One Million Nooboos: February 2012

Oh, why hello. Excuse the blocks. A hobby of mine. I shall be your host this evening.

Welcome back to another installment of One Million Nooboos. This one will likely be a little long, but the next couple will likely be short to make up for it.

We last left Melinda after the birth of her third child, Matthew, the son of her former maid, Seymore Cole. Also living at home are Melinda's other two sons, Malachai and Micah (pictured above), as well as the Monkey the dog and Mia the cat.

I'm glad other kids don't visit often. She looks really unhappy.

In my Sims 2 Who's Your Daddy? Challenge, anyone who ever came home with the kids from school was allowed to stay as long as they'd like. I never kicked anyone out.

In Sims 3, I can't be quite so welcoming. The paparazzi are never welcome. The stray pets are seldom welcome. Yet when Malachai brought home Starla Fox I let her stay, mostly because I'm accustomed to being asked permission. Though no request was forthcoming, she showed up and I didn't argue with Malachai about it. (I was afraid to argue with Starla; she's mean!) She definitely wasn't keen on going to a friend's house to do homework.

Mum, how many men will it take you to have one hundred kids?

I got Melinda to give her son a hand instead.

Duh . . . I hadn't really given that much thought. Is this really your math lesson?

True that. Malachai is thinking way too far ahead.

Me knows the answer?

Welcome back, Mojo. I felt bad for him, locked away in Malachai's inventory all the time, so I let him out on the weekends. He's just as annoying as ever.

So what's the answer, Mojo?

Pillowfight!

If you weren't getting beaten up, I'd be sorely tempted to do it myself.

I've actually discovered the positive side of imaginary friends and have been putting Mojo through his paces as much as possible.

A little trash . . .

A puddle or two . . .

Um, no comment.

All those chores free Malachai up to have a little fun.

Seriously, though, Mojo is more dedicated than either of our current maids.

I got my sad, droopy doggy eyes on you, puppet.

No one is supposed to see Mojo, but I'm not convinced. I think they're just ignoring him because he's so annoying.

Me is a watchin' you, bunnybear!

Mojo himself takes notice of newcomers.

At least it's not an imaginary friend.

Bunnybear is here because Matthew does not, thank heavens, have an imaginary friend, so he needs a bedtime companion.

(We skipped Matthew's birthday. It happened. It was another infant choking on Mom's sweater as she blew out a candle. Now it's just like you were there.)

Because Matthew has no IF, he also spends his time playing with toys, something his brothers have done only very rarely.

I see you!

Matthew spends just a little bit too much time in that toy chest, though. Literally, all day.

Isn't that fun, sweetie? Vroom vroom goes the rocket!

Matthew finally puts the outdoor toys to frequent use, too.

Vroom vroom, suckers!

Things have been far more difficult than I thought they should be at this point. With Micah and Matthew potty trained, Melinda need only put them in and take them out of their cribs. Either she or Malachai can feed them. She, Malachai or Mojo can empty potties.

Yet there was a surprising amount of this.

And this.

Even Randall Rider was complaining!

Things are not as they seem.

Okay, so Randall was bothered by Matt and cornered by Monkey, but you get the picture. Despite having a routine, despite mine and Melinda's best efforts to keep the younger boys on a schedule, they weren't having it.

I think the family has gotten a little glitchy. That's why things take so long. It's not terrible and I don't even think it's permanent. Malachai suffers the worst, really. He has to take the bus to school; riding his bike will causes problems. He hasn't been to scouts in ages, no idea why. And I have to tell him to come home most days.

Or else this happens.

You think your family thinks you're weird for having an imaginary friend, kid? What do you think the others kids will say when they see you hugging an imaginary doll on the playground? No, they don't have them, too. Active families only.

Yeah, you're one of the "lucky" ones. Whatever you say.

(I believe these same minor malfunctions are the reason Randall Rider's not cleaning up so well these days. It's not a deal breaker so far, so westward ho!)

Synchronized potty, coming soon to an Olympics near you.

I finally did work something out with Micah and Matthew. I go through phases of trying to cram too much into a sim day. If I step back and forget some of the wishes and a few of the chores, everyone is happier.

Nooboos on parade.

I also discovered that sending the boys out into the main room to be fed helps a ton with the flow of traffic. Melinda or Malachai feeds them on the floor, then they walk back into the nursery to potty before bed.

This house is pretty, but I'm waiting for someone in the Building Requests thread to pick mine and build a new one. The two stories of this house are too much; I need just one. I also need larger, less cluttered rooms built with traffic flow and kids in mind and less with aesthetics.

I'm only good at aesthetics.

What's that you say? Where's the baby?

I have a secret for you.

PILLOWFIGHT!

Just kidding. There is no baby for this installment. I made a decision . . .

Peer pressure.

"Hey, Mojo, you wanna be cool? You wanna be real?"

Just say no, Mojo.

"I got this for you. It's called potion. I took 4,500 simoleons from Mom's purse. It's good stuff! All the real kids are doing it."

This took about an hour. Very boring, but very sparkly.

"Whoa, Mojo, that does a whole lot more for you than it does for me."

And he's real, ladies & gentlemen!

Mojo is kid #4. I don't know if this really counts, but hey, I'm pretty sure I can make up any rules I want. Also, the kids are already going to have to come up in bunches, so I figured I shouldn't turn down a ready made kid.

But just so you know, Melinda and Monkey have been slaving away, trying to get Malachai a rainbow gem. We had eight, but I sold them. Then I decided to make the IFs real. It took a very long time, but Monkey finally came through with a gem.

Mia sees right through this guy.

Mojo's traits are Workaholic, Party Animal and Angler.

I would totally have guessed Whiny, Demanding and Selfish (or Neurotic, Mean-spirited and Neat.)

The good news is that he'll probably be much more tolerable as a real boy than he was as an IF.

So that's it for now. Micah is just nine days from a birthday, which would both free up a crib for another baby and make his IF available to make real. Which will it be? You'll have to read and find out. (Probably both.) Outtakes below. Thanks for reading!