It’s Tuesday – two full days after that one tiny hour was swiped away from my life with hardly a warning – and I‘m still reeling from losing it. I don’t know about you but the “Spring Ahead” time change gets me every time. Why is that? Why do I feel the effects of losing an hour so much more when the government has taken it from me? I mean, isn’t it the same thing as watching “The Bachelor” for an hour? No, it’s not. And, no, I can’t reasonably tell you why.
The “Fall Back” time change is no biggie – I’m not questioning a single soul with that one. You want to give me an extra hour? Well, alrighty! I’ll take it. I’ll sleep (um, yea right). I’ll sip coffee (dreaming again). I’ll fold an extra load of laundry (ding, ding, ding!). I’ll play games with my kids. Whatever you want me to do – just give me another hour in my day.
But by the time March rolls around, the extra hour high is gone, and Daylight Savings Time just ticks me off for two straight days – I spend all of Sunday googling why. Why would the government do this to us? Do they know how precious one single hour is for a mom?
Google tells me energy consumption is why. Ummmm, OK, but what about my energy? I have none left when you take away that one hour. But somehow when you throw in an extra hour of daylight, my kids have TONS of energy.
I mean, I love sunlight just like everyone else, but I love it more when my kids are out of school. Do we really need to start DST in March? Obviously, whoever on the Energy Board or Energy Commission or whatever group decided all of this does not have small children. They clearly have never had to see their kids’ 7 pm bedtime suddenly become 9 pm because it’s impossible to wrangle the masses for bed with the sun still high in the sky. If I wanted to do that, I’d live in Alaska where they have like 24 hours of straight sunlight for one day in June. (Let us all pause – those poor Alaskan moms! How do they do it? Snowy, dark winters and one day of constant sunlight!)
But, oh, what we could’ve been done with that one hour we lost on Sunday! I mean, all the laundry could’ve been folded; a gourmet dinner could’ve been on the table (I can’t even imagine what I could make in an hour – it’s been so long since I cooked for a straight hour!); that pesky book report could be…well…reported; the kids could be….ummm…arguing (because what else would they be doing with each other – definitely not playing games peacefully); the bills could’ve been paid; the baby’s sock drawer could’ve been organized (yes, that would definitely take an hour); the baseboards, ceiling fans, and window sills could be squeaky clean; the carpet in the playroom could reappear with all the toys put away.
Ummm…hold up…OK, I actually hate doing all of those things so maybe it’s better we lost that hour. I think our government’s finest actually got me out of doing my Real Life job for an hour. I kind of feel like I need to send an apology note to those guys for all the hate thoughts I’ve had for the past two days (I just have a sneaky suspicion they’re guys because a woman wouldn’t screw with another woman’s clock and still have a conscience)!
Actually, maybe a thank you note would make more sense because with that one hour lost, it’s like all of that work just vanished. Like it never existed – and won’t ever exist – until November when we get that extra hour back.
So all of a sudden we have like six months to save our OWN energy to tackle that one extra hour of work they’ll be throwing in our faces when DST ends. My how the tables have turned, eh? The only way the government could possibly make it up to me when they end DST in November is to mandate everyone sleeps for that one hour. Kids included. I mean, if they can make a law that says I can’t buy my wine before noon on Sunday, surely they can make a law about sleeping for one measly extra hour the second Sunday of November?
Get to it Washington peeps, and while you’re at it, can you mandate that all kids’ bedrooms come with black out shades? Big thank you!
Win a week of FREE traditional camp from our Smarty friends at Camp Harrison!
YMCA Camp Harrison at Herring Ridge is located on a spectacular tract of land in the Brushy Mountains of North Carolina located between Lenoir and North Wilkesboro just 90 minutes from Charlotte, N.C. There are more than 2,000 acres of woods, streams, and trails centered around private, 140-acre Lake Broyhill.
Smarty Camp Giveaway!! Camp Harrison is giving away one FREE week of traditional camp – an $850 value! Click on our Smarty Camp Guide link, scroll down to the bottom to the YMCA Camp Harrison listing and leave a comment on that blog. We’ll announce our winner in our Smarty Newsletter on Thursday, 3/14. Good luck!
AND
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Click on our Harlem Globetrotters link, scroll to the bottom and follow the directions for entering – it’s easy peazy!
That’s it! The winner of the Harlem Globetrotters tickets will be officially announced on Tuesday, March 19, so make sure to check your Inbox then. Good luck, Smarties!
