(I think it's sweet how she is writing for Cami, too. )
"Why should I go to bed early? Are bedtime is so soon. We don't have very much time to get redy for bed. And we can't do veary much. We don't have any time to play games. And we have to do scelpsher (scripture) reding. But we can't because 7 thorte (7:30) is so soon. We don't have time to play games and we don't have time to watch you guys play games. And we go to bed when there is still some light lefet in the sky. And we don't have varey much time to teach Cami stuff she needs to leran. It does et fel like the day has gone by so fast. I need more time to do my home worck. I don't have time to do my work. We don't have time to find our pegais (PJs) or put them on. We can't get my tiny drink of water and my vitamin. And that's all I have.
Elora"
They sure don't take school pictures like they use to.So who won? Elora now gets to stay up until 7:40 every school night. She got an 10 extra minutes, and she is so happy.
25 comments:
How cute! I love it how they gave her a chance to make her case. I did that with my kids, too.
I remember I had a 7 PM bedtime as a child, and it was so hard because I WASN'T SLEEPY at that time! So my brother and I, who shared a bedroom and then later had bedrooms next to each other, would talk and talk and start giggling and then shouting and singing gleefully until my mom had to come in and shush us up and tell us firmly to "go to sleep, you two!" We tried, but half the year the sky was still light at that time, and we were just so wide awake!! Finally she said we could read for a half hour in our bed before lights out. That helped a lot!
It sounds like Elora would make a great lawyer and she is very convincing!!! Of course, the clincher is to mention the baby of the family :-) That always helps the situation. This was delightful to read. And that is seriously a 'school' picture??? I've never seen poses like that for school pictures. I thought Brock and Erin must have taken her to a professional photographer's shop. Very cute picture!!
She gave some good reasons! I'm glad she earned her 10 minute extension. As for the pictures, the ones they take at the beginning of the year are the normal old school ones, the one you see here of Elora is a spring picture, they do the fancy ones and even if you don't purchase them they send them home with you to try to entice you to buy, and then if you don't, you have to return them to school.
Yes Peggy, it really is a school picture. I guess they have a more traditional one taken early in the year, and then this one which they just got yesterday.
Darlene, I also remember having an early bedtime when it was still light outside :)
I remember our bedtime was also 7:30 and we'd make deals with our Mom saying if we stayed up till 8, the next night we would make it up by going to bed at 7pm. We did that on nights Leave it to Beaver was on, so it was worth it.
I think children need more sleep than many of them get, so I love it when parents give them early bedtimes. I also think children benefit greatly from routine. I'm not opinionated or anything, right?
Glad this has been preserved. This was the culmination of 2 weeks of stress for Elora. She came to me on a day when she had been a particularly good big sister to Cami and I realized that she gives so much to our family and that she deserved a little bit in return. Then I got mean and told her she need to "present her case" on a Monday night as part of our weekly assessment of family business. She didn't know what that meant so I had to do a little bit of Speech 101 explanation. I suggested she come prepared with notes and over the next week she crafted the note you see in the post.
When the time came to present her case she froze up and claimed she was too embarrassed to do it, so we held off for a few days until she was ready. She presented it very well and her points were well made so she got her extension. She also get's to go to bed at 8 on non-school nights.
Put this girl on the debate team! ;)
This is sooooooooooo cute! I love all her reasons for wanting to stay up later! The funny thing is, she was happy with just 10 minutes! Sometimes I think it is good, instead of saying no, to find a compromise, that is all she really wanted anyway. So cute!!!!
She's destined to be a lawyer when she grows up. She knows how to state her case!
I love this post and what everyone has said.
I recently read "The Outliers"...a best selling book all about what makes successful adults. One of the points made in the book is how important it is to let our children stand up for themselves...how we should encourage that and support them in that....little things like when you take them to the dr, encourage them to talk to the dr about symptoms and concerns, instead of always doing it for them. I think the author of The Outliers would like how Elora's parents handled this.
I don't want to give the impression that my brother and I were brats. Far from it! We were extremely well behaved. I think part of the problem was that we also took naps at advanced ages (I was still napping in first grade.) so in our case maybe we were getting TOO much sleep!
Jill, about Outliers, when my kids wanted to do something and I was unsure what I thought about it, I'd say, "I'm unsure about this. Convince me." If they did a good job of convincimg me, I'd say yes. If they did a bad job... well, better luck next time! It worked really well. I raised a bunch of confident, reasonable boys.
Would Brock please speak with Wendy? She stays up way too late.
Richard, You crack me up!!!
I'm impressed with Brock and his handling of this request of Elora's. Even the freezing up during the presentation was put over to another day which took the pressure off but still let her have her say. Good job. Loved hearing about it. Love, Dad and Susan
I loved everyone's comments! Can you tell by the grass stained jeans that I forgot it was picture day!? The funny thing is we had planned to just give her the 8 o'clock on non school days extension but her argument was so convincing we had to give her just a little more! She is such a delight, and I hope she always has this much spunk!
Erin
That was so cute. You're right about school photography, but she sure is a DOLL. Ever since Logans Shawear story, I have it embedded in my brain. Elora's story is a little like Logan's. Very cute. Loved it!
Oh my goodness...I love this Blog stuff!!!! Elora is a little adult and I can't believe how beautiful she is. BrockLY I am so proud of you for the father you are. I always knew you would be a good one!!!! and Erin I can't see a thing on her jeans. You are such an awesome woman and I am so glad BrockLY has you.
Jilly I love you and thank you for all of your comments You are so precious to me.
Jill~~~~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (I hope it is today). Hope you have as great as day as you are!
Love ya!
Ammy
This was way too cute. They are going to have a fun time when she debates other issues with them! Happy Birthday, Jill!! I hope you have a wonderful day!
This is hilarious! :) Love it!
I have always thought the trick is to let the kids think things are their own idea, when really it is yours! Good job!
Happy Birthday Jill!!
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JILL!I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY! YOU DESERVE A FANTASTIC PARTY WITH LOTS OF CAKE AND FRIENDS AND FUN...ENJOY!
I was hoping to see more pictures of you when you were little since this is your birthday today (Friday),but I guess that isn't to be, so I'll join the others that have commented today and wish you a very Happy Birthday!!!
Elora is the coolest! I am so excited that I get to be her aunt!!!
Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!
Robin
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