Well, it’s that time of year again when my Facebook feed gets flooded with parents cursing the evils of Daylight Saving. Whether we’re jumping ahead an hour in the spring or “falling back,” moms and dads seem to consider this arbitrary time change the nemesis of parenting, blaming all tantrums on the switching of a clock, weeping over the disruption of carefully planned routines.
Since becoming a mother in 2012, I’ve kept quiet on the subject, hiding my personal thoughts about the practice, but like REO Speedwagon, I just can’t fight this feeling anymore. It’s time that I come clean and put it all out there, so here goes.
I love Daylight Saving Time. It’s true, I’ve always enjoyed the biannual time warp and becoming a parent hasn’t changed that. In this post, I offer five reasons to love “falling back” as much as I do.
5. Extra Hour of Sleep
This is a no-brainer. Everyone can appreciate that bonus sixty minutes of sleep you are magically rewarded with every fall. Yes, your kids will probably sleep the same number of hours that night, so you have to plan accordingly. Either put them to bed an hour later than usual or put yourself to bed an hour earlier. Personally, I have a hard time getting my older one up for school during the week, so I prefer the latter option.
4. No More Math in the Car
OK, so I could probably figure out how to change the clock in my car instead of subtracting an hour every time I need to know the time throughout the summer, but where’s the fun in that? There’s no better feeling than getting into your car in the morning, thinking you’re an hour late, and then remembering that your clock actually has the right time now! Don’t judge me.
3. Pretty Lights
Like it or not, the end of Halloween officially marks the start of the Christmas season. It’s not unusual for people to take down their spider webs and jack-o-lanterns and break out the twinkly lights and holiday wreaths. As much as we all like to complain about the too-early emergence of Frosty the Snowman playing on the radio, I think we can all agree that the lit-up houses are one of the best parts of the season. You work hard to hang all those sparkly lights just right, so it’s nice to show them off for as long as possible. Guess what? They look a lot better in the dark, am I right?
2. No Pain, No Gain
You know all the clichés about understanding sadness to truly appreciate happiness and such? This is no different. If you are going to genuinely rejoice in the lightness of “springing forward,” you have to experience the darkness of winter. Who wants to see all of those bare trees and dirt-stained snowbanks anyway? Trust me, you’re not missing much.
1. The Night Is Young (But We Are Not)!
Speaking of darkness, this tends to be a universal complaint among folks, whether they are parents or not. You often hear your friends lamenting the fact that it’s dark out by the time they get home from work. I understand this, but as a parent, I’m not that mad about it. First off, wine-o’ clock comes earlier. You can’t be accused of “day-drinking” after the sun goes down, even if it is only 4:30 in the afternoon. Plus, for those of us who can’t seem to stay up past 9 PM, at least it’s not still light out when you go to bed, so you can feel like more of a grown-up.
