My Miserable Sims -- Advice, Please! UPDATED: How It Turned Out!
UPDATE TO THE STORY: It had to happen. After going back and re-reading all I'd ever written about William and Bonnie since they married, the misery was overwhelming. Today, they divorced. Bonnie moved out. William has made a couple changes. First, he hired Naomi Hemphill, an elderly woman who was a live-in housekeeper/nanny for another divorced father before he remarried. She's patient, she's good with children, and she doesn't mind cleaning up messes. Second, William got a full-time job (business career) and will continue his photography business on the side, as time allows.
The three children are doing well, and the atmosphere around the house is so much more pleasant. William has been sad, but at Mrs. Hemphill's urging he's kept busy with physical fitness activities and by sharing his feelings through an online blog.
The surprising thing was that Bonnie showed up at the door only hours later. She hugged the children, and she and William even shared a sad embrace. She realizes that she can't care for the children, but she obviously still wants to be a part of their lives. She and William and Mrs. Hemphill sat down together and had a quiet, civil conversation.
https://i.imgur.com/uXazalj.png?1
On behalf of William and Bonnie, I'd like to thank everyone who offered advice on this very unhappy situation.
---------------------------------------HERE'S HOW IT BEGAN:
William Sorensen is a miserable sim. He's never been too happy, really. He was part of a highly-dysfunctional family I created in CAS many rotations ago. I created a man who hates children, called him a widower, and left him with 7 children to raise, many of them with mean or evil traits. He had only his small salary from the business world, and needless to say, it was a struggle. But, it was interesting, and it's been even more interesting to see how their upbringing (or lack thereof) has affected the six remaining children (one died as a teen).
For William, he decided early on that he didn't want to get married and have a family. He's a loner, but even loners get lonely on occasion, and (with a little prodding from me) he finally -- at the age of 30 -- settled into a relationship with Bonnie. He was hesitant about it, but as she began spending more time at his place, he decided it would be all right if she moved in. There were no plans for marriage or children. Bonnie doesn't even like children.
Well, William soon realized that living with Bonnie wasn't what he wanted. He was on the verge of telling her it was over and that she needed to move out when Bonnie made an announcement of her own. She was pregnant. Now, my family play is a bit conservative and old-fashioned. While I may occasionally have sims living together like Bonnie and William, I generally steer them toward marriage whenever possible, especially if the stork is about to visit. So, William dutifully married Bonnie, feeling all along like it was a big mistake.
After Heaven arrived (where the game came up with that name, I have no idea) Bonnie proved to be totally unfit as a mother. BTW, she was working as a DJ. William does freelance photography. The house was a wreck, Bonnie paid little attention to the baby, and William grew unhappier by the moment. For a while, Bonnie did try to be a good wife and mother, but she just doesn't have those loving, maternal instincts.
So, William knew he had to put an end to the marriage. But, guess what. Before he could talk to Bonnie, she announced that once again she was pregnant. And this time, she had twins.
The family has been struggling along. They have 800 simoleons to their name, three toddlers now, and it's an awful mess! The children are filthy, always near starving, always exhausted, always with their "need attention" bars in the red. The potty chairs aren't emptied, dirty dishes aren't picked up, there's food on the floor, and messes everywhere. William tries, but he can't keep up with the mess, and he's got no time to work. Bonnie doesn't seem to care about him or the children.
FWIW, yes, their love bars are still nearly full, so there's still a physical attraction there, but William really can't take this any longer. (Neither can I.)
So, he's exploring options:
(A) Stay together, tough it out, and be miserable.
(B) Tell Bonnie to take the children and go.
(C) Keep the children and tell Bonnie to move out.
(D) Walk away and never look back.
(E) Give up his photography business, get a 9 to 5 job, hire a maid to clean and a nanny to care for the children. Maybe then they could make the marriage work. But, is it worth saving?
He realizes now that marrying Bonnie was the biggest mistake he's ever made in his life, but what's to be done now? Your thoughts, please? What advice would you give poor William?
(I should have taken a screenshot, but I managed to get the house relatively clean before I exited. You wouldn't have believed what a mess it was.)
The three children are doing well, and the atmosphere around the house is so much more pleasant. William has been sad, but at Mrs. Hemphill's urging he's kept busy with physical fitness activities and by sharing his feelings through an online blog.
The surprising thing was that Bonnie showed up at the door only hours later. She hugged the children, and she and William even shared a sad embrace. She realizes that she can't care for the children, but she obviously still wants to be a part of their lives. She and William and Mrs. Hemphill sat down together and had a quiet, civil conversation.
https://i.imgur.com/uXazalj.png?1
On behalf of William and Bonnie, I'd like to thank everyone who offered advice on this very unhappy situation.
---------------------------------------HERE'S HOW IT BEGAN:
William Sorensen is a miserable sim. He's never been too happy, really. He was part of a highly-dysfunctional family I created in CAS many rotations ago. I created a man who hates children, called him a widower, and left him with 7 children to raise, many of them with mean or evil traits. He had only his small salary from the business world, and needless to say, it was a struggle. But, it was interesting, and it's been even more interesting to see how their upbringing (or lack thereof) has affected the six remaining children (one died as a teen).
For William, he decided early on that he didn't want to get married and have a family. He's a loner, but even loners get lonely on occasion, and (with a little prodding from me) he finally -- at the age of 30 -- settled into a relationship with Bonnie. He was hesitant about it, but as she began spending more time at his place, he decided it would be all right if she moved in. There were no plans for marriage or children. Bonnie doesn't even like children.
Well, William soon realized that living with Bonnie wasn't what he wanted. He was on the verge of telling her it was over and that she needed to move out when Bonnie made an announcement of her own. She was pregnant. Now, my family play is a bit conservative and old-fashioned. While I may occasionally have sims living together like Bonnie and William, I generally steer them toward marriage whenever possible, especially if the stork is about to visit. So, William dutifully married Bonnie, feeling all along like it was a big mistake.
After Heaven arrived (where the game came up with that name, I have no idea) Bonnie proved to be totally unfit as a mother. BTW, she was working as a DJ. William does freelance photography. The house was a wreck, Bonnie paid little attention to the baby, and William grew unhappier by the moment. For a while, Bonnie did try to be a good wife and mother, but she just doesn't have those loving, maternal instincts.
So, William knew he had to put an end to the marriage. But, guess what. Before he could talk to Bonnie, she announced that once again she was pregnant. And this time, she had twins.
The family has been struggling along. They have 800 simoleons to their name, three toddlers now, and it's an awful mess! The children are filthy, always near starving, always exhausted, always with their "need attention" bars in the red. The potty chairs aren't emptied, dirty dishes aren't picked up, there's food on the floor, and messes everywhere. William tries, but he can't keep up with the mess, and he's got no time to work. Bonnie doesn't seem to care about him or the children.
FWIW, yes, their love bars are still nearly full, so there's still a physical attraction there, but William really can't take this any longer. (Neither can I.)
So, he's exploring options:
(A) Stay together, tough it out, and be miserable.
(B) Tell Bonnie to take the children and go.
(C) Keep the children and tell Bonnie to move out.
(D) Walk away and never look back.
(E) Give up his photography business, get a 9 to 5 job, hire a maid to clean and a nanny to care for the children. Maybe then they could make the marriage work. But, is it worth saving?
He realizes now that marrying Bonnie was the biggest mistake he's ever made in his life, but what's to be done now? Your thoughts, please? What advice would you give poor William?
(I should have taken a screenshot, but I managed to get the house relatively clean before I exited. You wouldn't have believed what a mess it was.)
