The Cho-Dreamer Family: Update 28.05.2021

You can find the previous week at this household here.

A long time ago, this house was home to two friends and their families, the Cookes and the Dreamers. There are no Cookes left and only two Dreamers, but the house is nowhere near empty.

Matthew Cho, a former townie, moved in here some time ago. You can read about his first week in New Maximiliania (and at the same time the previous week with this household) here.
Matthew is an aspiring Celebrity Chef, currently working as Executive Chef. He has a half-Alien son, Chandler, whom you will meet in a minute.

He lives here because he is Deirdre Dreamer's 3-bolt-love. Deirdre is also half-Alien; her human Dad is Dirk Dreamer, who is of course the son of Darren Dreamer. Matthew's son has the same Alien father as Deirdre, which means they are half-siblings, but their relationship is more like that of (step-)mother and son.
Deirdre is working her way up in her career, too; she wants to become Game Designer.

Dirk is now 81 - he was a teenager when the game started, as I am sure you remember. He reached his lifetime want of becoming Education Minister a long time ago and could retire easily, but he enjoys his job and has never rolled the wish to retire.
The family is not just wealthy, but really rich with a fortune of 1,083,746 Simoleons.

On this Monday, Matthew comes home from work with colleague Sirius Swain.

Chandler has also brought someone along, one of his many half-brothers: It is Chan Cho, whose family we visited last week.

Deirdre returns from work not with a colleague, but with a promotion. She is now Guild Leader.

Chan left before Chandler had a chance to befriend him, missing out on the great hamburgers Matthew has prepared for everyone. "I am going to grow up to a teenager this round," Chandler informs his parents and sort-of granddad (Dirk is not really his grandfather, but fills that role willingly and perfectly).

But before he can plan his birthday party, Chandler has to do his homework.

It is Tuesday, and Dirk begins the day at the grand piano.

Chandler now has the same hairstyle as his Dad - that makes it easier to discern him from some of his half-siblings, who by default have all the same hairstyle.

Matthew has the day off and Deirdre's work starts at 2:00 pm. The couple make use of the morning by skilling for their next promotions.

Chandler jumps off the school bus all happy - he has received his first A+ report today!

On Wednesday morning, I catch Matthew shaking the ants' glass case on his own accord. Shame on you, Matthew! You should know better than frightening the tiny animals!

"I'll grow up in another few days!" Chandler seems to be so excited by the prospect of becoming a teenager that he hardly talks of anything else.

After school, another one of his many half-siblings comes home with him: Chimmy Cho. They get along well and spend hours playing cops and robbers before Chandler finally sits down to do his homework.

Dirk went straight to bed after returning from work. He is asleep for the rest of the day.

It is already 10:00 pm by the time he wakes up, feeling much better. He heads for the bathroom.

"What are you all doing in my bathroom?" He is surprised, but I am not - Mr. Reaper and his Hula Girls were to be expected today. At the age of 83, Dirk Dreamer says good-bye to this life and joins his Dad and his long-gone Mom in the great big lot in the sky.

Poor Deirdre takes it hard. She was always close to the only parent she's ever known, and even more so after her sister Dora died. I am glad she is not alone, but has Matthew and Chandler to show her love and support.

Thursday goes by uneventfully with the exception of Kennedy Smith walking by and being invited in. The adults have the day off, and in hindsight I could have used it as their community lot visiting day, but before I thought of that, it was nighttime and Chandler had to go to bed.

Just before the school bus arrives on Friday morning, Chandler manages to fit in a spot of fishing.

Deirdre has the day off, and when Matthew and Chandler have left the house for work and school, she does some gardening on her own initiative. It seems to help her with the grief over her father's death; she sticks to it until everything is done, even when a thunderstorm passes through early afternoon.

It still rains at 3:00 pm when Matthew comes home from work and Chandler from school. Matthew has been promoted to Restauranteur and now needs four skill points for his next promotion.

Chandler is accompanied by class mate Carrie Capp. "Hello Mr. Cho!" she greets Matthew cheerfully. She's such a sunny little girl, I really like her!

A family meal of the kind I enjoy!

Shortly after Carrie has left and Chandler has helped his Dad clearing up after the meal, he grows up into a teenager. My dice decides on his aspiration to be Pleasure; his lifetime want will only show up tomorrow morning.

Deirdre retreats to her father's bedroom for the evening and studies mechanics under his portrait.

When Chandler gets up on Saturday morning, I learn that his lifetime want is to have 50 dream dates - more fitting for a Romance Sim, but never mind, he'll give it an honest try!

Autumn has begun, and Deirdre changes into a warmer outfit.

Chandler's room gets a bit of a make-over for a more grown-up look; a new bed and chair as well as different wallpaper and carpeting.

As you know, this family is really rich, and so Chandler can easily afford to enlist the help of the Matchmaker for his lifetime want. He does not know any other teenagers yet, which means he can not call anyone from his own phone book for a date.

Paper girl Claire Benson is summoned. There is a two-bolt attraction between them.

Chandler's very first date goes well, in spite of money being the first topic of conversation that comes to his mind!

The date ends "great"; not bad for Chandler's very first try at this whole dating business! Claire later leaves a single red rose with a message on the doorstep.

Deirdre returns from work well after dark, but with great news: She is now Game Designer and on Permanent Platinum, three days before she will turn into an elderly lady!

The week ends with Sunday on a rather unspectacular note. Deirdre is sick with a cold...

...same as Matthew, but while she has the day off and can do as she pleases, he has work at the restaurant waiting for him.

Chandler finds out he can not ring Claire Benson for another date (she is shown as someone who does not own a phone) and asks the Matchmaker for help once more. This time, Nicole Thompson appears, and once again, the evening results in a good date, but not a dream date.

This is where the week ends for this household; Deirdre has reached Permanent Platinum, Matthew is not all that far off, and Chandler has only just begun.
Dirk's long and good life has ended, and his tombstone is now at Gamesend Grounds.

There are two more Sims by the surname Cho in my game: Charlie Cho (son of Etsu Cho) and his wife Tina, nee Traveller. We will visit them next.

The Cho Brothers - Week 2

After a seemingly endless series of Capp households, finally we switch to the next surname: Cho. We have our first Cho household living in the left semi for rent, located downtown New Max. The first week at this house is described here.

Calvin Cho, a former NPC student, lives here. Last round, he married and had Alien twins. Here he is, holding one of them, Chan. The other little boy's name is Chimmy.

His wife Kana was his three-bolt blind date, also a former NPC and head chef. Here she is, getting up much earlier on this Monday morning than she would have liked to - but that's what it is when you have babies and toddlers in the house.
Their wedding was only yesterday, but a honeymoon trip will have to wait.
Both Kana and Calvin have the lifetime want of celebrating their Golden Anniversary. It is a long way off, but I promise that it will be a truly great party!
Neither of the spouses has a job.

The only regular income here comes from Calvin's brother Shane, who lives with them and is striving to become a Business Tycoon. At the moment, though, he works as a Soil Identifier in the Natural Science career.
The household accounts shows 14,909 Simoleons when I enter the lot, but of course the rent wants paying on this Monday, and tomorrow, there will be bills in the mailbox as well.

Everyone is so eager to look after the little ones that it comes to a proper traffic jam at the fridge!

This evening, Chimmy grows up into a toddler right there in the kitchen. His brother Chan should also have his birthday, but the adults take turns in picking him up from his crib and then just holding him. I have had this bug often in my game, and sometimes only the birthday cake helps.

Finally, early on Tuesday morning, Chan also grows up into a toddler, helped along by Uncle Shane.

It must be Shane's lucky day - he finds a job in the Business career that same morning, starting as an Executive right away. That university diploma is definitely paying off!

For Calvin and Kana, the most stressful phase of parenthood begins: The toddlers need to be potty-trained, learn to walk and talk, want feeding and bathing as well as sleep and play.
Good job that there is no car taking up room in the garage! What served as a wedding venue only on the previous Sunday is now the space where a lot of toddler action takes place.

It is indeed Shane's lucky day - he is promoted to Senior Manager already on his first day!

On Wednesday, the otherwise grey streets of downtown New Max are covered in white. It is mid-winter, and the wish to have something more suitable to wear is understandable - three of the five household members want new clothes.

Shane returns from work as Vice President, and it is decided to invest his promotion bonus in clothes for everyone.

[Because of the little ones, Calvin and Kana remain at home. For a few hours that afternoon, all is quiet with the boys asleep and Shane out. The couple take advantage of that time.

Shane orders the taxi to take him to H&M.

Piles of clothes are bought and a few fellow New Maximilianians are greeted before he heads back home.

In the early evening, his son Alan (Alan's mother is Meike Riley) rings - how nice!

What better comfort food on a cold winter evening than Mac n' cheese, the brothers and Kana agree.

I did know that toddlers can eat snow and have plenty of fun playing in it, but I have rarely observed in my game. Early this Thursday morning, little Chang is found in the backyard doing just that.

It is nice for the family that Calvin and Kana do not need to go out to work. Instead, they can spend time with the twins, just like here when they both autonomously decide to join Chimmy playing with the bunny toy.

Shane's career keeps advancing as one promotion per day - he has now risen from Vice President to President.

He spends the rest of the evening practicing in the garage for more charisma.

By Friday, Shane is CEO. Now he needs five skill points altogether before his next promotion, which means the chain of one promotion per day will be interrupted.

Upstairs, Kana snatches a badly needed late afternoon nap while Chan is asleep, and Chimmy playing downstairs with Calvin.

Somehow I thought there would be another day of toddlerhood, and so I nearly miss the boys growing up to children: first Chimmy...

...and then Chan.

Upstairs now needs some re-arranging: Shane moves out of his large double bedroom and gets the tiny box room next to the landing. He does not mind - first, he is out working all day anyway and a comfortable bed is all he needs at night. Second, at some stage he may join Meike and Alan at their place.
The boys remain in the same room, but instead of their baby cribs and changing table, they now have proper beds, desks to do their homework at, a drawing and playing table as well as a small wardrobe.
Calvin and Kana move into Shane's former bedroom; the bathrooms stay as they were.

On Saturday morning, the gypsy lady takes out the garbage. No, of course not! Her black bin liner contains not the rubbish from the family kitchen, but a magic lamp. For the time being, it is stored in the garage, but immediately several family members roll the wish to use the lamp.

Some of the new outfits Shane bought earlier this week are being worn for the first time on this beautiful spring day.

Shane invites his sweetheart Meike, their son Alan and Alan's cousin Mary over. Mary happens to be half-Alien and is therefore one of many half-sisters to the twins.

The four kids get along well enough, although they do not make it to friend status before it is time for Alan and Mary to go home.

On Sunday, I let the boys mostly do whatever they want. They like their room, which is spacious enough to allow for some rope skipping as well as a drawing and crafting table.

The children rolled wants for having a piano and an easel, but once both items were set up downstairs in the living room, it was Shane who used the piano to boost his creativity. The adults - here with Cole Fleig visiting - loved his performance.

Kana and Calvin end the week quietly, the kids in bed and Shane outside at the telescope (he needs two logic points for his next promotion). They talk about how much they enjoy the life they share, with their two boys.

I enjoyed this week, too, especially once the toddlers weren't toddlers anymore ;-)
Shane will move out eventually, the place is just too small for all of them to be comfortable, and he has certainly the right to be with Meike and Alan.

With Chimmy and Chan looking so much alike, I will probably give them different hair styles next time I play here. Also, I have not yet decided on who will use the magic lamp, and what for.