Where Did My Hour GO?!?!?!?!

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Time — one of the most precious commodities any of us have. I mean, just think about it! You can always buy more things, you can earn more money if you need to, you can make changes in the way you live your life to have better health and more friends … but there is NOTHING we can do to get more time. If you waste it, you can’t get it back or earn more of it. We each are only allotted a certain amount by our maker … period. There is nothing I dislike more than someone stealing my time. In fact, I have been known to check out of meetings or presentations if what was advertised is not was is presented – my time is too precious to waste!

Which brings me to my point — I HATE spring daylight when you turn your clock ahead in the spring! Who came up with this cockamamie idea anyway ?!?! I mean – I know that it was Ben Franklin’s idea (as a Pennsylvania native he has always been one of my favorite American founding fathers), but did you also know he made this suggestion jokingly to the French in 1784?!?!? We weren’t supposed to actually do it!!!!

Every year I feel like I have been robbed! One entire hour of my time, GONE!!!! VANISHED! Never to be seen again!  :'( As an often sleep- deprived-work-outside-home-full-time-mom-of-four that is rapidly approaching 50, I am all too keenly aware of each and every precious moment, and I do not appreciate having one stolen from me while I sleep!

Savannah sunrise

Always trying to find the good in everything, I decided to see if I could find the positive side of this turn-your-clock-ahead-and-lose-an-hour-in-the-spring thing. So – I woke up this morning, an hour later than normal since my hour was stolen, and turned to Google (thanks Google)! The consistent answer that kept coming up is that it is meant to “make good use of sunlight and save energy.” Ok — and I have known a few people over the years that embrace the trade off of losing that hour to get the sunset later in the day. The people I have known in this category have typically been working women that love gardening, and now see this as an extra hour in the evening to do things outside, especially in their gardens. I have tried to see things through this lens, but as a morning person, I just can’t move to this camp. And as a Mom of four whose

My youngest tribe at rest

youngest tribe members have as much trouble adjusting to losing an hour when I am trying to get them up for school at what their little bodies feel is 5am, I can’t buy this rationale.

As a granola (that is what Mackdaddy has been known to call me as a somewhat hippie wannabe), I want to buy this daylight savings time thing when you tell me it will save energy and help the economy, you know – kind of a “safe energy save the planet” kind of thing. Unfortunately, despite saying daylight savings time saves energy, there is article after article that shows this may not be the case. So — now I am back to just being cranky because an hour of my productive day was stolen out from under me while I slept!

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Lost time is never found again.” And there lies the crux of my dislike of daylight’s savings time. At 49, and with the passing of each year, I realize more and more what a precious commodity time truly is. Close your eyes one day while your babies are small, and next thing you know they are grown and walking out the door. I don’t want to lose even one hour of the precious little time we will have together.