Thoughts on DST

As the time change approaches, I want to clear up some things that drive me batshit crazy.

First, we are going on Daylight Saving Time. We are not going on Daylight SavingS Time. We are saving daylight, not depositing it in the bank for later.

Also please note in fall that we go OFF Daylight Saving Time, so when we all bitch about how our kids won’t sleep past 5 a.m., it’s not DST that you hate, it’s going off DST that you hate. I might have to remind you all again then. You don’t have to thank me, it’s just a public service I like to provide.

I have mixed feelings about going on DST, as does everyone with small children, I suspect. We all love the extra hour of daylight because mixed with warmer temperatures, there is more playing outside to be done. Or drinking on patios. And with kids, it’s kind of nice because it stays darker a little longer in the morning so our early birds tend to sleep a little later because they aren’t woken up by the sun. But it sucks in that it’s hard to convince a kid that it’s bedtime when it’s still light outside, especially if they are used to going to bed at 8 p.m. when it’s dark in the fall and winter. I would push bedtime back a bit except she still has to be up for school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays so she can’t really sleep late to make up for it.

I also wish that we didn’t spring forward and fall back on a different time table than the rest of the world. My work is centered around UK time, so when we change and they don’t, my work schedule gets all funked up. Based on my limited availability, I might not be able to work much at all until the UK goes on summer time on March 28.

But, since Betsy is on Spring Break all this coming week, we may just stay up late, eat popsicles outside and enjoy the spring. We’ll worry about the transition next week.