SimLit Celebration #3: November Holidays

So November’s got some interesting and weird holidays… like did you know it’s Child Safety Protection Month? Or how about National Adoption Awareness Month? Or National Caregivers Appreciation Month?  Or National Sleep Comfort Month? Or Peanut Butter Lovers Month?

Some of these are silly and some are to bring awareness and some celebrate a unique group of people! This week I’d love to highlight and talk about SimLit stories that feature any of the above “monthly” themes if you will.

Child Safety and Protection Month

For Child Safety and Protection Month, I thought of @friendsfan367’s Benders story and these two chapters Ayden Made Daddy Mad  and Noel Talks with Ayden.

First of all, I have to say that I really enjoy stories that add back story and emotional depth. I am endlessly curious and I always like to know the why behind things. I liked these chapters because they gave Noel, the father, some back story and explained why he was so upset by his son’s action.

Second, I love how friendsfan created a whole new depth to the Benders. These were the chapters, I’ll admit, that made me perk up and realize there’s a lot more to this family than I originally thought.

Third, TS3 has hydrophobic as a trait. As the older sister of a sibling who dislikes water and is afraid of it, I understand and have witnessed hydrophobia personally. My sister nearly drowned twice and then had to watch someone else almost drown too. I wrote a off-set scene in Kass’s story about how her mom’s younger brother drowned.

Water safety is so important. I’m half-tempted to write a chapter in one of my stories using these swim lesson poses I found and talk about safety.

What other SimLit moments involving an adult helping a child learn safety and protection would you like to appreciate? 

National Adoption Awareness Month

I have several friends who have adopted children and have given them stable homes. I really admire them for doing this and I think it takes special people to adopt abandoned, orphaned, and abused children.

One story I really enjoy is Kate’s Loewe Legacy. I really like how Kate and her husband, David adopt twin boys from the former home she worked in. The story line doesn’t take place until Part 2, but it’s well-worth the read. I also like how they didn’t just automatically adjust. They struggled. This is one of my favorite chapters also featuring the arrival of the twin boys, Finn and Zachary. Kate writes her characters realistically.

CathyTea has a few chapters in her Thirty Sims at Three Rivers series that features adoption. I love CathyTea’s beautiful Sims and delightful way of telling stories, and I appreciate how she celebrates all walks of life, multi-generations, and all different kinds of families. I want to highlight these — chapters because they feature adopted children or children without their biological parents: The gap inside is filled with presence, and Healing past wounds.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Gage Briody. Although he is never actually adopted by the Martinez family, he comes to view them as family and has a special relationship especially with Jennifer, his foster mother. Because he was never officially adopted, Gage goes out on a quest to find family and love, and sometimes force it because he is hurting and processing his painful childhood. One of my favorite chapters I wrote featuring “adoption” and “foster children” was this one in From Riverview, With Love.

What other SimLit “adoption moments” would you like to appreciate? 

National Caregivers Appreciation Month

I had a conversation with CathyTea once about elders in game. They feel so stereotypical. I wish more stories would feature the elderly and older adult population. I also think it’s important to celebrate those who are caregivers. Any good stories out there that you know of that does either/or or both? 

Personally I like Kass’s grandparents – Nonno and Nonna, but of course, I’m biased. I also rewrote Marigold Racket as a grandparent in my Colt Family Traitacy because I envisioned her character differently than the base-game does.

Caregivers can also apply to more than simply elder care. Caregivers can also be adults who take care of children or adults with special needs or parents who take care of children or even someone who is caring and nurturing in a household or family. Personally, I think Fawn of Joon in The Journey of a Thousand Steps fits into the caregiver category as he has some mysterious role in Ginny’s life as she tries to fulfill the goddesses’ wishes to have one hundred babies. He is featured prominently in the story, but I enjoyed his appearance in this chapter and this one.

I also think LauraEliza’s Zahra and Hope in Zahra’s Babies are mothers who kick butt! The whole story series is worth a read.

I have to add that I think Dennis Racket in the Racket-Rotter Chronicles is a dad who is really trying to do what’s best for his kids and he’s struggling. I loved and cried over this chapter.

I love Dennis so much that I feature him in my own story – Colt Family Traitacy. One of my favorite chapters with him is the chapter where he gives Shark, his oldest son, advice on loving a woman.

Dennis, you are a great caregiver.

Caregivers can even be reversed at times. Kass takes care of her ailing father in Interludes & Solitude. I like how Alice, even though she is a child, kind of takes care of her dad, Kev, and acts more like a parent than he does in Alice & Kev.

I also think Mommy in Simcraft81’s O’Raj’s Journal is a sweet single mother.

What other SimLit “caregivers” would you like to appreciate? 

National Sleep Comfort Month

Sleeping plays a role in my own KCLKF, I&S, and KFLL. Kass cares about her sleep. Here are a few of my favorite sleeping/sleep interruption/wake-up moments:

Okay, Kass isn’t really sleeping here, but she gets annoyed in this chapter when a certain suitor for her mother serenades his love outside the house in the middle of the night. One of my favorite early in-game moments. 😉

Kass used sleep in this chapter to cope with her pain.

Kass fell asleep with a visitor in her great-grandmother’s estate in this chapter and this chapter. I particularly liked how he stayed and didn’t leave. 🙂

Ayesha, Kass’s best friend, fell asleep on this beautiful park bench in this chapter.

What other SimLit sleep moments would you like to appreciate? 

Peanut Butter Lovers Month

So I can’t think of a single story that has a scene with peanut butter… so let me know if you know of any or have written any. 🙂

However, the following Sims have been featured in my stories or stories I enjoy and their favorite food is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches:

• Lina Lancaster (Interludes & Solitude – the nurse practioner with homeopathic treatments who is helping Howard, Kass’ dad cope with EXCES. PB&J is her fave – must be pregnancy cravings!)
• Amy Bull makes an appearance in Eight Cicadas and in Racket-Rotter Chronicles. I particularly like Amy’s appearnce in Bear-ly Having a Heart and Kiddo/Evil Idiot/Material Goods.

• Jeffrey Castor (the boyfriend to Chase Bayless in my Colt Family Traitacy who is a bully and Shark confronts him at the gym).
• Believe it or not! Gage Briody’s favorite food is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and he’s featured prominently in From Riverview, With Love, and as a supporting character in The Krazy Crazy Life of Kassiopeia Fullbright and subsequent stories.

What other Sims do you know who love peanut butter?