The Greenmans might have looked like your average suburban nuclear family to a passer-by, but there was one thing that set them apart from all their neighbours: Daisy and Lily weren't normal children with the usual lifespan. At the start of the Watcher's third rotation (2010), Daisy and Lily were respectively 12 and 4 years old, but stuck in seemingly perpetual toddlerhood due to Plantsims' special pace of aging. Since Plantsims weren't yet a significant and recognised minority in SimNation, there were no special schools or institutions to accommodate their needs, so their parents had to homeschool them and accept that they would never live a real Sim childhood, as they would go straight to adulthood at the end of their toddler phase. Their parents, Rose and Jason, only didn't know one thing: when that would finally happen.
Rose grew up in the wild, in a tribe of Plantsims in a forest near Riverblossom Hills, mostly isolated from Sim civilization. Close to all of nature's resources, Plantbabies of her tribe usually only took a couple of years to grow up to adults. When Rose married Jason and decided to have a Plantbaby with him, she was expecting the same to happen to her daughter, but — for reasons still unknown — Daisy seemed to take her sweet time aging up. Her little sister, Lily, who was conceived and born the human way (but later became identifiable as a Plantsim herself) was also on the same slow track to adulthood.
Rose and Jason both had jobs and took turns watching over and schooling their children. But while Rose enjoyed going to work and spending 8 hours a day in a fascinating, fully human environment, Jason was growing frustrated with the expectations and demands of his workplace and wished instead that he could stay home all day with his daughters and tending his garden. He had been enamored with Plantsimism and the prospect of becoming one himself ever since he met Rose, and he was starting to worry he was running out of time to achieve his dream. The household still needed his income though, so he couldn't quit his job just yet. However, he started putting in less and less effort at work — slacking in performance and nearly always showing up late. Because it was clear his focus was elsewhere, he ended up getting fired.
Rose: But this is what you wanted, isn't it? To be free from employment?
Jason: Yeah, but... its not that simple. It still hurts to be let go of like that, plus we don't really have a lot of savings. I was hoping I could save some more money before quitting.
Rose: We'll be fine! We already grow all of our own fruit and vegs, and you're technically the only one who needs food anyway. Sure, we have bills to pay, but we can cut back most of our spending if we want to.
Jason: But what if the girls grow up soon? They're gonna need a lot of stuff to get started in life.
Rose: We'll cross that river when we get to it, as you always say. That might still be far away. And we can even start selling our produce to make money, can't we?
Jason: Yeah, but McGreggor's farm is already dominating the fruit and veg section at the farmers' market in Riverblossom...
Rose: So? People love having a wide selection to choose from, I've learned. And we can make our produce special — I'm sure a lot of Sims would love to buy veggies straight from the garden of a Plantsim family.
