Worst Nanny Ever

[aharris]

I have one family that calls the nanny and gets the promise that one will show up, but then the nanny never comes. Then the parent in question has to burn a vacation day in order to compensate. I'm lucky mom had 7 days, but now she's down to 3 and a fortune sim besides. How do I get my useless nanny to show and be useless in the house like she's supposed to be?

[J. M. Pescado]

You're right, that's a pretty bad nanny. Personally, recall something that works even better than the nanny, particularly for children: Don't call for a nanny, call over a relative: I recall they seem to fulfill the "adult in house" requirement, will not terrorize your house, preparing useless meals, and peeing all over the floor, and what's more, it never hurts to have your kids on friendly terms with their relatives. Plus, they arrive much faster! Unlike a nanny, where if you call one over, will take an hour to arrive, a relative will hike over in a matter of minutes when invited. Last but not least, because they're family, they won't insult you.

If you just want more vacation days, though, pop out another sprog. Your mom will then be placed on leave and free to lounge around the house for a few days, and you'll get some more vacation days.

[aharris]

I'll remember the relative advice, thanks. But, I definitely don't want to get this mom preggers again! She kept her fun, food, and sleep bars all in the red the whole time. I've got some lovely pics of her passed out in the grimy bathroom like a drug addict in a park toilet.

It's a wonder I didn't kill her with the pregnancy.

[J. M. Pescado]

Oh, come now, it's not THAT hard, is it? If it's really such a problem, you could just green up and then meditate through the entire thing.

[aharris]

No, it actually was. Those bars bottomed out as soon as the belly started to show, and it was a delicate juggling act between sleeping just enough to make and eat some food before passing out and maybe getting some tube time in. Then I'd sleep a little and have my bladder and food bars bottoming out again. No wonder they get cranky and have no fun when there other needs are screwball like that.

To be fair, all of my sim pregnancies have been different. Some are very easy and others are hard like this one. I think the game is designed to make some difficult because a sim all green at the beginning of her second pregnancy who had an easy first pregnancy can go through hell the next time.

I say this based on the 18 pregnancies I've had in my neighborhood to date.

[J. M. Pescado]

No, it actually was. Those bars bottomed out as soon as the belly started to show, and it was a delicate juggling act between sleeping just enough to make and eat some food before passing out and maybe getting some tube time in. Then I'd sleep a little and have my bladder and food bars bottoming out again. No wonder they get cranky and have no fun when there other needs are screwball like that.

To be fair, all of my sim pregnancies have been different. Some are very easy and others are hard like this one. I think the game is designed to make some difficult because a sim all green at the beginning of her second pregnancy who had an easy first pregnancy can go through hell the next time.
I've never quite had one go that badly. I know that some are a little more demanding than most, but usually, they turn out just fine bouncing between the food->toilet->wash cycle, and then parking either by going to sleep, or in front of some sort of fun activity. I've never had one become a "juggling act". It may help if you enter in good condition, rather than starting out with already low bars, though. I generally keep my sims in good shape by the time they're breeding, and I've never had this problem. Obviously, if you're having a sim churn out sprogs while living on lawn furniture, your mileage will vary.

[sexierjess14]

well you gotten a better nanny than I did, my nanny wouldn't leave my sims house and stayed over like she was a permanent housemate and to make matters worst, the next day a new nanny arrived so I was stuck with two nannies :eek: just that one lives in my house and annoys the sim wife :( and to make things worst again, the nanny got stuck in my house (bug problem) and I had to use the cheat to delete her lolx :p

[aharris]

I think the game has different levels of pregnancy difficulty set in it just like it has different chances of sudden death while pregnant. Sometimes, the sim's condition changes radically between pregnancy stages. When the belly inflates, I could go from hemorraghing needs bars to bars that actually maintain their levels a bit better or even close to normal.

As an example, I've had sims who had no morning sickness whatsoever, sims who merely burped and looked nauseated, and sims who spewed their guts up (one actually managed it three times in the space of an hour sim-time). And, a sim who wasn't morning sick with the first pregnancy could be with the next regardless of where their needs are at as far as I can tell.
Of course, it is true that I never played the game specifically to get the most efficient life possible for my sims. I always figured that my life isn't efficient, so why should their lives be? :)

[Mirelly]

I agree with aharris. There are definitely many levels of pregnancy. I've seen at least 3 variations. Also, as IRL, a sim ought to be in good shape before embarking on motherhood. Anything less than gold is gonna make things difficult. Unlike RL tho, sims have the wonderful aspiration reward: the Energizer! (Just don't try it if you ain't got gold ... oh man! I did once and it was soooooo funny, I laughed till I cried ... mostly I was crying because I was remembering how long it had been since I'd saved .... :p )

[J. M. Pescado]

I agree with aharris. There are definitely many levels of pregnancy. I've seen at least 3 variations.I've seen some variations of this also, some more challenging than others, but I don't think I've encountered one as brutal as the scenario aharris describes, where the mother barely survives the attempt. Sure, it hasn't always been the most pleasant tour, but I've never had it become a near-death experience. I also suspect that Sims with better Active ratings tolerate this better than lazier Sims...given my preference towards Active sims, it carries a certain bias in breeding as well, as I tend to breed actives with other actives so that the children are more energetic. Because sleep is for sissies! If only there was a more purified source of caffeine in the game, rather than that weak and watery substance that passes for coffee, my Sims would probably never sleep. Like me, you know? They'd also probably spend most of their time twitching as if they were experiencing an epileptic seizure, but that's a price I'm willing to pay.

Also, as IRL, a sim ought to be in good shape before embarking on motherhood. Anything less than gold is gonna make things difficult.Aspirational state is certainly good, but in this case, mood condition is probably worth a little more than aspirational status....not that you're likely to start off far short of platinum, given that the creation of children tends to begin with the Flirt->Makeout->Woohoo chain....

Unlike RL tho, sims have the wonderful aspiration reward: the Energizer! (Just don't try it if you ain't got gold ... oh man!I steered away from the energizer in pregnancy after one unexplained incident where a Sim, after using it, and receiving the benefits (not a malfunction), spontaneously dropped dead for no apparent reason upon returning home from shopping for food. Given that nothing appeared to be wrong with her, she just got out of the taxi, then suddenly started choking and dropped over dead, I figured maybe the Energizer was to blame, seeing as it's something which, in real life, probably would come with a warning label discouraging its use by pregnant women, children under 12, and people with heart conditions.

I did once and it was soooooo funny, I laughed till I cried ... mostly I was crying because I was remembering how long it had been since I'd saved .... :p )Don't you miss CRTL-S? Does the bizarre and inexplicable removal of this handy shortcut key baffle you to no end?

[Rowanstaff]

You are so lucky the nanny didn't show.

You see you saved yourself the trouble of coming home to a urine covered, messy, roach infested house that is on fire. That's how all my nanny's have "helped". :mad:

Now I just make families with a planned stay at home adult character.

[Kristalrose]

No, it actually was. Those bars bottomed out as soon as the belly started to show, and it was a delicate juggling act between sleeping just enough to make and eat some food before passing out and maybe getting some tube time in. Then I'd sleep a little and have my bladder and food bars bottoming out again. No wonder they get cranky and have no fun when there other needs are screwball like that.

To be fair, all of my sim pregnancies have been different. Some are very easy and others are hard like this one. I think the game is designed to make some difficult because a sim all green at the beginning of her second pregnancy who had an easy first pregnancy can go through hell the next time.

I say this based on the 18 pregnancies I've had in my neighborhood to date.
I have experienced that as well. I had a Sim who's bars began to botom out the 1st morning after she became pregnant. I finally put a fridge in her bedroom and let her snack on Instant Meals because at one point she did drop dead and had to be saved from the grim reaper by her husband.

Another sim, Kaylynn the dark-headed maid, had a totally perfect pregnancy with no morning sickness, no real fatigue, and had a very easy time of it.

Then there's my favorite sim, poor Mavis, who had one relatively hard pregnancy and one easier, but tired all the time, pregnancy.

I think there are a lot of factors that control who has an easy pregnancy and who doesn't. I find my Sims who are naturally more "lazy" show more fatigue. It also seems to me that their logic bars might play a factor. Smarter sims seem to do well.

I have so far had 10 Sim pregnancies. I have only seen the spontaneous death once so far. The rest of them have ranged from perfect to micromananging every second of her life to make sure she doesn't starve/pee/pass out.

[Cyricc]

I've had my share of good/bad pregnancies as well. Some are picture-perfect, some are nearly perfect, only blemished by the odd barf in the morning, and some just destroy the mom... An especially hard one had my Sim's nearly-full hunger bar bottom out over the span of 5 hours, in her sleep. Died before I realized what was happening (I was micromanaging another Sim on another floor, still thinking all was well). Loaded the game after that and gave her a good meal, after which both bladder and hygiene desperation appeared in her queue.

Some are good, some can be an absolute nightmare.

[aharris]

I think my favorite pregnancy side-effect so far is when she gets gassy. She burps and farts all over the place, and if she offends anyone with the smell, they have the thought bubble for "baby" come up over their heads with the question mark in it.

[J. M. Pescado]

I have so far had 10 Sim pregnancies. I have only seen the spontaneous death once so far. The rest of them have ranged from perfect to micromananging every second of her life to make sure she doesn't starve/pee/pass out.Okay, maybe I don't notice this at all, then, because I always do that with all my sims, pregnant or not.

[sexierjess14]

so far my sim moms aren't facing any problems during pregnancy, they only "throw up" about 2-3 times on the first day of pregnancy and the rest of the days they are fine, the only problem they face is they get tired easily compared to when they aren't pregnant. Therefore my sim moms always goes to bed and all I did was make sure her bladder,fun and everything is in the green and overall she's like a normal sim just that she gets tired easier :p

[Cassiepeia]

Most of my sim pregnancies have been fine, there is the occasional break down from a sim who has 3-5 kids already and hasn't hired a "nanny from hell" to help out, but apart from that no problems. Until now...recently my favourite sim (thank the gods I saved it just a few minutes before!) dropped dead of starvation even though she went to bed so full that in real life she'd probably have to roll to bed. LOL She woke up at 3am and went to the kitchen to make some omlettes for the family and 'smack' she drops dead!! The grim reaper looks very cool in this version, though. It was kinda neat seeing him, but good gods... she couldn't eat anymore then she did right before she went to sleep and she wakes up a few hours later and she's starving (literally) to death?? This was her 3rd pregnancy. Like I said before, thank goodness I saved before she went to bed the night before she died, so I still have her in my game but geez it was hard keeping her happy until her bub arrived. Now she's super mum. :D And she wants 10 kids. ROFL A glutten for punishment I guess.

Cass. :cheeky:

[J. M. Pescado]

Most of my sim pregnancies have been fine, there is the occasional break down from a sim who has 3-5 kids already and hasn't hired a "nanny from hell" to help out, but apart from that no problems.Unless those 3-5 kids are toddlers, I don't see the nightmare. Once a Sim hits the "child" age, it's pretty much an independently operable subunit. The fact that you have MULTIPLES means they keep themselves pretty much entertained, and with the mother eating as much as she does pregnant, "serve food" more or less keeps everyone fed. The children more or less take care of themselves. And with *3-5*, I'm sure SOME of them are probably teens, which means they're basically entirely independent, able to handle just about anything, including any toddlers.

Until now...recently my favourite sim (thank the gods I saved it just a few minutes before!) dropped dead of starvation even though she went to bed so full that in real life she'd probably have to roll to bed. LOL She woke up at 3am and went to the kitchen to make some omlettes for the family and 'smack' she drops dead!!Spontaneous death has been known to occur in pregnant Sims for no really apparent reason. I've had a Sim which was nearly fully green, while selected, just suddenly DROP DEAD. So this can't be explained by some need nosediving the moment my back was turned, as I had her SELECTED AS THE ACTIVE SIM when she DROPPED DEAD with nearly all needs full. Needless to say, I was quite baffled. So maybe that's your problem, spontaneous death syndrome.

The Nanny From Hell, however, is a mistake! Don't hire the nanny from Hell when your mother is pregnant: You already *HAVE* a stay-at-home Sim in that case, and the Nanny From Hell generally requires the efforts of at least two Sims to keep her from wrecking the house. She's way worse than even a toddler, and you just don't want to deal with this stress, well...ever. But particularly not when your sole adult sim who will be present is pregnant.

[sexierjess14]

wow! thank God none of my sim moms ever had a sudden death, I would prolly stone at my pc and maybe faint *especially if she died when she was in a green mood :eek:

[Cassiepeia]

Unless those 3-5 kids are toddlers, I don't see the nightmare. Once a Sim hits the "child" age, it's pretty much an independently operable subunit. The fact that you have MULTIPLES means they keep themselves pretty much entertained, and with the mother eating as much as she does pregnant, "serve food" more or less keeps everyone fed. The children more or less take care of themselves. And with *3-5*, I'm sure SOME of them are probably teens, which means they're basically entirely independent, able to handle just about anything, including any toddlers.
You don't see it because your not playing my game. Although it may be difficult for you to believe, not everyone is an expert at this game and can occasionally find it a little challenging to control a large family of sims, even though they created a large family on purpose (hey, half the fun is the challenge). Apologies if I sound rude, but so did you.


Spontaneous death has been known to occur in pregnant Sims for no really apparent reason. I've had a Sim which was nearly fully green, while selected, just suddenly DROP DEAD. So this can't be explained by some need nosediving the moment my back was turned, as I had her SELECTED AS THE ACTIVE SIM when she DROPPED DEAD with nearly all needs full. Needless to say, I was quite baffled. So maybe that's your problem, spontaneous death syndrome.
I was pretty baffled too, it was so weird. I did have her selected though, it wasn't someone elses needs I was reading, but yes I suspect you are absolutely right. I just hope none of my other simmies decide to drop dead like that. LOL :D :p


The Nanny From Hell, however, is a mistake! Don't hire the nanny from Hell when your mother is pregnant: You already *HAVE* a stay-at-home Sim in that case, and the Nanny From Hell generally requires the efforts of at least two Sims to keep her from wrecking the house. She's way worse than even a toddler, and you just don't want to deal with this stress, well...ever. But particularly not when your sole adult sim who will be present is pregnant.I only hire the nanny when the kids are at the children stage now. I agree with you, you don't really need a nanny when they're in the baby and toddler stage. I have to say, I've never had a problem with the nannies though. I've only ever found them helpful (unless of course they won't get out of my sims way.. but that's no big deal). I hope I don't hire a bad one. All these nanny from hell stories worry me. LOL

Cass. :bunny:

[J. M. Pescado]

You don't see it because your not playing my game. Although it may be difficult for you to believe, not everyone is an expert at this game and can occasionally find it a little challenging to control a large family of sims, even though they created a large family on purpose (hey, half the fun is the challenge). Apologies if I sound rude, but so did you.Hah! You'll have to do better than that if you want to offend me!

I only hire the nanny when the kids are at the children stage now. I agree with you, you don't really need a nanny when they're in the baby and toddler stage. I have to say, I've never had a problem with the nannies though. I've only ever found them helpful (unless of course they won't get out of my sims way.. but that's no big deal). I hope I don't hire a bad one. All these nanny from hell stories worry me. LOLThe nanny is every bit as useless in child stage, since at this point, children don't actually have any needs the nanny COULD actually attempt to satisfy, as children are both controllable, and independently capable of satisfying all of their needs. The only need they cannot EFFICIENTLY satisfy is hunger, but even there, they can feed themselves well enough to avoid starvation. The nanny is basically entirely useless at all stages: Babies, the nanny cannot handle because her only solution to everything is to psychotically forcefeed the baby until it pukes. Toddlers, same problem. Children simply don't need anything she can do. The nanny is completely useless. The only service she can provide is the "adult on lot" requirement, which is more or less completely hokey, but you can satisfy this ridiculousness with even a visitor, who, I might add, will appear with far greater promptness than a nanny, will not charge you money, and will actually be useful and not terrorize your house.

[aharris]

I think the worst nanny shenanigan I've had so far is the one where the toddler was positioned wrong to take the bottle from the nanny plus he was playing at something and not hungry at all so he didn't go for the bottle after she stopped griping and put it down. I then watched to see what she would do. She got about 8 bottles out of my refrigerator before the toddler stopped playing and went for bottle #9. I know I could have stopped it by controlling the toddler, but I wanted to see what would happen. Have you seen what 8 stinky green bottles does to an environment bar? It ain't pretty!

[J. M. Pescado]

I know I could have stopped it by controlling the toddler, but I wanted to see what would happen. Have you seen what 8 stinky green bottles does to an environment bar? It ain't pretty!Controlling the toddler would have absolutely no effect. The nanny would continue to fetch unwanted, unsolicited bottles over and over no matter what you did. You'd think coding the nanny AI would be brain-dead simple for toddlers, given that a toddler is capable of making its own requests to satisfy needs, so the nanny merely needs to wander the house until it receives a request, but obviously, Maxis didn't think it over that much.

[Mirelly]

LOL The nanny sure is a pain in the backside. I've hardly used her since the first time. The only exceptions have been when I sent a newly pregnant mom to work to get a promo before she began maternity leave at the higher salary. I've lost count of the number of babies I've raised in game and haven't lost a single one to the SS social worker. The hardest part, sometimes, is when junior starts school and Mater and Pater are still at work but there are ways around that.

One obvious solution is to befriend the nanny and get her to move in ... bingo! You got a free nanny and some cash and you can control her. You can use her cash buy her a cheap bed to sleep on (alongside junior's cot) ... obviously you just chuck her out on the streets when you don't need her any more. She would then remain a family friend ... a helpful bonus for career sims.

Well ... it's just a thought. ;)

[J. M. Pescado]

Heh, well, here's a sadistically hard challenge for people to try:

You have: One single mother, a Romance sim at that, with an intermittent on/off fear of baby-related things, and certainly absolutely no wants to do anything with themm them being a pair of twins to be born imminently. A scuzzy house worth about $18K at purchase time, that happens to be rather cramped, and is furnished with a midrange couch, bookshelf, good full bathroom and kitchen, and the crappiest double bed. Two baby cribs. No interior paint or flooring, just bare walls and foundation. A working budget of about $1000. One energizer and a smart milk dispenser. See above with regards to maintaining Gold. A job as a professional party guest, but a mere 3 vacation days which will be received after maternity leave, but all of the early maternity leave money was pocketed by ex-husband, leaving you with one day of income: the working budget of $1000 mentioned above. And just in case you thought this would be too easy....the mother also has the jumping chat bug.

Do: Make sure both kids grow up well, having learned all toddler skills, and at least 8 skillpoints apiece by childhood, and at least 20 total by teen.

Don't: Die, go crazy, have mom pee herself, or use the nanny.

Encore: Get both kids into private school when they become children on Saturday evening.

Anyone think they can handle this one? This is my hardest game to date. Or anyone have a harder scenario I should try?

[Cassiepeia]

Hah! You'll have to do better than that if you want to offend me!
LOL Good to hear! :D

The nanny is every bit as useless in child stage, since at this point, children don't actually have any needs the nanny COULD actually attempt to satisfy, as children are both controllable, and independently capable of satisfying all of their needs. The only need they cannot EFFICIENTLY satisfy is hunger, but even there, they can feed themselves well enough to avoid starvation. The nanny is basically entirely useless at all stages: Babies, the nanny cannot handle because her only solution to everything is to psychotically forcefeed the baby until it pukes. Toddlers, same problem. Children simply don't need anything she can do. The nanny is completely useless. The only service she can provide is the "adult on lot" requirement, which is more or less completely hokey, but you can satisfy this ridiculousness with even a visitor, who, I might add, will appear with far greater promptness than a nanny, will not charge you money, and will actually be useful and not terrorize your house. Yes I don't really understand why she feeds them so much. I wonder if maxis will eventually fix her to make her more useful? :rolleyes: I doubt it. LOL As for the idea of inviting a visitor over to be on the lot when the parents go to work. I've tried this 4 times now(with friends, bestfriends and relatives) and it hasn't worked once. Oh well, I'll stick with hiring the nanny for that job (yes that's the only reason I hire her). It's no big deal to me.

Cass. :bunny:

[J. M. Pescado]

LOL Good to hear! :D
Yes I don't really understand why she feeds them so much. I wonder if maxis will eventually fix her to make her more useful? :rolleyes: I doubt it. LOLI concur. Maxis's incompetence in such matters is well known and runs as far back as TS1, so I wouldn't expect a fix. The nanny will always be useless, except when buried alive in the basement.

As for the idea of inviting a visitor over to be on the lot when the parents go to work. I've tried this 4 times now(with friends, bestfriends and relatives) and it hasn't worked once. Oh well, I'll stick with hiring the nanny for that job (yes that's the only reason I hire her). It's no big deal to me.

Cass. :bunny:Yeah, it stopped working for me as well in new families, but it continues to work perfectly fine with one family. Either this is some weird flukey bug, or I have an invisible nanny trapped on my lot somewhere, and I can't see it, but it still functions. That, or it's the dead nanny's ghost.