I think this may be an issue with Riverview, then, as when I started playing The Sims 3, I played Sunset Valley and had no problems with the school bus or sim-kids skipping school; it's only after starting a new game in Riverview that I have experienced the tardy sim-children issues.

I have experienced a similar issue with my "child sims" in that, if they are ever doing anything before school they willn't go to school when the time comes (in fact, in my game, the bus doesn't even come - I am playing in Riverview, mayhap this problem is unique to that map?). That is to say, that when one has a sim doing action x, y or z, and the carpool for work comes, the "go to work" action jumps to the top of the queue following the current activity, yet, when a child is performing action w, v or u, they simply continue as if nothing urgent were going on and happily miss school without a second's though. It's as if children in <i>The Sims 3</i> are to be waited on like some sort of child-like simulacra - requiring one's constant attention and vigilance. It <i>is</i> something of a nuisance, but I've learned to deal with it, since I've no other option, at present.

I have yet to encounter the previous posters' particular problems, but am curious as to whether or not they are using the "Riverview" map ("Free With Purchase: How Gracious of Wee") as I did not experience the issues with tardiness that I am currently encountering with the "Sunset Crevice" map, so I am somewhat intrigued (though not particularly so) as to the source of these childhood delinquency issues. Mayhap it is a problem with "The New .World"...

Alright, enough of me, presently.

I honestly didn't read through all of that which came before my reply, but I must say that many of the things mentioned seem, to me, at least, to be mods that the Awesome Sims Community (here-to-for known as "ASC") came up with and not standard "vanilla" Sims and/or expansion pack objects/interactions and, while yes, they were great, they were never in the game except for those with said kick-@$$ modifications installed (to draw a parallel see: the aptly named "AwesomeMod"; i.e, awesome stuff that isn't in the standard version of the game, yet makes the game so much better). Thus, I believe that one could rest assured that, given time, the excellent modding community which surrounds this game will, by and by, not only solve the issues herein discussed, but likely also improve on things that we have yet to realize as problems.

P.S, I miss the "apartment" features of "Apartment Life" or "Get a Life" or whatever the frag it was called.

That was my $0.02

There is no "i" in "time"!

Oh... wait, that's "team", I meant. Sorry. Ne'ermind. I'll shut up, now.