Well I did finally resolve the issue well: used the aspiration reward object ReNuYu Senso Orb to recombobulate the aspiration which changed the wish...now he wants to be a Media Magnate. And then got the six sons successfully off to college and might even go back and play them, but that's a lot of people to get through uni at once. I did take a personal interest in one of the younger generation I sent off to uni, though: Hemlock Lovelace. He has the Lifetime Wish to become a Mad Scientist, so I think I can't pass up that opportunity!
Thanks, @EgonVM for the insight about a Literature degree being the only one that supports Space Pirate as a career. I wish a Lit degree could do that in real life! :) And for the other bits of advice and insight. I didn't realize how very little I knew about Sims2, but am grateful to learn.
Currently my long-suffering couple got stuck in limbo buying their vacation home in Twikii Island. They never seem to have arrived, and it just takes me to the vacation home, in build/buy mode, with no live mode available, but back home in Belladonna Cove it says they're at Twikii Island. I haven't figured out how to get out of that jam yet, but that's a separate post.
I like your suggestion, @Seera1024, of Sims Ideal Family Size from ACR. I use a few of their other mods (to stabilize the game I think) so I'll have to go looking for that one. It sounds more realistic, anyway, as well as a good way to protect against desires for crazy-high-numbers of kids that seems to be a peril of the Family Aspiration. I'd like a sim to want a family once in a while without wanting to have their own reality show :D
