I don't cheat up their skills. They have to earn them themselves. But I do have a skill lock that I use for stories. Not everyone should be able to become an amazing chef just from cooking dinner every night. Some people still suck at art no matter how many pictures they draw. Some people will never be a master athlete. So I lock certain skills for certain Sims when they get to a specific level so that they can't level up anymore. I play on Long Life mode and it's boring having a bunch of Sims that are all amazing at everything. Different people have different skills.
