6 Reasons I Hate Daylight Saving Time

Everyone has their favorite times of the year – Christmas, Autumn, the first day of Spring. Then there are those days you abhor – April 15th (Tax Day), Election Day maybe, or the anniversary of the death of your pet gerbil, Fluffy. As I have become an adult, and more importantly a mother, the day that I have come to dread more than most is none other than Daylight Saving Time (DST), especially in the fall! Any mothers out there agree?

6 Reasons DST Sucks:

1) I have been up since 5 a.m. My adorable two-year-old has lately developed the habit of parachuting out of her crib and crawling into our bed at 6 o’clock every morning – blanket, stuffed animals and all. With Daylight Saving Time, guess what time she crawled in this morning…

2) Vitamin D, anyone? I thrive on sunshine. Rainy days (and Mondays) always get me down, to quote the Carpenters. As such, when DST rolls around every fall, I spend less and less time outside each day since it gets dark so early. This leads to a near depletion of my much needed supply of Vitamin D (my “happy vitamin”). I have to fool my system into thinking all is well with 1, 2, or usually 3 capsules of the stuff, 1000 IUD each, just to get by.

3) Driving blindly. Up until a couple years ago, I drove basically two times a day, to and from work. (Now, as a stay-at-home/daycare provider, I am lucky to leave my house two times a week!) As I drove to my teaching job, I was blinded by the rising sun. As I drove home from work, I was blinded by the sun setting into the increasingly long, dark night at the late, late hour of 5:00 p.m. There was no escaping that giant blinding ball of gas.

4) I get nothing done! As soon as the last child is picked up from daycare, dinner is eaten and (marginally) picked up, it’s so dark outside that I am psychologically fooled into thinking it’s too late to take my children out of the house for a much needed gallon of milk. If I do go out, I can barely see to drive due to night blindness (another issue for #3). So, during the week, hardly any errands are run and I’m left wondering what the kids are going to use with their cereal for breakfast.

5) Whiny 2 year-olds. Remember the afore-mentioned 2-year-old? Yeah, well, her early rising leads to a 9:30 a.m. meltdown because she was put to bed at 8 and woke at 5, receiving only 9 hours of sleep. Now to you and me, 9 hours of sleep is like a little slice of heaven. To a 2-year-old, it’s like raising Godzilla from the dead.

6) I just need some sleep.

What do you think? Have any tips for me? What are your thoughts on Daylight Saving Time?

Written By: Lisa Liebling