My Little Get-A-Way

I've been a stay-at-home mom for the past 8 years. I have a busy two-year-old who is at the peak of her fall-out tantruming phase and an inquisitive 8-year-old, that I home school, who has a hundred questions that demand answers. Although I love being home with my children, I sometimes get bored, burned out and at times I'd just like to get away. However, living on one income, get-a-ways are not very feasible and I have responsibilities with my children and could not just leave them with someone else while I vacation. So I have to find fairly inexpensive ways to unwind, during nap times or when the children are otherwise occupied, that doesn't require me to leave the house.

This is where The Sims come in. I have been a fan of The Sims franchise for 8 years. My love for the games started with the Sims 1 where I became fastinated with these little virtual people that I had full control over. I had control over when they ate, when they slept, what they wore, what form of entertainment they use, etc. Now, as a stay-at-home mom, this may sound like what I do with my children, but can you really have full control over a tantrum filled two-year-old who seems to reject everything? Nope, not happening and no way.

Anyway, back to the Sims. A few years after the introduction of the Sims 1, the Sims 2 came out. With the Sims 2, not only did I have full control of little virtual lives, but the virtual people now had the ability to have pregnancies and gave birth to children that looked just like them. These same virtual children had the ability to grow up, get married, have their own children and die. Thus the introduction of generations. Now, I could not only have full control over a few sims, but whole generations of sims!

If that was not enough...the Sims 3 comes out about a year ago. I am now exploring the Sims 3 and I have to say, I am nothing short of impressed. My virtual families now live in a seamless neighborhood where they can jog around town and visit their next door neighbors. While I play my virtual family, the townies around them continue to age, get married, have children and live out a full life cycle...without my control. You would have to play it to see how cool this feature is!

But why is this considered a get-a-way? With the Sims franchise, I have the ability to briefly leave my sometimes chaotic full time job of mothering and jump into a virtual world where I can have full control of something. (No, I'm not a control freak by-the-way!!) I control whether these virtual people have happy-go-lucky lives or lives full of drama. The sims gives me a chance to take my mind off of everyday worries, even if it's just for a short amount of time. The games also allow me to be creative and build houses, businesses, design outfits and build whole towns. With the Sims 3 World Adventures expansion pack, I'm able to visit France, China or Egypt with my sims. I may not be able to visit these places whenever I want to in real life, but these places are just a phone call away in my virtual sim's world. Check out this trailer: