10 first comments will be added to this article. Submision closed March 21, 2003.

We have come to complain about the way Social Services work around here.
About one year before Brenda was born, we had a son.  Since both of us held
jobs, our plan was for one of us to stay home while the other one worked.
We placed the baby cradle in the main room, and went to sleep in our
bedroom.  Here is your first blunder:  Bob and I are both heavy sleepers, so
you should have told us before to move the cradle to the bedroom!  We
learned that fact only after you took our baby boy away.   Thus, because of
our sleepiness, we could not respond to the baby on time.  Here is your
second blunder:  you should have put that warning in a language that common
laypeople like us would understand!  We were so confused with the legalese,
that we had no choice but to toss it into the can with the rest of the
trash.  Here is your final mistake:  you did not even TRY to ring the
doorbell, like all the other social workers do outside of SimCity.  We may
not have been good parents, but even bad parents do not deserve such
rudeness!

On the day that we had Brenda, both of us had skipped work.  Bob had taken the day off to care for the boy, while I missed my carpool.  Thus, when Brenda came, one of us had to lose his or her job to take care of her, and Bob volunteered.  Throughout those days, we had improved enough to successfully raise Brenda to be the good child that she is.  However, although we have improved, Social Services definitely has not.  I remember talking to a friend, John Walker, and he had complained to me about your warnings.  In case you haven't noticed, in the Walkers' house, John is the primary caregiver for all of the children, since his wife, Sarah, goes to work, and he is unemployed.  Whencaring for Daniel, he got tired, hungry and cranky!  His wife and kids could not help that much, since they all must leave the house at some time (Sarah to work, the kids to school), and, when you gave that warning, everyone slept in a single room!  The baby's crying was bound to wake up the adults, thus leaving poor John with no energy left to care for the baby.

Please, you have to go easy on us parents.  Although the children are what keeps us alive, we are only human. We do our best to raise our children the right way, but sometimes, we fail.  We do not throw parties and we are willing to lose our jobs to care for the baby.  So please forgive us when we become too tired or cranky to respond to our children on time!

Have you ever been in the horrible situation of losing your dear baby to a Social Worker? October 4th I attended a meeting where the Social Services' charter and the parents' responsibility were discussed. And I couldn't believe my ears!

Social Services is taking away babies from busy and frustrated parents. This has been a parent's worst fear ever since Social Services got their current charter from SimCity Social Department back in January 2000. Many parents and neighbourhoods have protested, but nothing seems to help. So, I was quite happy when Simmerville Web arranged for a meeting between one representative from Social Services, one unhappy parent, and myself as the baby Specialist. Weeks in advance of this meeting Sims all over SimCity were invited to mail me relevant questions to be raised at that meeting.

The parents' representative (chosen on random) was the single parent Ms Samanthy Gloss, resenting the Moonstruck Neighbourhood, and who has lost a total of 5 babies to the social workers. Ms Gloss currently has no children at home. We had an appointment with Social Services' consultant Charlotta Ruanda, who's main field is children and old people, health and happiness in general.

Ms Gloss and I arrived Social Services main office downtown, and found Mrs Ruanda in her office.

Mrs Swims (Specialist): Mrs Ruanda, did you know that every single day in SimCity more than 500 babies are taken away by social workers? 

Mrs Ruanda (SS): Oh, that is a high number, I didn't know we did such a great job, although I know our workers are very busy, they work day and night, and they hardly get any rest at all. Removing babies from the homes is not a fun thing to do, so we really owe them our respect.

Mrs Swims: Well, this is not how the parents look at it! I've got so many mail before this meeting, from parents all over SimCity, crying of frustration, they can't even go to use the toilet before your workers arrives and remove their baby. I like to read you a mail I received from Mrs.Rodriguez of SimCity Heights:

Dear Readers,
Hello my name is Mrs.Rodriguez and I am the spokeswoman of Sim City Heights!
My concern is this: Sim City Social Services are ruining the life of my town members and those of neighbouring communities. Sometimes a sim must wake up and take longer, sometimes a sim is in the shower or is sick. So how can we get to the babies fast enough!?!? WE as a Sim People need to confront these S.Service workers and tell them its not always our fault! I mean when we have the child and if we are single we have to quit our job! Then how do we feed em? They should have a nanny or give us a leave at work! Sim City Services really needs to figure out these glitches!
Thank you!

Mrs Ruanda: You forget to think of all those couples who can not have a baby in the natural way, who are waiting for adoption. Every baby that is removed from it's parents will get a new and hopefully better home.

Mrs Swims: But how about spending some time on training the parents to look after their baby? One parent wrote me suggesting a baby care training centre, where fresh parents can learn how to look after their baby. Wouldn't that be a better investment than to pay hundreds of social workers?

Mrs Ruanda: Well, any community has a certain need of replacement of babies... anything else would be a problem because of our deal with... uhm... well... Ohh! Isn't it a lovely day? Sunny, and everything! Well, nobody knows what the future brings, perhaps there will be a training centre where parents can take classes to be prepared for their baby. Or we could even republish Mr Heinstein's book "How to take care of your baby", or even better; I could write a new book! That's not a bad idea, not at all...

Mrs Swims: That brings us onto another subject, the humiliation when a baby is taken away! I invited Ms Samanthy Gloss to join us in this meeting, I sent you her record in advance.

Mrs Ruanda: Yes, welcome. I must say it's nicer to see you, Ms Gloss, than it was to see your record with the social workers...

Ms Samanthy Gloss (ex-parent): Mrs Swims is right about the humiliation. I have neighbours in Moonstruck, and they all know that I had 5 babies in a row, and that they all were taken away from me. I love babies, and I spent most of my time watching and caring for them, but that is not easy when your social worker is standing in my garden, peeking in through my window waiting for me to sit down for 15 minutes in the room next door. The next thing I knew was this woman leaving the house with my baby! I did nothing wrong, Mrs Ruanda!

Mrs Ruanda: That was her job, Ms Gloss... And don't you forget to mention the reasons why your babies were taken away? The very first one you left alone at home while you went to work as usual. When you returned to your home we had already removed your baby.

Ms Samanthy Gloss: That is correct, and I realize it was wrong of me to keep my job after having a baby, but I was a single parent, and I needed the income to support both of us. The house needed an extra room within 3 days, and I didn't want my kid to sleep on the floor either!

Mrs Swims: That s a well known experience, Ms Gloss. Most fresh parents think they can work while they have a baby. Well, it might work out if you work for only 4-5 hours, but it's hard to make that fit with the baby's sleeping routine. If you are 2 parents though, each of you could take every other day off from work. None of you would get fired, there would always be someone to look after the baby, and as soon as the child starts School, both of you would be back at work daily. It's harder being a single parent. Well, Mrs Ruanda, what about Ms Gloss' second baby?

Mrs Ruanda: Then Ms Gloss was busy giving a party in her home! You should not focus on partying while having a baby to look after, Ms Gloss. When our worker, Sylvia, arrived, nobody heard the door bell, or the screaming baby. The music was so loud you didn't even hear our worker slamming the front door when she left, or when she called you 10 minutes later. I'm quite sure your baby is in a much better home now.

Ms Samanthy Gloss: That is a terrible thing to say, Mrs Ruanda! I was exhausted from caring for my baby, but I was so lonely, I needed to invite someone over. I didn't know they brought a whole party, and that they wanted to dance and have fun instead of just making me feel less lonely. Have you ever tried to break up a party, Mrs Ruanda? Well, I guess you must have...

Mrs Swims: [Shh, Ms Gloss] Well, it is a lot harder to bring up a child when you are alone. It takes so much of your time, and it can't give back as much as it takes, meaning you need to find other ways to socialize and have fun. Having a pet would be a good idea, but you could also just talk with friends on the phone, instead of inviting them over. If your neighbourhood has got the modern telephone system, that is. When it comes to fun, there are many ways of having fun which is way less exhausting than to host a party. Such as reading a good book while you sit in a comfortable chair, to play a computer game or virtual reality set. Or you could even play with the baby to avoid getting totally bored during the baby watches.

Ms Samanthy Gloss: Oh, I never really thought of that. I don't read a lot, so I never thought it can be fun. Well, I must have made a fool of myself for the first 2 babies, but when the 3rd baby was born, it was a problem from the start because I was on 2nd story ironing when I gave birth, meaning I had to keep the baby upstairs for 3 days, while I needed to go downstairs in order to use the bathroom and to cook. It was really hard on me, and almost impossible to be in control of the situation.

Mrs Swims: That is a clever observation, Ms Gloss, when giving birth it would be smart to stay on ground level.

Mrs Ruanda: I couldn't agree more. That would also make it easier for our social workers to spy on the baby and to get access to it's cradle, uhm... it sure is a nice day, let's go on with more questions... nice day, indeed...

Ms Samanthy Gloss: And the 4th time, the dishwasher broke, and I called the repairman, who blocked my entrance to the nursery until the social worker appeared. It wasn't fair, I tried to tear down the wall into the nursery, but I'm not that strong. I needed the doorway.

Mrs Swims: Ordering a repairman is a dangerous thing to do when you have a baby needing your attention, because with some bad luck they will send you a deaf repairman who you can't ask to move at all. Even having a running deal with a maid or a gardener is risky with a baby in the house, when they are around you should at least make sure to sit in the nursery, avoiding them blocking you off.

Mrs Ruanda: Excuse me, how could you afford a gardener, a maid and a repairman, and not having enough money to stay home with your baby? Do you prefer a beautiful garden and a dishwasher instead of a healthy kid? Please answer me, Ms Gloss!

Ms Samanthy Gloss: You are mixing the cards, Mrs Ruanda. I never hired a maid or a gardener, and I did not have the dish washer back when I couldn't afford to quit my job.

Mrs Swims: [So so, Ms Gloss...] Well, Ms Gloss, it seems to me like what you need in order to success is some knowledge on how to learn the baby's sleeping rhythm. If you make notes during the first day, you will know approximately what times it will wake up. In between you will have 5-6 hours on your own. The baby will normally wake up for feeding every 8 hours, but if you feed it very much or play and sing a lot you can extend the upcoming break. If it falls asleep after only one bottle of milk and one song, it might wake up earlier than 8 hours. Note it is about 8 hours between the start of  two following baby watches, if you spend 3 hours on feeding it and singing, there will be 5 hours left for the break, not 8.

Ms Samanthy Gloss: Oh, that sounds very complicated. Wouldn't it be easier if the social worker gave me a call before she comes to fetch my baby? Or allowing the baby to scream for 1 more hour?

Mrs Ruanda: Sorry, Ms Gloss, that is not possible. No baby should be left for 2 hours screaming! What mother would that be?

Mrs Swims: But could Social Services work on their charter? Making it just a little easier for parents to bring up their babies? Like being less restrictive on every household's first born baby, then the parents would learn how to raise a baby, and your workers could expect less crying for any later babies. How about that, Mrs Ruanda?

Mrs Ruanda: ABSOLUTELY NOT! It's our charter to bring in babies if their parents do not care for them in a satisfying way. SimCity has got too many nasty and ruined kids already, do you want them all to be sent away to Military School? Or the teens to join the mobs? That is what would happen if it wasn't for us! There's even an additional not so public chapter in our charter, trying to keep the number of SimCity kids to a minimum, and if you think it is easy... oops, arg... what a nice day, who would expect sunshine again? ... I think our time is out, Mrs Swims and Ms Gloss, this meeting is closed, ... and what a nice day!