Big 1.7 Children Update Wishlist

[Anzasquiddles]

As we know, ConcernedApe has stated that 1.7 will update children to be more "interesting". I myself had just gotten my first fully grown toddler in my current playthrough, and I have a lot of thoughts regarding the children mechanic in this game.

Specifically, I love the idea of having children but I don't like the fact that they don't age past toddler and don't do anything of note (as so many people have pointed out, the only things you can do with children is giving them hats, raising their friendship, or turning them into dove eggs). In this post I've gathered lots of ideas and suggestions on 1.7 children updates I wish to see.

• More children growth/development stages past toddler. The ideal for me is up to elementary/tween-ish age (around the same as Jas and Vincent's ages), though I've seen some community suggestions asking for them to age into fully grown adults so that they can move out etc.
  • I've seen tons of children mods that alter their appearance based on the parents, this can be done for the update.
• The ability to actually interact (talk/give gifts) with your children rather than just clicking on them once per day like you do a pet dog.
  • Children should have unique dialogue when talked to. It can be as simple as "goo goo ga ga" when they're babies/toddlers to full on sentences once they're older.
  • Children needs gifting options and should have their own likes/dislikes.
    • The way this is done can be as simple as in Harvest Moon BTN/FOMT where your children always has the exact same preference for every playthrough (mostly likes sweets and hates vegetables), but I'm sure there are also ways to randomize this so that for example, one of your children may actually enjoy vegetables or minerals or something.
  • Children portraits, likes, dislikes, and birthday visible in the gift log. Right now the gift log does have an entry for your child, but it's completely empty and your child doesn't even show up on the profile, instead there's only an empty field where your child should be.
  • Children birthday visible on the calendar and gift log. I don't know if the game actually keeps track of this, but I assume it does since it keeps track of your child's development.
    • (My first daughter in my current save was born on the night of Fall 24, if anyone's asking.)
• The ability for your children to get out of the house and walk around the farm and the town. They're already out and about during festivals, so I can't imagine it'd be too hard to have them run around tripping over themselves in the Pelican Town square.
• Related to the growing older wish, the ability for your older children to help around your farm (eg. harvesting ready crops, petting/feeding animals, etc). Basically like a scrawnier version of a Junimo hut.
• More spouse dialogues for children (other than "You can focus on the farm, I'll feed the baby"). It's probably just me, but I notice that in my current playthrough, once my child is past the newborn stage (when you can toss them around), your spouse will stop mentioning your child completely.
• Townsfolk dialogues for children. Townsfolk should have unique dialogue after your children is born and/or fully grown.
  • In my current playthrough I have a child with Abigail in my current playthrough and I gotta say it's kinda weird how Pierre and Caroline don't seem to react at all over the fact that they are now grandparents.
  • Lewis should congratulate you on your child like he does your wedding, for instance; or Robin can mention that the crib she built is working well. Jas and Vincent should ask if they can play with your children. And so on.
• The ability to take your spouse and children to your farmhouse in Ginger Island for a tropical getaway.
• Adding closed eyes/sleeping children sprites, so that children will sleep with their eyes closed. Children sleeping with their eyes open is so cursed (see image), I'd say even more so than watching them wriggle and writhe around the house as green worm babies.
• Most importantly: the ability to retroactively apply all of these updates (eg. children preferences) to pre-1.7 saves.

That's all I have for my ideas, but I'm sure there are other community wishes I've missed. Please let me know what yall think