ELAR

    I wanna stay up!

 Wouldn’t we all love to stay up at night, eating, calling, or texting friends during the night? I know most people out there do, mostly its kids. However some kids are disappointed due to their parents not agreeing with that decision; they say “You’ll be tired when you wake up” or “I don’t want a call from your school saying you fell asleep in class.” Yes, and while some of that might happen it's not the end of the world if kids spend one night awake. So, kids should be allowed to stay up at night.

If kids were to go to sleep early, they could miss out on what their friends are talking about, but special bonding with friends or family is important. Kids want to call their friends, and/or play with them on online games. The fun they could have is beyond anyone can think of! Although not all the fun can only happen with friends, but with family too. 

Family bonding is just as important, and a keepsake of memory. Friends will grow up with friends, and that will make them want to spend time with friends for the most part of their day. Although, what if their relationship with their family slowly breaks away. Whether it's their mom, dad, sibling, cousin, grandparent, ect. They want to spend time with their family.

While some kids might want to have that fun, that might not be the full reason for wanting to be awake during the night. They might just not be tired, and just still have some of their energy in them. Others say kids should go to bed when they're naturally tired. If kids aren’t sleepy, parents shouldn’t just rush them off to bed; instead they should let the kid tire themself out. Sleep can't be forced unless there is something that can help with that. According to many doctors, it's ok to have a later bedtime; just as long as you can also sleep later in the morning. "The most important thing is that you're getting the sleep that you need," says Jodi Mindell, a sleep expert at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. Counting sheep doesn’t work most of the time. Parents should let their kids tire themselves out by playing fun games or calling friends, or be creative.

Or, if a kid is not tired, sure, they can close their eyes until the sleep happens, but who knows how long that will be until it does. Then they’ll really be tired. So maybe it's not the best idea to force kids to take a shut eye when they don’t feel the need to. There's a saying ‘burning the candle at both ends.” meaning you go to bed late and wake up early. Which is even better to hear in the case that kids need to be awake early for school, or, to even catch the bus.

If in the case that a child doesn’t wake up early and doesn’t make it to the bus, is it really that much of a deal? Their parent(s)/Guardian can drive them to school. One to three nights wouldn't hurt, but if it were weeks or even months, I'd understand.

Letting kids stay up can also boost their creativity, and responsibility. Maybe even independence too. Some of the most intelligent minds in history, like Albert Einstein, and Leonardo da Vinci, were known to stay up as well. Many children feel more inspired during the night when the world is quiet and distractions are a small amount. Whether it is reading, drawing, writing, or learning, night time can be the perfect opportunity for kids to explore their interests. Instead of forcing kids to sleep when they aren't tired, parents can support their curiosity and creativity by letting them stay up a little longer.

As children grow, they need opportunities to make decisions for themselves. A flexible bedtime can help them learn to manage their own schedules. If kids are allowed to stay up later, they will begin to understand how sleep affects their mood and energy levels. Over time, they will learn to recognize when they are tired and choose to go to bed on their own. This sense of responsibility will help them as they grow into independent adults.

When it comes to a kid’s independence, it's important to be focused on their needed schedule. They don’t need nor want to rely on their parents to tell them when they should sleep. A kid knows when they need to go to bed themselves, and it’s what they feel; not the parents.

White it is important for kids to get enough sleep, a strict early bedtime may not always be the best approach. Staying up later can allow more family time, bring creativity, and teach responsibility. Instead of forcing bedtime rules, parents should consider a better approach that allows children to develop healthy habits on their own. So therefore, kids should be allowed to stay up during the night as long as needed.

 Halloween Friend

On every kid’s favorite holiday full of costumes and buckets full of candy, this night was different. While kids were trading the candy they didn’t want for the ones they did, there was an awful lot of candy corn.  It was just tossed aside because everyone in town did not like candy corn, the neighbor “Mr.Biggie” clearly hadn’t got the hint.  Sarah was feeling so much antipathy at Mr.Biggie for not taking the hint that candy corn was disgusting. “Ugh, candy corn again? How many halloweens do I have to go through in order to get just one chocolate bar!?” Sarah complained, then Billy nodded and agreed. “ Tell me about it, I have more candy corn than I do chocolate.” Mr.Biggie happened to hear their complaints and called out from his rocking chair. “Ey! You kids betta be grateful. That candy corn cost me more money than ya parents give ya as an allowance.” Sarah and Billy looked back wanting to criticize but deciding not to have an attitude and apologize in unison the following : “Sorry Mr.Biggie.” A few more blocks later , Sarah and Billy decided to head home. The two dumped out both of their buckets and tossed the candy corn aside. Accidentally knocking over a water bottle, water spilling over the candy corn, However they did not notice, and just continued to chat while eating their candy. 

In the middle of their conversation Billy felt something slimy brush against his arm. Grossed out while thinking it was their dog Charlie, “Ew!” Billy exclaimed, “...gross Charlie, what have we said? Drool on your stuffed..” he paused, taking a look at the sudden blob. “..-toys..?” Both Sarah and Billy were confused, what was this? Why was it in their room? How did it even get in the room? The blob was an unusual, chromic color. Well in the town’s opinion this color was weird. Orange. It also had big black circled eyes, candy corn looking horns and wings. With a happy smile right on its face. It was rather..adorable? “Hello!” the blob spoke happily. The two were so shocked that they just gave a hesitant wave. 

Later on in the halloween night, the two had shoved it into a shoe box, not letting him come out. Suddenly the blob spoke, “Hello..? It's really dark in here..” the blob said sadly with a sniffle.  “I'm scared..” Sarah and Billy gave a glance at each other before Billy gave a sigh and opened the shoe box. Tipping it over in the slightest  angle so the blob could get out. “What's your name..?” asked Sarah. The blob lets out a small giggle, and does little dance as he speaks.

“My name is Erythleucxanthoduocornusbioculdoalaelintiousmonodent! Wanna be friends..” The blob gets stuck for words. All because he didn't know their names. They let out a small laugh. Sarah points to Billy, ¨That is Billy,¨ says Sarah. Then points to herself ¨..and I´m Sarah.¨ The blob, embarrassed, gave a smile and spoke,¨Right! Now I know.¨ The two got to know the blob more, things were limited on where they could hang out, but it was fun. To keep the blob a secret from their parents, they made a small home for it in the air vent on the wall. It was never used anyway. They all became best friends. This was for sure a very happy halloween.

   Broken Families    

In ¨Hatchet¨ by Gary Paulsen, Brian, the main character, has no choice but to survive in the woods after having an intense plane crash. He faces some problems in the woods which I for real hope I don't run into. Anyway, throughout the book Brian's confidence and ability to get stronger increases. From what I read in the book, Brian takes his parents divorce very hard; he even cries by the thought of it or the word ¨divorce¨ itself. Like said in the book, Paulsen adds ¨Divorce. The Secret. Brian felt his eyes beginning to burn and knew there would be tears.¨ Though even I understand Brian's pain. In my household, 2 years ago, my dad passed away, and  even though they are different situations, I´ve seen what it's like to have parents separate from each other.

In Paulsen's book, Brian's mother divorces his dad because she is secretly seeing another man. Also known as what was called in the book “The Secret”. Along with even Brian witnessing his mother get into a car with another man. It also seems that she still cares tenderly for Brian but refuses to tell him the reason for that divorce. With Brian's father, he seems to want the opposite, not wanting to divorce Brian's mother.

Like I said before, although my parents never had breaks or even divorced, I still understand his pain. When my dad passed away it was both sad for me and my mom; just like how Brian feels about his parents divorce. It hurt me even more seeing my mom hurt so much about his passing. We missed the moments together as we made them, more importantly as a family.

So, overall, I understand how Brian feels. Along with that, in my opinion there is no shame in how we both feel either. One thing in common with these feelings is that we both tried to hide it. Divorce his hard, same thing with a death in the family. Nevertheless, we’ve dealt with struggles, but we found a way to get through them eventually.