Atlas ISBI 2: Enter Nanny Gandhi

Welcome back to The Atlas ISBI, my newest project! Last chapter we met our first torch holder, Roman Atlas, pictured here with a *spoiler* son. He married Miko Ojo, who is so bright that she cleaned the playground until she wet herself, necessitating a move to Windenburg. Finally, a little girl named Georgia joined the family and grew up into an adorable red-headed independent sprite. That brings us up to date. Read on to see the further adventures of the Atlas clan . . .

Almost a week into the challenge and we have our first broken item. I sprung for mid-level plumbing and appliances to try to avoid those toilets that break if you look at them wrong that my legacy founders always get. It's nice having a little money. Roman earns his first handiness skill point, likely the first of many before he passes the torch.

For the second time in young Georgia's life, Miko has willingly interacted with her only child. Miko just does her own thing and leaves the parenting to Roman.

Georgia would not stop making messes and I was having Roman stop fixing the toilet every time to correct her, which did help with his parenting skill, but she would just go make another mess despite having toys and a tablet to play with. I realized that character values might be a lost cause in an ISBI. This was also early after Parenthood, and I believe they later tuned the mess making to be a little less frequent.

Roman: "Please, Georgia. Please stop making messes. Stop."

Georgia: "Oh, you did not just tell me what to do!"

Toddlers are basically sociopaths and that's apparently developmentally okay for a while, so true to life, I guess. That face, though.

Miko: "Ugh, I'm so uncomfortable! This room is awful!"

So maybe clean it?

Miko: "I would, but I'm so uncomfortable!"

A little family photo with Georgia safely contained in her high chair. Things are quickly getting messy (pun very intended), so maybe we need a little help. I know that having service sims invalidates "hard mode" for this challenge, but you know what? Screw hard mode.

Enter Nanny Gandhi. That's his last name. I don't know what his first name is. He is Nanny Gandhi. I hired him before remembering that I had Roman take family leave, so Nanny Gandhi cleaned up while Roman go to focus on himself for a little while.

However, Nanny Gandhi couldn't be torn from his mopping long enough to feed the hungry toddler, so it's a good thing Roman was home after all. Yes, we really did have so many messes that that's pretty much all he did for his entire shift. At this point, it would have made more sense to, I don't know, pressure wash the entire house or just burn it down or something.

Roman: "So Georgia ages up in six days. I was thinking that made it the perfect time to have another baby."
Miko: "Ooh, I love it when you talk logistics to me, baby."

A successful first try results in baby #2 on the way. I'm trying to avoid ever having more than one toddler at a time.

Just a little bit of cuteness. Becoming pregnant reminded Miko that she was already a mother, so she decided to do something about it.

A miracle for the ages: Miko contributing to Georgia's upbringing. Of course, Georgia didn't have to go just then, having recently used the potty on her own, but we're going to give effort points here.

Georgia: "Momma, why?"

Nanny Gandhi, once the house had been scrubbed, took some time to get to know Georgia, and they got along pretty well.

Nanny Gandhi: "So you see, young one, your rebellion against the floor might better be redirected into nonviolent resistance to the carpeting."

Roman: "Gah! Fire! Miko, do something!"
Miko: "Not noooooooow. I'm playing games!"

Miko failed to care for a while, then eventually grabbed Georgia, who was just out of this shot and thus within the danger zone, and ran outside. Luckily, Roman was just scorched and not actually on fire himself, and he managed to put out the stove. We lost the stove and a counter, and insurance provided half the cost of just the stove. Thanks, insurance.

-10

Lookin' good, Vivaan. That EA accessory bug has got you covered - literally.

Miko sometimes earns her keep as a spouse. She cleans up after her own morning sickness, so that's something.

The house got a mini renovation and I decorated the outside better. It's basically just a box now, but the inside is better.

I added a nursery and a small studio for Roman, as well as enlarged the bathroom. Their house needs to reflect their growing family.

The main reason for the update was to get the studio so I could control Roman's mood with inspiring décor that he was earning in his career. This helps him make "excellent" paintings for his aspiration.

Sigh, another fail. Dirty diaper.

-5

Miko has both her bladder and energy bars in the red because she likes waking up in the middle of the night before work and then staying up, and also she's pregnant. What will she do to solve this conundrum?

Why, try to take a nap, wake up to use the bathroom, but pass out on the way there, of course. Fail.

-5

After that little mishap, she successfully got to the toilet then made it to her bed for a more solid nap, which she chose over sleeping because circadian rhythms are for losers.

Meanwhile, Georgia is raising hell on the back side of the house outside, but at this point I just don't care about these messes as I seem to have little to no capacity to influence or keep up with them presently.

It's that time again! Miko rips the side of her shirt out trying to crack her back.

Apparently you can't use PTO during a "situation," so Roman had to call in fake sick so he could be with his wife.

Roman: "Of course I'm really sick. I'm at the hospital!"

Everything's in place, including our panicking father.

Of course, by the time the baby was born, Roman could be spotted strolling back in from elsewhere in the hospital.

Roman: "Hey, I just grabbed a soda from the cafeteria. I didn't miss anything important, did I?"

Oh, just the birth of your son, Austin Atlas.

+5

Back home, Austin instantly starts crying. This is a sign of things to come.

Superdad Roman is on it, soothing his baby boy. Georgia went over to meet her new sibling and got a happy moodlet from it because she's a perfect angel (except for the messes).

Ah, yes, the messes. The main reason we keep Miko around, actually.

She even hunts down Georgia's secret mess out back.

And she attempts to mop up the unending puddle from the sink she broke while getting unnecessary water, bless her heart.

Roman: "Sorry Miko, you can only sit here if you're in Applesauce Club."
Miko: "What's Applesauce Club?"
Georgia: "Da firs' rule a' Appasos Cub is doan talk abow' Appasos Cub."

Secure in her nest of paint, the untamed wild toddler settles in to examine that day's catch. Her prey quakes in terror as the paint squelches ominously.

I would watch this documentary.

Georgia's pretty mile-a-minute, but I didn't appreciate at the time how good we had it then.

Look! Autonomous parenting interaction! Austin is actually hungry, but this is still better than nothing.

I forgot why I took this. My notes for this pic literally say "? I forget" so I'm aimless here, but Georgia is so gosh darn cute I'm leaving it. She pretty much lives on PB&J.

This may look like Georgia forgot her pants, but that's actually Austin growing up into a female hair. That's fine; we can fix it.

Austin's makeover will have to wait, because it's also Georgia's birthday. Roman helps her step up to the cake.

Georgia is definitely a mini-Miko with Roman's coloring. She is neat just like both her parents, so this house will not want for people mopping, and she wants to be an artistic prodigy.

She's absolutely adorable, and I see her independent toddler trait and neat child trait as her trying to take control in a chaotic situation, but that's sad so let's not focus on it too much and look at more cute stuff.

Austin looks like he might also be Miko-ish, and he too has green eyes and red hair. I'm pretty pleased with this. His trait is wild. Remember this, class. It will come up later.

Groovin' dance party or sweet sibling hug gone wrong? You decide!

Roman: "Bye, son. You're a man now. Have fun out there in the world."

Uh, Roman?

Now that she's mostly over her paint phase, Georgia is basically the best ISBI kid ever. She autonomously changes the potty.

And does her homework (which Roman helps her with). Her responsibility is finally rising again.

Austin, on the other hand, completed exactly one meal in the high chair his whole toddlerhood without throwing it on the floor. Roman and I had the same facial expression for much of Austin's early years.

Austin also wakes everybody up for no good reason. He hasn't had a nightmare. He just goes from bed to bed, crying until everyone wakes up then moves on. I assume it's a 'wild' thing?

AND he dislikes the constant "hug lovingly" hugs that Miko dishes out as her main form of parenting. This kid doesn't have nightmares; he is a nightmare.

Roman met another aspiration milestone. About time we got some more positive points this chapter!

+5

Miko celebrates by getting pregnant. Things are going mostly okay, so why not three?

Miko needs two dates for her aspiration milestone, and it still counted when Roman asked her. They had a gold medal date in their own living room, in the eye of the whirlwind of domesticity.

Even after waking up his sister at 4 a.m. when she's now too awake to go back to bed for school, Austin is still unhappy. Me too, man, me too.

So he goes and gets his parents too. No one got very much sleep when Austin was a toddler. It doesn't help that his thinking skill is abysmal.

Fortunately he's pretty cute, especially when babbling to his big sis, with whom he seems to have a special connection.

Other times he is less cute. Only Roman went back to bed, and only because I told him to.

Basically, I was constantly pulling my hair our while Austin was a toddler. He wasn't failing, but he was causing a lot of trouble and there was usually nothing I could do. Miko is very little help most of the time, preferring to watch Austin rather than discipline or guide him.

But she did manage to finish the last of Austin's potty training, so we actually never had a dirty diaper with him. ISBI writers, weigh in: does this count as a toddler skill mastered or not? I'm not scoring it for now since it's only three levels, but on the other hand . . .

Cuties. These two hang out a lot at home but I don't have a lot of pictures of them because they're just behaving themselves, and that's not interesting at all.

Unlike Miko. Miko is a bad example. She woke up needing to pee but decided to work on her merely yellow hunger bar instead, which really didn't improve the situation. I don't know how a woman this incontinent has a successful career in politics. It seems like that would be ripe for an attack ad.

-5

Then she picked up the starving (literally starving - a message popped up) Austin when he was just about to eat that pasta, which resulted in him dropping it but an empty plate sticking to his hand.

She tried to feed him in the high chair - the WORST place to feed a wild toddler - and he just attempted to decapitate himself before knocking his food on the floor. Luckily, Roman rescued him from the high chair and gave him food on the floor.

Roman is a good dad. Miko is a good singer. One of these is more useful than the other.

Roman got a promotion and went into the Patron of the Arts branch. We want that snazzy bed, y'all.

Georgia is already better than her mother at managing her needs.

Speaking of Miko, she has made Austin very mad. I wonder why.

Maybe it's because he has to cling to her for dear life while she stretches.

Miko: "Oh, but I'm just so sleepy!"
Austin: "Help me."

Georgia is a little too responsible and reads Austin to sleep with her elementary school homework. She got an A very quickly because she constantly does homework.

+5

Austin repays her by waking her up once she has just enough rest that she won't go back to bed on her own. I hate Austin. Let me just say it. I don't care how cute he is. This was enraging.

After getting a bath from Roman in the early morning, Austin then admires some tasteful nudes. And I wonder why this kid isn't more well-adjusted.

My first clue that Miko's in labor is Roman freaking out. For her part, she just kept sleeping.

Then, when she's just about done, she wakes up only to check her phone.

Miko: "My dragons are hungry. Ooh, this one's ready to hatch!"

She then remembers that she's supposed to be giving birth.

Miko: "Is this how you do it?"
*sound of baby's soft spot smacking against wall*

Gosh, I wish I had remembered to get her the assistance of a doctor at the hospital, at least for baby girl Olympia's sake. I also wanted to collect all the birth certificates, but I forgot for this one.

+5

Luckily, Roman is there to care for little Olympia, our third and probably final baby. Unsurprisingly for such a little jerk, Austin is mad that he has a baby sister.

Georgia is happy to meet Olympia because the main narrative of this chapter is Good Sister/Bad Brother, apparently.

Roman: "Okay kids, I'm leaving you in Nanny Gandhi's care. Hopefully he decides to dress Austin at some point and not just mop up the broken sink's water all day. I'm going to work. Be good."
Georgia: "Isn't Mom home, too?"
Roman: "Why do you think I hired a nanny?"

Spoiler alert: it sure wasn't so anyone in the house would parent the kids, apparently. Austin is technically "naked" from being wild, but without the censor grid, he shows with a diaper on, which is fine with me, really. But just remember that according to the game, he is standing here naked, throwing chocolate and flour on the floor, and these two adults are fine with it. They're going to go watch TV together next.

I really wonder where Austin gets his exhibitionism from.

Miko: "Ah, these panties give such good ventilation on my butt cheeks!"

Anyway, Austin actually likes Georgia, even if he isn't fond of Olympia yet. That's good. He'll still wake her up every night though.

That whole day while Roman is at work, no one feeds or changes Olympia or even acknowledges that she exists despite her screaming bloody murder all day.

When Roman gets home, he runs to sort her out, though.

And Georgia is now a picky eater. This should be fun, since I can't choose food for her. I'm expecting plenty of sucky moodlets from this.

And so we come to the end of another chapter with a final score of exactly zero. Could be worse. Next chapter we'll see the kids continue to grow (including Olympia's toddler appearance), Roman continue to kill it, Nanny Gandhi probably become a permanent fixture of the family, the carpet become entirely coated in a solid layer of paint and chocolate, and Miko continue to be a self-wetting dumbass. Thanks for reading and check in with me at Boolprop!

Current Score:  0
Self Wetting/Dirty Diaper : -5 (x3)   -15
Pass Out : -5 (x2)   -10
Failing School : -5
Negative Traits Earned by NTHs : -5
Accidental Deaths : -10
Fires : -10 (x1)   -10
Social Worker Visit : -15

Single Birth : +5 (x3)   +15
Twins : +10
Triplets : +15
Any sim in the household completing Any Aspiration Milestones (Child and Adult): +5 (x3)   +15
Any sim in the household completing Aspirations (Child and Adult) : +10
Toddler Skills maxed by NTH toddlers : +5
Skills (Child and Adult) maxed by NTH family members : +10
NTH children (Child and Teen) earning an A in school : +5 (x1)   +5
Positive Traits Earned by NTHs : +5
NTH sims reaching the top of a career (Teen and YA/A/E) : +10
Randomizing every trait and aspiration for an entire generation : +10
Not using spares' Satisfaction Reward points for an entire generation : +10
Every 100,000 simoleons earned : +20
Immortalizing the Torch-Holder : +5