Who Saved the Daylight?

My first memory of daylight savings time must be somewhere around the age of six, maybe seven years old.  I remember running through the neighborhood (even after eating "supper" with the family) playing with my friends hardly noticing the sun slowly drop off the edge of the earth.  The sun disappeared just past the end of West Wood Acres, on the west edge of town.

There are also memories of bed time coming long before the sun fell of the edge of the earth.  Those were the nights that I would plead with my parents to stay up just a little bit longer.  There was always some other family in the neighborhood who was still outside making the most of the last few minutes of daylight.  Their laughter made just a little bit more frustrated with my parents and their chosen bedtime for me and my sister.

Then I remember daylight savings time in college.  Some years it meant an extra hour of partying.  Other times it allowed me an extra hour of sleep to recover from the previous night.

When my friends started having kids, there were comments about how babies/toddlers and daylight savings time don't mix well.

I have plenty of previous experience with daylight savings time, however daylight savings time this spring was especially painful.  Nevermind the babies and toddlers, let's talk about the 33 year old women.  Those of us that don't even have babies or toddlers.

In the weeks leading up to daylight savings time I was perfectly happy with my morning routine.  The first alarm sounds at 4:29 and allows me 6 minutes to snooze until the second alarm at 4:35.  At that point I exactly eleven minutes to pee, brush my teeth, find some workout clothes, let Tucker outside, grab my gym bag and stumble to the car in order to find a place on the mat for my 5am kickboxing class.   There's no reason to protect the guilty - so I might as well note that many nights the furry monster at the end of the bed wakes me around 2 or 3am for potty break.  I must limit that dog's water at night.  Trust me that there are more than a few choice words spoken at that time of night!

So now add daylight savings time to my morning routine and last week was basically a train wreck!  4:29 turned in 7:09.  I'm fairly certain that I hit the snooze button 23 times during that period of time.  Around 6:30 I even turned on the TV in hopes the noise would help me rise from the slumber.  As I tossed and turned the view out the window was a black sky.  My body was stiff and sore and my mind was groggy.  Repeat this process Monday through Friday.

Thank goodness the weather gods are confused between March and May because I was able to run or walk every night after work.  For about 1 hour each night I took in the extra daylight and was a happy girl.  It felt great to return home feeling accomplished, after sweating it out.  At that point I was feeling like I could accomplish anything given the sun had not yet set!  Too bad none of those endorphins were still hanging around the next morning, say around 4:29am.

At the end of a long week, I was commiserating with my friend Haley, sharing our thoughts about the less than favorable effects of daylight savings time.  She found the most succinct way to express her true feelings.  As she told me that she had early morning meetings most days that week she concluded saying, "and don't you think I didn't realize that an 8am meeting really starts at 7am!"

There it is!  Daylight savings time takes place at 2am on a specific day.  However it takes most of us a few days to change all the clocks and watches we own to the correct time.  Worse, though, is the zombie-like feeling that lingers for days, maybe even a week!  It's effects haunt babies, toddlers and 33 year old woman!

Looks like its bedtime if there's any hope to rise and shine tomorrow morning while its still dark outside.