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Parenting is hard. No matter how hard you try, your kids may turn out to be rude, lazy, and unlikable. The Sims 4: Parenthood Expansion Pack has a list of five Character Values that affect the way your Sim’s kids turn out. If you nurture the positive aspects of each value, your kids will become kind, peaceful, and successful Sims. If you neglect their character development, they’ll become irresponsible, rude, and unlikable. We’ve ranked the possible outcomes of each Character Value from best to worst. Read on for a quick guide for new parents in The Sims 4: Parenthood Expansion Pack.

10 10. Manners

Teaching your younger Sims good manners is a great investment of time. There are simple actions you can use to teach your children to increase their good manners. Learning to say “please” and “thank you” as well as “I’m sorry” are good basics. A Sim with good manners will be neat and tidy. They’ll happily help around the house and unlock the “Polite Introduction” trait. This will allow them to make friends more easily, as well. Being well mannered is the first building block to a successful sim.

9 9. Responsibility

Responsibility is an incredibly important trait in the Sims and in real life. Any parent wants their child to grow up to be successful. By encouraging the Responsibility Trait, Sims can ensure that their kids will grow up to be productive at work. You teach your Sims to be responsible the same way kids in real life are taught. By having your younger Sims brush their teeth and take out the trash, they’ll develop their responsibility. They’ll get better grades at school and eventually perform better in their future careers.

8 8. Conflict resolution

The most successful Sims are those with the best social skills. It’s impossible to navigate a community if you lack the ability to get along with others. One of the most important values to stress as a parent in the Sims is conflict resolution. When your sim becomes a teenager, you can talk through their problems with them to demonstrate the skills they’ll need to deescalate sensitive situations as adults. Sims with great conflict resolution skills can successfully apologize, end fights, and even mediate online forums.

7 7. Empathy

Parenthood screenshot of a father hugging his toddler.

Empathy is a tough skill for kids to learn but it’s absolutely vital. You can’t teach your kids to care about others without modeling it. It’s the same in The Sims. You can teach young Sims empathy by talking to them about their negative moods and emotions. There are several social actions that can be taken during conversations with your child. If you help them and encourage them to make kind choices at school, they’ll become more empathetic. If you’re careful to nurture this value, your child will develop the Compassion Trait.

6 6. Emotional Control

Emotional control is an extremely valuable trait for parents and children alike. Tantrums are one of the hardest parts of raising children. Upping your Sim’s emotional control can help avoid them altogether. There are a lot of actions you can take to boost your child’s emotional control value. Encourage them to participate in healthy behaviors like journaling about their feelings, listening to music, or playing an instrument. This helps them channel their negative moods and learn to self regulate. If you encourage a young Sim to have good emotional control, their negative moodlets will lower much faster. They’ll also go to their journal on their own in the future, easing the load on mom and dad.

5 5. Irresponsibility

It’s a parent’s duty to model responsible behavior for their kids. You can’t have hardworking children if they aren’t taught from a young age. Young Sims who aren’t taught to study hard and clean up around the house may develop the Irresponsibility Trait. Irresponsible Sims may sit around watching TV all day, slack off in school, and not want to help around the house. If you don’t instill responsibility in your Sims they’ll grow up to be eternal slackers. They’ll goof off at work and not do much around the house. No one wants that.

4 4. Argumentative

You can teach your kids in the Sims great conflict resolution skills. They’ll be able to calm down arguments and be great at making peace. If you don’t nurture these skills you could end up with an argumentative brat. Argumentative sims find relationships and social interactions more difficult. They’ll have a harder time building strong relationships with other Sims or succeeding at work. Being argumentative is a truly annoying and toxic trait. It’s easily one of the worst traits your kids could end up with.

3 3. Insensitivity

Parenthood allows you to raise empathetic and compassionate Sims. There are plenty of ways to teach your kids to care about others in this Expansion Pack. Fail to prioritize empathy and your young Sim could grow up to be insensitive. They’ll struggle to form relationships and have fewer positive interactions with other Sims. Sims who don’t learn strong empathy skills early in life can develop the Insensitivity Trait. An insensitive Sim will frequently hurt or offend other Sims in social interactions and be generally disliked.

2 2. Uncontrolled Emotions

Teaching kids emotional control makes life easier for parents, families, and the community in general. You can use positive parenting commands like asking your children about their feelings and encouraging them to journal. The more you encourage your younger Sims to embrace their feelings, the more emotional control they’ll learn. If you don’t encourage this value in your young Sims, they’ll end up with the Uncontrolled Emotions Trait. These Sims will be prone to negative moodlets that escalate and last much longer. Sims with poor emotional control will have fewer successful relationships.

1 1. Bad Manners

No one likes a kid with bad manners. In this Expansion Pack, there are plenty of new disgusting character interactions that you may want to avoid. If you’re not careful, you could end up with kids who do nothing but belch and fart all day. Failing to choose the right parenting commands will prevent your young Sims from developing good manners. If you don’t address rude behavior, like swearing, your children will actually develop the Bad Manners Trait. You’ll end up with a sloppy potty mouth and no one likes that.

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