Listen. We are all thinking it. DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME. UG. Why the actual hell is this a thing? Does anyone like Daylight Savings Time??
I don’t know. But I can tell you one thing. No one hates it more than parents.
If you are a parent, you know what I’m talking about. Before my children came along, I never would have guessed the impact that changing the clock by one measly little hour could have on a day.
Now I know better than to underestimate the shit storm. Now I know that children can take that one little hour and use it to destroy all your sanity.
But that is all about to change. In my infinite overthinking, I’ve devised four different strategies to help parents with the suckfest that is Daylight Savings Time.
- Plan ahead. A day or two before actual daylight savings time, change your schedule so that you’re operating based on what time it WILL be after the change. That way, when actual daylight savings time arrives/ends you’ll already be one step ahead. Granted, the transition will still suck–just a few days earlier. But at least you’ll feel like you’re in control of something.
- Plan WAY ahead. Adjust your schedule by a few minutes each day for the month before the transition. That way the shift will be so gradual your kids won’t even notice. Of course, you’ll probably be even more exhausted by the end of the month due to hyper-scheduling than if you had just done the whole hour at once. But you get imaginary parenting points for preparation.
- Commit to denial. When the time for change arrives, change the clocks and then immediately forget that any change has occurred. Stick to the schedule at the appropriate times like your life depends on it, no matter how hard your children fight you. It’s like riding a bull–you just have to hang on long enough. Eventually the bull will wear out and stop. I assume.
- Embrace the chaos. Just say screw it. Forget you ever even had a schedule. Let them eat when they’re hungry and put them to bed when you get tired of them. Bonus points if you don’t look at a single clock all day.
No matter which strategy you choose to embrace, take comfort in the fact that tomorrow parents everywhere will unite in their misery. Perhaps we should all use the extra hour to be grateful for the few fleeting moments of camaraderie before we all go back to judging each other and fighting over politics.