frantic search there one night when I was ready to start building this lot.

    Thanks for reading!

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  11. How dorky do I sound that I'm so glad we got back to this house? I love these guys, all of them. Nice to see Araminta adjusting well to life with Finn and his brood. And what a brood it is! Declan and Keira are adorable, and Caitlin's so sassy, I'm almost surprised she isn't a teen yet.

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  12. Fini, not dorky at all! This family seems to be a favourite with a lot of people, me included!

    Caitlin almost thinks she's already a teen - she'd certainly like to be. The child has had enough of primary school and being in her dad's class, lol. Declan is a little more easy-going but it remains to be seen if Keira will take after her brother or her sister.

    Thanks for reading!

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  13. I just love Caitlin, she so looks like a little sunshine. I'm sure the house is always filled with her laughters. Declan is also adorable. He's got such a nice face.
    And it's so nice that Araminta helps so much since she's at home. It must be great for the kids. :)

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  14. Sandy, Caitlin is a funny kid. She's very different to Declan but I love them both. They're both loving having their grandma around but possibly not as much as Araminta is enjoying living with the family. She's a good grandma.

    Thanks for reading!

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  15. Man, I can't believe I've fallen this far behind again. It's been a crazy month. Anyway, great update. I really like the comic book store and I can't even remember when you posted it at N99 (and I probably commented on it too lol!) And Declan's room looks perfect. Always a great job decorating. Can't wait to see Caitlin and Keira age up and so glad this family is doing better now, too. It's nice to see Araminta happy being so close to her grandkids.

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  16. Danielle, oh, you might not have seen the comic book store, even though I know you usually comment on my lot tours. It was posted in a part of the forum that has sadly been inactive for a long time and was never that active to begin with. But the tour is here, if you're interested:
    http://starlightsims.yuku.com/topic/47849/S2-May-Mini-Challenge-Free-Comic-Book-Day

    It's kind of a relief to have this family all settled now - I have enough poor families elsewhere, lol! Also, Finn is so sensible and I can see him making every effort to get out of that kind of debt. It wouldn't be something he was comfortable living with for too long.

    Thanks for reading!

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  17. Declan is 13! Goodness.

    I love the comic book shop and Declan's room. Your attention to detail is wonderful. Little Keira is too cute--I can't wait to see what she looks like as a school-age child.

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  18. Rachel, I know! And I aged up Caitlin for the most recent January birthdays post (which you likely haven't got to yet), so now she's a teen too.

    I like working on the details, so thank you. :)
    As for Keira, she's been aged up too. She's...uh, interesting. She was one I had to age up to check that she looked okay! You'll see her in January birthdays too.

    Thanks for reading!

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