Why can't I play my household?

[Blair_Fawn]

When I opened up my game today to play a household i have played before, I loaded the household it my game started to act like the file was for a new game and won't let me play the file until i create a new household. If I create a new household I'm afraid all of my progress will be lost with the previous one. Is there any way to continue playing my household without loosing all of my progress?