july 2021
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(Andersen Household Profile)
Benjamin Andersen (34 years), Grace (31 years), Ainsley (5 years), Isla (4 years), Tillie (1 years)
narrated by: Benjamin
We recently had to move Isla into Ainsley’s room, something that made Ainsley super excited. We picked out bunk beds, and let the girls help pick out accessories. But when the time came for Isla to move out of her toddler bed, and into the bunk bed, it became apparent that it wasn’t going to be such a smooth transition.
Everyone says that it gets easier the older the girls get, but Isla is not proving that to be true. She is outright rude to Ainsley, and rejects any type of affection or friendship from her. Ainsley was heartbroken over the relationship with her sister, and sharing a room turned out to brew more fighting.
Isla loves her room, she tells us, she just hates sharing with Ainsley. This makes her sister upset, and then Isla smiles gleefully from it.
Isla doesn’t just jab with mean words, she gets physical with Ainsley as well. Grace will go outside from laying Tillie down for a nap and find the girls in the throes of battle.
We were glad when Ainsley started fighting back, just so she wasn’t always the victim. Isla didn’t appreciate being beaten by her big sister, but it didn’t stop the fights from happening.
We send Isla in for time out, we take turns talking to her, grounding her, nothing seems to get through to her.
There isn’t peace at night ether, we think we got all the girls to bed, and sneak outside to watch the rain fall, and then Ainsley is coming out to tattle on Isla.
It is enough that I am happy having just three girls, and am grateful that Tillie is very sweet in nature. Ainsley was always very easy to raise, and Tillie seems to be following in her footsteps. It still doesn’t make Isla any easier to handle though, and we really don’t want her to grow up and be like Grace’s sister, Emma.
It didn’t help that the summer was ninety percent rain, it made the girls all stuck inside during the day at home and at the farm where Grace’s Dad babysits them while we work. They behave only slightly better over there, not enough that we can just blame ourselves for the behavior.
Nicole talked to Grace about it when she came to pick up the girls one night, she’s also worried about Isla, but also how it will hurt Ainsley in the long run as well.
Generally, we don’t listen to Grace’s parents for advice, they seemed to flounder and push their agenda more than we are inclined to do with our kids. But sometimes it helps to hear others ideas, especially when there seems to be nothing else left to try.
Nicole suggested that we take the girls up to the Cascade Mountains for a long weekend, her and Finn would keep Tillie for us, so we could just focus on the older two. Her idea was that we could do team building exercises and fun, and help them find a common ground to relate to one another.
We really liked the idea, Grace was so onboard that she arranged for our accommodations before I got home from the station that night. Tillie is only one, and used to being with her Grandparents, that she didn’t even bat an eye when we left her there. Grace was more upset by the separation, but she was determined to help Ainsley and Isla connect, that she didn’t mope too much over it.
We started with some games, and it seemed to be going rather well, the girls were enjoying themselves and even encouraging one another.
But when Isla lost, she threw a giant tantrum, and started kicking her legs and blaming Ainsley for it.
I guess it was too good to be true that one simple board game would solve all our dilemmas. I made her leave with me to the arcade for a breather, and that seemed to help. She told me that she isn’t perfect like Ainsley, and I believe that is where the animosity started, but we don’t believe any of the girls are perfect. Telling that to a four year old doesn’t seem to get me far though.
I was able to get her back to the game, and in better spirits over her loss. Sometimes I just have to take the small victories and enjoy them.
Grace put them in an art class together, and they enjoyed that. Neither of them were great at painting nor particularly in love with the class, but it still allowed them to connect and for me and Grace to sneak away.
It’s beautiful up in the mountains, I know we aren’t alone in visiting and then instantly wanting to buy a cabin up here. We checked out some local sites, and even looked at some reality, but it’s not in our budget anytime soon. I told Grace we could look into it when Tillie was older and could actually enjoy herself on vacation.
The rain seemed to follow us, and we were scared to be trapped into our small two bedroom cabin with fighting girls and no cable television. But we had a covered deck, so we could at least sit outside for fresh air, and Ainsley taught Isla how to dance like the kids at school do, and this pleased her.
By the end of our vacation, the girls were getting along almost the entire time. The dancing seemed to show Isla that her big sister could teach her a few things, and then they built a sandcastle and Ainsley took Isla’s ideas.
Nine years ago, we came to this very beach, staying in the tiny cabins behind us, celebrating our honeymoon, and plotting when to start a family. Seems unreal all that has happened since then, and the amount of daughters we’ve accumulated since.
I’m looking forward to coming back to the lake with Tillie when she’s old enough, and grateful that Nicole suggested this weekend.
Their favorite time was the campfire at night, Ainsley was interested in how it all worked, so kept me company while I got it started.
Isla only cared about the marshmallows so stayed in the cabin until it was all set up for her. Grace is the same way too, it was chilly in the mountains, it even hailed one night.
Grace thinks we need to add a fire pit to our patio now, so we can do this at our leisure. I think it would take away the specialness if we did, but I have to admit it would be nice to just relax at our own home instead of driving three hours to the mountains to have a s’more.
It was late by the time we returned home, and raining. Ainsley is generally very calm, but got very upset with the rain. She has reached her limit it would seem.
All in all, the trip seemed to work. The girls were playing together nicely, and leaving each other be, when they wanted to play alone.
Grace is now able to enjoy Tillie on her days off instead of separating the big girls, it’s making our quality of life much better.
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Notes: As soon as Isla transitioned into a child, she started fighting with Ainsley. I don’t know why, I just know that I was updating DNA strings and they all ran off to watch the fight. When I came to play, Isla was angry with Ainsley, and had a very low score, while Ainsley had over 60 score with Isla, and no anger. Ainsley would try to tell secrets, play catch, or give her a hug, and Isla would always reject, poor Ainsley was very sad! But the trip did fix it, the anger went away, and while they aren’t technically friends, they are much closer to that.
Benjamin’s IFS is 3, and Grace’s is 2. I want them to have a fourth, another little girl, and so I did not set their IFS this time, nor give them birth control, and naturally they did not try for another baby. Of course. I just think Benjamin is the perfect Dad of all girls. ❤
Hope this was a nice update after Annie's fate. It felt good for me to play something more cheerful. Thanks for reading!
MILLWOOD 
First, I love the household profiles you’ve included with each family – I already feel so caught on your families. Isla and Ainsley are too adorable. For a second, though they look alike, I almost assumed Isla was adopted because of how she treats Ainsley. The parents seem really loving and don’t come across as showing favoritism, but the comparison Isla makes with her ‘perfect’ sister is something I’ve witnessed in rl. It was a good idea to take the girls on vacation – your mountain destination is really lovely, too. All in all, I am glad to see that the girls were able to work it out and hopefully it lasts, because I would hate to see this fester, especially because you mentioned the relationship between Emma and Grace, which I am not aware of but I looked Emma up and she’s Grace’s sister – did they have similar sibling quarrels growing up?
Thanks for commenting Apples, good to see you over here!! 🙂 I am so glad that the household profiles were helpful, that is exactly my purpose for adding them. Isla has always been a cranky sim, when she was maxed motives as an infant, in her swing, she’d just cry and cry. And as soon as she aged up to child, she immediately fought with Ainsley. I don’t know what went on that she did that, but then was angry (in the red) with Ainsley too.
Emma and Grace are good friends, they own Salon Sisters together, and are best friends as sisters can be. But Emma was lost in Grace’s shadow, who was always a great student, and helpful around the house. Emma did horribly in school, and doesn’t have typical Momhood desires. So she’s been on her own path, and Benjamin would not want Isla to go the same way Emma did, with dropping out of college, and just being all around a bit rough on the edges. So both sisters have had their issues.
Thank you for the compliments on the vacation, I just added all those lots back in, most are maxis only content, so it wasn’t painful to do. It’s nice to have a vacation destination again. And thank you for commenting!
Wow, she is a terror. I love you writing this couple as they don’t know how to handle her. Sometimes there are kiddos like that and I’m glad that they are asking for advice, desperate times call for desperate measures. Love the resentment she has over her “perfect” sister, sometimes the unspoken things that parents believe are louder than the spoken ones.
So true on unspoken things being read loudly by others, especially with kids, who can easily assume the wrong thing. Isla has always been really cranky, and I imagine that Grace and Ben are just exhausted with her in many ways, that she picks up on that. I think they are good parents though, and would do what they could to better themselves and help their kids out as well.
Thanks for commenting Starr!
Benjamin is such a good dad for those girls! Very patient, lol. He’s going to need it when they’re all teenagers. 😉 I’m so glad that they have such a stable relationship, too. So nice to see!
Oh man! I was so sad reading about Isla fighting with Ainsley. Hopefully they’ve worked things out now and can be fun sisters together. It’s so true that weird things can happen and I’m sure that them saying it, aloud, that no one is expected to be perfect or is actually perfect helps… even if it doesn’t completely show at first!
haha so true! Benjamin will definitely need to retain that patience when they are all teens! It’s going to be crazy, and I am excited about it. Him and Grace do have a good relationship, it’s very stable, not too hot and heavy, but comforting and committed. I think they make a great family unit.
I hope that Isla and Ainsley can be friends sooner than later, I can just imagine Ainsley being super excited that her little sister is going to be a kid too, then wham, punch to the face, all out fighting.
Thanks for commenting Mao!
Poor Ainsley! It’s one thing when two sims just won’t stop picking at each other but it’s another thing entirely when it all seems to be instigated by the same sim every time. That’s tough and makes me feel bad for the victim!
Goodness, Isla does seem like she has the potential to be an absolute terror. But Grace and Benjamin are good parents and I think they can keep on top of this and make sure Isla doesn’t go too far off the deep end, if they commit to it. They did a great job with Ainsley, so I think Isla just needs a little extra guidance. A family holiday to try to build their relationship back up was a stroke of genius from Nicole, I think. Sometimes you get good advice from the people you’d least expect it from. 🙂
I have to ask about Ainsley’s outfit. It’s so cute and I’d love to know where you got it, if you remember!
I agree about the victim, I felt so sad for Ainsley, she is super sweet, and shy, and kept rolling wants for her sister, and kept getting rejected. I’m glad that I got Isla to stop being angry at Ainsley, that helped cool the fighting down. I don’t know why she would just attack her though upon her birthday.
I agree that Grace and Benjamin are good parents, and I think they’ll work hard to keep Isla on a good path, and be supportive of her. The extra guidance is a good way to look at it. I think that Nicole has really come into herself in the past few years, she had Grace in high school, and Emma right away in college, so she’s been learning as she raises those two, and does much better with the kids she still has at home.
Ainsley’s top is from here – http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=506025 and the shorts are by Yplum “One of the boys” which I can’t find a link for. I believe it’s at GOS, possibly in that catch all post from all the old themes. They are a recolor of Fakepeeps shorts at MTS. I’d be happy to share the short file, lmk. 🙂
Thanks for commenting Carla!
Thanks, Maisie! That’s cool about the shorts. I was mainly after the top anyway but I thought it might the one outfit. 🙂
This was a really nice update after the tragedy with Annie! I’m glad these girls have such good parents – if Isla is going to continue to be a handful, she will need parents who can handle it and handle her sisters as well. 🙂
I’m glad it was a nice update, I switched things around to do this household next, because I needed the break from tragedy and sadness. Of all the families to have an Isla, I think that Grace and Benjamin will be the best equipped to handle her well, and agree they are good parents. One of my favorite family units, with Hazel’s family tied with them.
Thanks for commenting River!
Isla is a terror–leave poor Ainsley alone! At least they seem to be getting along now. I even feel a bit sorry for Isla, rebelling because she feels like she’s in Ainsley’s shadow. It looks like Grace and Ben will finally get a turnaround. They deserve it.
Isla definitely has been a terror, and I am also relieved that she is getting along more with Ainsley. I’ve never come across such a thing as fighting after a birthday. So it’s been a new one for me to overcome. The first half of the vacation was a mess, but by the end they were having a good time, and I was so relieved. Isla just needs to find her role in the family, and hopefully she fits into a good one.
Thanks for commenting Fini!
Isla seems like a mix between the black sheep and a bit of having the middle child syndrome. Granted, her attitude is not helping but I guess if she observes her parents continually praising Ainsley it could rub her the wrong way. I hope the peace lasts long enough. I can see Isla being quite a terror in her teen years.