Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Anna's Nutty News: Facts: Sleep



The warm, dark blankets are so comfortable... you force your mind back into that beautiful dream you were having, and ignore the dawn light drifting in through the curtains.

Silence....

Bleep.... Meep... Meep....the alarm clock is calling you. Not even opening your eyes, you grope blindly for the snooze button...

Does this sound familiar? If you are a teen or preteen, you have good reason for your so called "laziness."

Remember when you were eight years old and had no problems getting up at six-thirty in the morning? the outside air was SO invigorating. The warm sunshine was so inviting, breakfast was cheerily calling your name... It was easy to wake up when you were small.


Now, you bundle up thickly and try to hide from the "freezing" air. You close your eyes against the bright sunshine, and subconsciously grope for your breakfasts.
Why is this?

I'm sure we've all heard that Teens need a lot of sleep...but lately I've been wondering why. So - I've done some research on the subject..and found these facts.



  • During the teenage years, a lot goes in inside the body. The development of hormones occur - thus the world takes much more thought and heart-ache than it used to. There is often "stress" involved with this new stage of life and thus: it tires the body. (Resulting in the need for sleep.)

  • A lot of growing is done in the teenage years...and as we all know, when going through a "growth spurt" children like to sleep.

  • Some teens have a million responsibilities/ just a lot of fun things to do during the day. Pile school on top of volunteer projects, seeing friends and household duties, and you'll end up with... *ta-da* A teen who needs a good deal of sleep.

  • A teens "internal clock" actually changes during these years, to include later hours.... and later mornings... also resulting in a tired teen.

So, I guess there is a reason for sleepy teenagers. Wowsy-woosy.


This isn't a reason for us to ignore the alarm clock completely - knowing that we need our sleep. We need to be responsible like the "adults" we're becoming. However, from these four simple facts, we can see that sleep is very necessary, so we should partake in 9-10 hours of it each night.


So there! Hope you've enjoyed my first edition of "Anna's Nutty News."


PS. By the way: Did you know that there are five stages to sleeping?

6 comments:

Bethany d said...

Does this mean I have a great excuse to sleep in until ten? ;)

Kara said...

:D A nice "Anna's Nutty News". Wait, sleep isn't nutty. - Is it? :D

Sleep is nice.

Maria said...

I love my bed! Yeah, my mom is always chiding be for setting my alarm at 6 and not getting up right away. But honestly, it's SOOO much easier to turn an alarm off than get out of bed. You are so lucky you don't have to go to Orchestra every morning...

Bailey said...

Amen! Saturday morning sleep-ins...justified.

I've heard of those five stages of sleep. Personally, I find sleep fascinating. And did you know that every hour of sleep before midnight counts for two hours?

Anna said...

Wow! Sounds like we're all officially "teenagers"!! :P jk

Anonymous said...

No, I didn't know there are five stages of sleep. Wait till you get sixty-five...or almost 69 like Papaw, and see how your sleep habits change. (Thrill thrill!!!!)