Many kids don’t want to go to sleep at night, and in the morning, they don’t want to wake up! In winter, you wake up while it’s still dark, but in the summer, you have to go to sleep while it’s still light outside! What’s going on? Why is sleep so important that it has a berachah before we go to sleep: “Hamapil chevlei sheinah” – and another in the morning – “Maavir sheinah me’einai”?
Did you ever watch someone sleep? He just lays there. How boring! What’s really going on? All day long your body is busy running around so at night your bones and your muscles need a chance to stay still. But are bones and muscles really doing nothing? No! The body makes a chemical called Human Growth Hormone which does just what its name suggests: makes your bones grow. This growth hormone also helps your body to fix things that were damaged such as bruises cuts or bumps and tired aching muscles that worked or played very hard that day.
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