Round 35: June 2041 (Winter)
Dominic Lachance is 31, Leslie is 30 and Oscar and Stella are 16 months.
(Chloe is 30 and Cole is 17 months)
(Chloe is 30 and Cole is 17 months)
Narrated by Leslie Lachance
Becoming parents, especially to twins, has changed our lives in just about every way imaginable.
I miss sleeping in, because the kids don’t let us do much of that any more.
I won’t miss waiting around for Oscar to go in the potty when he’s done with that but most everything else has been wonderful.
Oscar and Stella are 16 months now and it’s so much fun watching their personalities develop.
Oscar has a very curious mind and he’s the one we have to watch to make sure he’s not pulling things apart, just to see what will happen!
That was easier when he wasn’t so mobile but he’s walking around pretty steadily now. He is very occupied with his shape box lately, which is a relief!
Stella is a little easier to handle. She’s more cautious and is happy to sit and occupy herself with whatever we give her.
She’s a bit too young to tell for sure yet but we think she might end up being a bit sporty. Dominic had the TV tuned to the sports channel the other day and Stella was transfixed.
She’s not usually interested in the TV and would rather be playing, so there must have been something about it that appealed.
As tough as it is to have two toddlers at once, Dominic and I love watching them together. They both have very sweet natures and it’s so nice to watch them interacting.
They have a play table they like to use together, which is currently taking up valuable real estate near the front door.
We normally keep it outside but it’s way too cold for it right now. It’ll be moving back out as soon as it’s warm enough.
As you might have guessed, there’s not a lot of space in our house for indoor activities, so Dominic and I have been taking the kids to the play room at the mall this winter.
It can get a bit noisy, as you’d imagine a room full of kids and toys might be, but Oscar and Stella have a great time.
They get to play with new kids who they don’t normally play with. Seeing they’re both on the shy side, I think that’s good for them.
And as a bonus, we get to talk to some other parents too. It’s nice to talk to more experienced parents especially.
Dominic and I both want to have more children one day but we’re pretty busy with Oscar and Stella and we’ll be putting it off for a bit.
I’d like to put it off until the twins start pre-school but Dominic is raring to go and wants to try again next year. He wants our kids to be close in age, like he, Audrey and Edward are.
It was all well and good for his parents to do that, because they didn't have twins! That complicates things, in my view. What if we have twins again?
And besides, Brendan is a lot younger than Dominic and his other siblings and it doesn't seem to have damaged their relationship at all.
Dominic still thinks we should go for it but seeing I’m the one that has to be pregnant, he’s deferring to me to decide when we can start trying again.
I started back at work at the beginning of the school year and it’s been hard leaving the kids every day.
They have a really fantastic nanny, fortunately.
Oscar and Stella took to her right away and they’re always so contented when Dominic and I get home from work.
My job is really important to me but damn, I really miss those little munchkins when I'm at school!
In a few years time, they’ll be off to school themselves, which I can’t quite believe. The last 16 months have gone by so fast already.
Since I went back to work, I've been really missing having Chloe over. When we were both on maternity leave, we’d visit each other three times a week, sometimes more.
We have to squeeze them in on weekends now, when neither of us have anything else on.
She brings Cole along too and he plays with Oscar and Stella while we catch up nearby.
She and Zane have started trying for their second and she’s been asking when Dominic and I are going to have another.
Chloe thinks it would be fun if we were both on maternity leave together again and had our next babies around the same time too.
It would be fun and I know Dominic would agree but I'm not ready for another baby just yet!
Since I've been back at work, I've been thinking about my Master’s again but I've put it off indefinitely. I can’t imagine working, having two toddlers and trying to finish this degree. I think I’ll wait until we’re done with kids.
Dominic is happy to support me whatever way I want to go and even suggested we take out a little loan if I want to do it now.
It’s mostly the workload I don’t want to take on though. I'm not quite as concerned about the money.
We don’t really have money issues anyway. I'm still on a fairly pathetic teacher’s salary but Dominic’s current salary lets us live very comfortably.
He’s working further away - all the way out at the airport in Exeter - but he has shorter hours and the pay more than makes up for it.
Dominic loves his new job but he does miss working with cars. Planes are a new challenge for him but cars are his true passion.
Over dinner the other night, he asked me what I’d think about him opening his own place one day. Not soon but maybe 5 or even 10 years down the track.
He’s thinking he’d like to have his own repair shop or maybe buy wrecks, strip them for parts and resell them.
I have no idea what Dominic would enjoy more or what would be easier to set up as a business but it all sounds pretty reasonable to me.
We’d definitely have the money for something like that, if everything continues to go well. I would love to see Dominic give this a shot one day.
Notes:
- Title is from Full Circle by Ben Kweller.
- I had already started thinking of Oscar as the more mischievous twin and like he could read my mind, he really acted that way! He escaped his crib early in the morning to whine to his parents about his dirty nappy (pictured early on in the update) and engaged in some toilet splashing.
- I do plan to do this shop for Dominic one day, though he would definitely keep his day job. I normally have sims do that anyway (I get sick of having them hanging around the house all day!) but Dominic's job would be directly related to his business, so it would make sense in this case.
- As you probably already figured out, Dominic has rolled the want for another baby and Leslie isn't quite on board yet. I expect she'll want one eventually but she's obviously a bit more sensible than Dominic and wants to wait a little while. ;)
I like when they seem to pick when they want to have their own family, and I can see why Leslie wants to wait a bit, especially since she just started back at work. I really like your mall having a play area for the kids, that's a great place to take kids in the winter time to expel their energy. I really like your mall, you really make me want one. What is Dominic and Leslie's IFS? Curious how many they might go for eventually. I do think it'd be fun with Chloe and Leslie were on maternity leave again, but maybe Chloe will have her third when Leslie is ready for another.
ReplyDeleteStella and Oscar are SO cute! I love their little personalities already beginning to shine too.
It always seems realistic to me when the woman wants to wait a little longer than the man, given the nature of maternity leave means they'll be spending a lot more time caring for a newborn than the guys will! So Leslie will get her way and they'll wait a little. The twins will be 3 next time I play them, so maybe then will be a good time to try. Leslie's IFS is 4 and Dominic's is 5. I doubt I'll let them have 5 but 4 is a possibility.
DeleteThe play room was going to be a day care but I just don't know when I'd actually use a day care, you know? It would have to be something I'd set up, obviously, seeing the game doesn't allow for it and I don't know if I have the motivation for it! But it's a lot of fun as a play room, so I don't mind.
Toddlerhood beats babyhood, doesn't it? Baby clothes and hair make babies more adorable but they still don't have a ton to do, lol. It was so sweet watching Oscar and Stella show me what kind of sims they're going to be,
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Gosh, I really love reading about your families. :) Leslie & Dominic are a sweet couple. I love it when my sims have twins, it's not often but when it happens I find it quite delightful. lol
ReplyDeleteI'm curious though were the twins random or did you give them a little help, like the fertility treatment in TS3. ;)
I'm very happy to hear that! I like sharing my families and am glad to know they entertain others too. :)
DeleteI initially thought the twins were random but then I realised that when I removed the Fertility Lifetime Benefit from all my sims (which is supposed to increase the chance of twins but instead makes it almost a guarantee that you'll get twins), I missed Dominic. So the twins were probably caused by that. He doesn't have that benefit any more, so next time around, they have a much smaller chance of twins.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
They are a sweet couple and I love the mall playroom, I've heard of such places where families go for play dates and they serve goodies there as well. A nice place to chat with families while kiddos play.
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, I've been in plenty of play rooms like this in my time! My friends like to hold their toddlers' birthday parties there, presumably so they don't have to clean up! I didn't think of the comparison until I played this session though.
DeleteThanks for reading and commenting!
I wouldn't mind these 2 having more kids, since both Oscar and Stella turned out pretty cute, but I understand Leslie about wanting 2 wait. Having 2 toddlers in the house isn't the ideal time to add some more kids. I've had that with my Penninkmeijers, and they ended up having another set of twins!
ReplyDeleteI would be nice though if she and Chloe would be pregnant at the same time, and have more kids of the same age.
I like the playdate at the mall. You make me realise I don't have something like that in my game, and I might need something like that :)
I love their kids! They are so adorable!
I think Leslie and Dominic will definitely have at least one more. The only argument is when! Two toddlers in the house is crazy enough, without adding a baby to the mix. I did four toddlers back when Sullivan was new (two sets of twins right after each other), so I know exactly what you mean with your Penninkmeijers.
DeleteChloe mighn't end up pregnant until Leslie is, considering I've already played her and Zane this round. So who knows? It might work out the way Chloe wants. But I might decide to pop in before then as well. Not sure yet.
I never had a place like this for play dates before either but I'm really enjoying it! I already have a couple more ideas for it. :)
Thanks for reading and commenting!
My husband started talking about how our son needs a little sister when he was TWO MONTHS old. I was all, "That's a funny joke; tell me another one." You'd think guys wouldn't care so much since they don't really have a biological clock, but apparently they're all about leaving their genetic legacy as quickly as possible. :)
ReplyDeleteI had a Sim recently who had back-to-back twin pregnancies (yeah, my bad) and when I finally let her get pregnant a third time I told her that if she had twins I was going to drown her in a pool. She did not.
Ha, it must be a male thing! I don't know any women who were ready to go so soon after a baby but I know at least a couple of men, lol. Man, can you even imagine? Fortunately for Leslie, she's getting her way on this one!
DeleteI've had back-to-back twin pregnancies as well, way back at the beginning of Sullivan. What a nightmare! Never again. So crazy!
Thanks for reading and commenting!
I already decided back before I started playing Newtopia Heights that my sims were definitely going to space out their pregnancies. In a Legacy I had, I ended up with two toddlers and triplet babies at the same time. That put me off them getting pregnant before their current toddlers grew up to kids. IRL, if I have more than one child, there's going to be at least a three year gap. Tell that to my husband though. SMH.
ReplyDeleteI was recently at the mall and saw one of those play rooms! I love the concept, and I might find a way to do that too.
See, I have the opposite "policy" with pregnancies! When I was playing 5 days to one session and therefore having 5 years pass in one round, all my pregnancies were at least 5 years apart. So when I switched to this calendar system, I wanted them spaced a little closer together. 5 years is still okay but 10 years between the first and second kid is not so common any more.
DeleteThree years is a good gap in real life, at least from my perspective. My sister and I are two years, ten months apart. So by the time she came along, I was talking, walking, potty-trained and feeding myself. And as adults, we're like best friends, because the age gap just doesn't seem too big.
I like play rooms a lot better in game than in real life! In real life, they're kind of grotty, lol! Or at least, the ones I've been to are. You should totally put one in your game, if you find the time. It's nice to have a place for toddlers to socialise en masse!
Thanks for reading and commenting!