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Home > Blogs > Adventures in Motherhood > Archives > 2009 > March > 17 > Entry
DST wreaks havoc on tot schedules
William Willett, the British inventor of modern daylight-saving time, must not have been responsible for getting his children out of bed and ready for school, technically, an hour earlier.
Just one hour. Who would have thought that could make such a difference in the day-to-day routine of families?
Before I had children, losing that hour of sleep didn’t phase me too much. I’d just show up to class late or not show up at all … (that explains a few things.)
But now that I am a mom, I despise this time change.
I have tried all kind of tricks of the trade to help my boys adjust, even forgoing nap time in hopes they will actually be tired by the “new” 8 p.m.
After suffering through an afternoon and evening of whining and moping around, the new bedtime could not come fast enough. And fall asleep they did, but waking up at the now pitch dark 7 a.m. did not happen willingly.
Convincing two groggy boys that it really was time to get dressed was not an easy task. As for breakfast? Forget it. They weren’t hungry yet and would rather starve than even settle for a Rice Krispies treat before heading out the door.
Since the change to DST now comes earlier and stays later, I just don’t see the need for a time change at all. By the time we adjust back to standard time — which, granted, is a little easier — DST has snuck up on us again. We need to either pick one and stick to it, or meet in the middle and leave it alone.
Some parents say, “But then little Johnny would be getting on the bus in the dark in November.” Have you looked outside at 7:30 a.m. in the past few days? It’s dark. It’s March. So what is the difference?
If child safety is a concern — which it understandably is — then why don’t we adjust the school hours in the winter to be during daylight only and eliminate the need for a two-hour-delay on snowy mornings.
Yeah, I know I’m reaching here. But there has to be a better solution. Several changes to DST have taken place since its establishment in 1918, so clearly it is not an agreed upon necessity.
In fact, in 1974, an “energy crisis year,” DST began Jan. 6. Eek! As much as I enjoy the daylight of late summer evenings, I know a family of four, soon-to-be-five, that would opt for standard time, all of the time.
How do you help your little ones adjust to the frequent time-changes?
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Comments
By Ryan
March 17, 2009 12:19 PM | Link to this
You might want to think outside the box here. Daylight savings time extends daylight, therefore we don’t have to buy as much oil. 75% of our electricity runs on oil, we need to save as much as we can. We save billions every year buy having this in place. You also might want to be politically correct and include dads, last time I checked we deal with it too.