I have found that if I praise someone while they are repairing something, it seems to lock them into that project. For instance, I had one person taping the hose, and in another case someone was repairing the floor. In both instances, I praised them and then they continued with the task for a good 5 minutes. I finally had to take them from it and put them back at it and then they completed it in the usual time frame.

What version are you running? Click the menu button and look in the lower left-hand corner. If it's not 1.00.05, I suggest you update your game.

Jenny23, I actually had that happen too, but it was only with one little peep. When I would praise her husband, it didn't affect him that way, only the wife. I finally deleted that couple and restarted a new character in that same player slot and I haven't had that problem since. I'm playing a lot of families, too, as I have 5 going under one user name on my computer and so far another 3 going under a different user name on my computer. I think it's probably just a glitch, but I know what you mean as it happened EVERY time I praised her for doing anything.