Six Word Saturday (2/5/10)

I am quitting the Sims today

For most people this probably seems really trivial but I made a decision to quit playing the Sims, at least for a good while.  I had thought about just taking the game disc out of my computer and giving it to someone to hold for me so I wouldn't be tempted to play (but that would be embarrassing for me "can you hold this, I'm addicted to this") or putting a big scratch in it so it would NEVER be playable, but my husband would be hurt that I ruined a game he bought me plus I'm hoping someday when I get my life under control that I would be able to play again.  I'm kind of sad.

The reasons I liked playing:

1. I felt happy when my Sim would reach his lifetime "want" (like becoming a World Class Ballet Dancer or a Chief of Staff at a hospital, or even having six grandchildren).
   
2. I could name my Sim's baby girl "Claudia" and raise her vicariously through this Sim because I never got to raise my own.  I have dozens of Claudia's in different age stages in 14 towns on my Sims 2 game.
   
3. I could use a cheat code and kill off the Sims I didn't like or a Sim named after someone in real life just so I could kill them.  (It felt oddly satisfying, LOL.)
   
4. When I commanded a Sim child to do X, it did X!  Unlike my real life family.
   
5. When there was an attractive Sim out there, my Sim could get in a relationship with them - whereas in real life lately I haven't felt very happy in my relationship.

The reasons I'm quitting:

1. It is a big huge freaking time waster to play this game!
   
2. It's actually feeling very stressful and overwhelming - I have so many families in these towns, even with a list to keep track of them, I'll never get through them all because I get bored with them and make even more new people.
   
3. Nobody in real life is interested in the stories I have of my game play but they ARE interested in hearing about a book I read, a recipe I try, or a project I'm working on.
   
4. If I'm playing on the computer I'm not helping my family, and I decided I can't complain that my kids and husband don't need me or listen to me when I'm not there to be needed or listened to.
   
5. This house is too big to keep clean if I'm only going to work on it a little bit every day.  I would have more time to be meticulous if I didn't play Sims.  Even though my husband and kids say they don't care what the house looks like, I do, and I think deep down they would be pleased if everything was clean.
   
6. If I have to be on the computer, I want it to be mostly for work.  I'm praying my employer gets more work for me to do (it's slow from Oct-March).

So far this morning I have the population of 5 Sim towns deleted, so I have 9 to go.  I was actually thinking of a specific "quit date."  Like I could've quit on Claudia's day January 15, or maybe even a New Year's resolution thing, or tomorrow's President Reagan's birthday, but last night I was just so down on myself with anxiety about when to quit that I just decided, you know what, TOMORROW is it, February 5 is the day.  Nothing special about it.