The Newson Family: How To Survive The Insanity

Now, I did use a cheat when playing the Newsons; I simply set the hour to six in the morning so the children wouldn't be late for school(dunno if freshly-created and moved-in children will lose grades on that first day but it never hurts to take some precautions). I built a modest two-story house and put in four beds, two cribs and some other necessities and fun objects. I also bought some toddler toys and an activity table, though there was only so much room in the bedroom, so I didn't buy the xylophone(besides, it would be noisy and wake up anyone who was sleeping in that room. Besides, toddlers could gain creativity from the table without the noise and get mechanical skills from playing with the blocks.

Quickly, I had Gavin call a nanny. There was some chaos for a few days, and one night, I even called another nanny in so the first one wouldn't abandon the children before the teens came home from work. I wanted them to get scholarships for being overachievers, so they needed to have teen jobs. After the toddlers grew up to be children, the nanny only needed to arrive a little while before the children got home.

At the beginning of the scenario, I had Ginger socialize with the toddlers, and it wasn't easy at first to teach them their skills, but after enough aspiration points were accumulated, I first bought an energizer to allow the teens to keep their motives up so they could care for their siblings. The Newsons are orphans, so there are no grown-ups in that family at the beginning, and none in the family tree, though Gloria, apparently their mother, had died some time after adopting the children. I don't know how EA Games was able to create a family like that, but I would love to find out how so I can create my own adult-less family.

Anyway, back to the point: Ginger has a low relationship with the toddlers, so the player has to get her to socialize with them a few times, doing things like tickling, snuggling, kissing, peek-a-boo, and possibly joining them while they play with their toddler toys. Her low relationship with her youngest siblings prevents Ginger from teaching them their toddler skills - it isn't a glitch.

Another challenge is time management; between school and work, and possibly sleep, the eldest Newsons have little time to teach the toddlers their skills, and they need smart milk. After fulfilling some wants and buying the energizer, I was able to buy some smart milk, and managed to get the teens to teach the young 'uns all their skills, plus the nursery rhymes. They grew up FABULOUSLY. I also had the teens help each other with homework, though I had Ginger finish Gavin's since he was filling up his critically low fun motive. Then he helped her, and they helped the kids, then the toddlers(after they grew up to be children).

The chaos was for the most part over, and I had Gavin go to a Downtown lot and do some digging. I also had Ginger dig a little on that same lot, though I had her stop when I spotted a teen townie with a very compatible aspiration. She's sort of indifferent to him, but at least there's some chemistry between the two, and they seemed to get along pretty well. But anyway, Gavin did a lot of digging, got very dirty, dug some more, got lots of cool stuff including a treasure chest and a transport urn, netting more than 5,000 simoleons. With that 'bonus', I had him open his first business.

Gavin's first business was hard at first, and he had to do some digging in order to get some money for a few necessaries, and a custom arcade which I got from SimWardrobe. With the hungernator(also from Simwardrobe), the customers had pretty low moods a lot of the time, so some of the sales interactions failed. Despite the setbacks, he maxxed his first business and gained a boost in his lifetime aspiration level. Now for the first kiss...

I did, of course, have Gavin use all his one-time monetary benefits, so he is pretty rich but much of the money will be saved and used for other business ventures, and to hopefully get the kids into a private school. I've done that scenario before and it is terrific fun.

Other things you can do to help the Newsons:

• Move them in with an adult couple, preferably where one is unemployed, if University is installed
• Turn them into witches, since teen sims do not roll any witch-related wants or fears
• Use Inteenimater(I use that mod myself for College families, not teen pregnancies) and invite a best friend to move in
• Have them find a significant other and date for aspiration points(kind of a luck-based mission) if Nightlife is installed
• Have them alternate between going to school and staying home(will hurt their grades, but give them some opportunity for dates with passer-bys)
• Gardening and digging, if Seasons and Bon Voyage are installed
• Hobbies, if Freetime is installed
• Crafting stations if Freetime or Open For Business are installed
• Giving them lots of aspiration benefits, as well as secondary aspirations
• Turn them into good witches for the most benefit, as they will be able to cast spells that boost the moods of the toddlers and children, as well as everyone else in the family.
• Turn them into evil witches and make them impervious to bugs, though either alignment will be able to make thrones that will fill all their motives, and evil witches can do some nasty things to sims that displease them.
• Have all six of them socialize with each other - have the toddlers huggle since they have high relationships at the beginning, in case the nanny is neglectful
• Get the toddlers to ask their nanny for attention - the results may vary, but are likely to be positive if the nanny just snuggles or tosses them in the air.
• Have the teens play for money on public lots if Nightlife is installed

In short, the Newson family is challenging, but so much fun. I would seriously recommend playing them without combining households. It's entirely possible to have all the family members go to college. Just a warning - the children may roll the want to get a kitten or puppy. If that want is fulfilled, make sure you move the eldest Newsons back into the household before moving out the youngest ones, or the animal will be removed. Enjoy the challenge!