It takes me approximately 1 to 2 hours to really set up a family in their new home, so that I don't have to worry about them dying on me. I created my first 5 families almost all at once, because it was easy to switch between them. Once I started a new game for the next set of families, I created one at a time only.

Once they are happy in their home, I usually check them just once a day, sometimes once every two days, unless they are a favorite family. Families can become a favorite by having something interesting happen in them. I also have my "super favorite" family that I write about over on Twitter.

When I open the family, the first thing I do is check their health and take care of any problems, then I go to the store to see what's new there, I make new babies if the family needs more kids, I add notes to the family tree screen, and I figure out what upgrades need to be made. How long I spend with each family depends on things like the weather (if it rains or if I have a rain bottle, I stay until the rain is over so that I can look for collectibles). Usually I get an event while I'm there, too.

Usually I stay less than 10-15 minutes. If I have to start a new generation, it's a little longer.

If I know I'm going to be busy, I just pause my families. Sometimes they stay paused for several days.