The story “Sleep my Little One” is a science fiction look at what family life might be like if people did not have to sleep every night. It was written from the view of the mother, named Sara, and her 2 children Michael (7 years old) and Holly (2 years old). Sara wanted the best for her family and would do anything for them. Even though this story is a fantasy in today’s world, some of the family issues Sara struggled with are some of the same ones families struggle with today.
The story discusses a medical discovery that allows people to have their bodies need to sleep “switched” off. It is done after a person reaches a certain age, because young kids still sleep in the story. Sara’s children have not had the procedure done yet and she is starting to realize that her son, Michael, is falling behind the other children in school and sports because he still has to go to sleep at night and he does not have enough time for everything he wants to do. This is the same thing that parents have to deal with in active families now.
Mothers and Fathers have to try to balance their work careers with the kid’s school and activities but there does not seem to be enough time in a day and may times some things do not get done. This story relates to situations in my life because I have an extremely busy schedule like the character Michael in the story. The combination of school work, team practices and family life makes it feel like I do not have enough time in every day to get everything done. I play for two ice hockey teams, Bishop Eustace and Team Comcast, which means practices four times a week and games four times a week.
If the games are away it could sometimes mean a two hour trip each way plus the game time. When you add in school everyday from 8 until 2:30 and the required homework it feels like there is not enough time in the day. I can understand where a child could get worn out and feel anxious from a constant hectic routine. There were many times I wished for more hours to get my work done and not be tired like the sleepless world in the story. When reading this story for the first time I thought how great it would be to not have to sleep and how much more I could do in my life with the extra time.
There is so much competition in all parts of life today such as getting good grades and high scores on the SAT’s to make sure you can get into the college you want and keeping up with team practices and training to get on a high level team the extra time you would have without sleeping would make achieving those goals easier. After thinking about it and re-reading the story I changed my opinion. A person might feel like they have more time after they were “switched” but the world around them would soon take up that free time.
Schools would assign longer and harder assignments and sports practices could be longer taking up any extra time that you would gain from not having to go to sleep. Even though this story is a fantasy in today’s world, some of the family issues Sara struggled with are some of the same ones families struggle with today.
In a world where sleep is not required anymore, parents and children would still have balance the same hectic schedules they have today only it would cover 24 hours a day. The free hours gained by not having to sleep would soon be filled with extra activities, school assignments or work assignments.
