Wheels

Round 11: Spring 2016


Ben Cooper is 38, Denise is 30, Riley is 6 and Liam is 4.
(Sam is 38 and Grace is 33.)

Narrated by Ben Cooper

I'm only working 3 days a week at the moment and Denise only works 2 days a week so that one of us is always at home with the kids. We'll probably start working full-time again next year when Liam starts school. This system is working for us and luckily both our bosses have agreed to this settlement.

I usually get some work done during the day while Liam keeps himself occupied with the activity table.

He usually takes a nap in the afternoon before Riley comes home from school so that he'll have energy to play with his big brother.

Denise usually puts the kids to bed in the evenings. She's a much better bedtime storyteller so I gladly let her do that.

We try to steal a moment for ourselves whenever we can. We both want a third child but we've agreed to wait and see how we feel in a few years. Our lives are busy enough right now without having another baby.

I usually try to leave home quite early on my workdays so that I don't have to stay at the office very late. Denise always laughs when I kiss her goodbye.

"I feel like a housewife in the 50's - kissing the hubby goodbye before he goes to work and then cleaning the house and cooking meals".

Denise usually makes the breakfast even when I'm the one who stays home. She's never been a very domestic person but I think she's started to enjoy cooking.

Riley would rather stay home with Liam so Denise usually has to usher him to finish his breakfast so that he doesn't miss the schoolbus.

I think he enjoys seeing his friends at school but the studying part is not as fun for him. I always check in the evening if he's done his homework and more than once it's lying untouched on his desk. He always does it in the end but with a lot of whining and muttering.

Denise hates cleaning but she tidies the place up a bit every day. I'm not a neat-freak either but I like a clean apartment.

Denise reads books about the city administration while Liam takes a nap. He always naps on our bed when she's home. When I'm home he prefers the sofa so that he can see me working in the office.

We invited Sam and Grace for an impromptu dinner one evening. They haven't gotten out of the house much without the kids since James was born but Grace's father was babysitting so they knew their kids were in good hands. And they live right across the street so they would've gotten quickly back home anyway if there was an emergency.

Denise and Grace went to college together and they've been good friends ever since so they have a lot to talk about. Sam and I took a dip in the pool and then went upstairs to check on a houseplan I've been working on. I've heard rumors that the city might bulldoze this building and build a new one. I would love to design the new building but I don't know if I'm experienced enough.

We've talked about moving to a different building lately. Just the other night Riley woke up because our next door neighbor was playing music so loudly at 4 am!

I found him reading a book about robots when I went downstairs to wake him up. I think it's time to start looking for a new place to live.


Extras:

This photo didn't really fit anywhere in the update but I snapped a picture of Ben and Sam together and... well aren't they just handsome?! They don't look like each other very much but not all siblings do anyway. Sam needs a makeover because he looks a bit too boyish for a 38-year-old.

Notes:

• Title from "Wheels" by Foo Fighters
• I've locked the want for another baby for both Ben and Denise. I might unlock them though to see if they roll it again. They do try for a baby even though she's using BC. No ooops-babies so far :)
• I've been wanting to move the Coopers and the Harris-Burrows family into a different building for some time. This lot is so big that it causes some lag and I don't really like 3-storey apartments anyway. I found some great Maxis lot makeovers at Anna's Sims so I might replace this building with one of hers.
• I've added a couple of new posts to the sidebar and also moved the links around a bit to make it less messy. I'm still planning to start doing lot tours (I promise!) but I want to finish this round first.