Daylight Savings, You Are the Bane of My Existance

Over the past few weeks I've been kind of irritated at the whole concept of Daylight Savings Time.  With my kids being early risers, it means they need to be early to bed too.  After a little research, my daughter needs about eleven hours of sleep every night and both my boys need to get twelve and thirteen.  Doing a little quick math, if they'up by six-thirty or seven, they can't be going to bed around nine or ten.  That's actually part of the reason my older two are probably so crabby all the time.

What does this have to do with Daylight Savings?  Well, here's my problem.  My kids don't want to go to bed when the sun's still out.  What kid likely does.  I remember when I was small and forced to go to bed before the sun set I would read on my bed or stare longingly out the window, wishing I were playing out there instead of being trapped in my bed when I really didn't want to sleep.  I can't blame my kids for feeling the same way.  It's light out!  That means it's time to play!  Daylight Savings is really effecting their sleep schedule.

So, just doing a little quick math here, we're going to take a look at wake-up times and bed times for my kids.  My daughter, for example, likes to get up between six and seven in the morning.  To get her full eleven hours of sleep, that means she's got to be in bed by seven or eight in the evening.  My older son (since he's been doing without a nap) needs to be in bed by six or seven.  My youngest takes a good long nap, sometimes two in the afternoon and can really go to bed as late as he wants.  Those don't sound like unreasonable bed times for kids their age.  They'll have plenty of sleep, which means they'll be healthy.

Unfortunately, that's when Daylight Savings Time comes into play.  It seems like each year Daylight Savings Time gets pushed further and further along the year.  This year, for example, it goes from March 13th through November 6th.  That means the relief I was waiting for on bed time isn't anywhere near being in sight.  It's still going to be a month away!  Instead of relying on standard time to help my kids get to bed earlier, I'm now stuck with waiting on the sunset to happen far enough before bed time that it's dark in their rooms.  That's making getting everyone to bed no easy task.

I know I've been asked before, wouldn't that just make the children get up earlier in the morning because the sun is up earlier?  In my experience, not so much.  I've got to get them out of bed to get them ready for the co-op no later than 7am.  There's so little light in the house that we have to turn lights on to get ready by.  I can't imagine how much worse it's got to be for families that send their kids to school and may need to be up as early as 5am, significantly before sunset.  That means kids the same age as mine need to be in bed even more before sunset in order to get a proper night's sleep!

Looking at a sunrise and sunset calendar (because I love those things!) I can see where the problem is.  Sunrise isn't until 7:27 this morning.  That means we're always waking up before the sun rises.  It's really hard to tell my kids they need to stay in bed until the sun is up when the sun's not even up on days we go to the co-op.  It's also hard to tell them to go to bed at their bed time when the sun doesn't even set until 7:13, thirteen minutes after they're sent to bed.  It just doesn't make sense.

I remember when I was in school I would eagerly await the end of Daylight Savings.  I would dread the approach of Daylight Savings every spring.  Sure, it meant it was light out for later in the day, but often times it meant sitting out and waiting for the school bus in the dark, decently before the sun was up.  My bus would come at 7:05 in the morning.  Back then Daylight Savings was over in October, not the late end we have now some time after Halloween.  I can't imagine how it must be in Massachusetts, when I might not see sunlight in those last few days until after school had already begun.

While I understand Daylight Savings is supposed to benefit electrical consumption, pushing it back so late in the year only seems to be hurting our energy consumption.  The kids are to bed when the sun is up and as a result they've got to get up and turn the lights on to get ready for their day in the dark.  Most of the soldiers around here will spend much of their morning in darkness as they get ready to go off to training.  Many school kids will be using electricity when getting ready for school.  Given many families are at home during the hottest part of the day regardless, it really doesn't seem to help a thing here in Texas.

Then there's the next huge transition that's going to have to happen in my family.  When the time "falls back" by an hour, I'm going to have to convince my kids to stay in bed an hour longer, something that's hard enough to do already.  They won't have to get up before the sun on days that they have to go to the co-op, so that means they can actually sleep in until the sunrise for a while.  It's going to be hard to teach them that if the sun's not up in the morning, neither should they be.  Thankfully, it will be easier to get them to stay up an hour later.  The change over in the spring is also going to be very disruptive to their sleep cycle, which doesn't help my part as a parent either.  I seriously think we could live very happily without the intrusion of Daylight Savings on our lives.

What's worse is the contradictions I hear between the published results of those who are pro-Daylight Savings and the actual people I talk to every day.  Sure, people love being able to "gain an hour of sleep" in the fall, but everyone hates to "spring forward".  It means "losing an hour of sleep" and no one is too fond of that.  Yes, it's nice to get to gain an hour in the day and be able to sleep a bit longer that one night, or get into a schedule of getting up earlier with nothing more than the change of the clock, but it really is disruptive. I've known plenty of people who end up late for where they're going because they forget to change their clocks.  Then there's all the people who end up tired and cranky for weeks in the spring because they have a hard enough time getting to sleep on time, never mind an hour earlier.  Daylight Savings Time is really disruptive to a lot of the people I know!

I swear, I'm ready to have it over already and I'm really tired of having to wait.  It hasn't made my life any easier and now it's presenting even more of a challenge.  I'm going to have to buy room darkening curtains for my children's rooms just so they'll get to bed on time and get plenty of sleep.  Otherwise I'm going to be forced to live with cranky, tired kids who throw tantrums at the drop of a hat because they don't want to sleep when it's light out.  Thank you, Daylight Savings Time.  You're making my job as a mother that much harder...

How I Miss Nice Weather and How Fast They Grow

This week we had some pretty nice weather.  It got down to the 80's, which meant we were able to open the windows and let in some fresh air.  It was nice not to need the air conditioning running all day.  Hopefully that will save us some money.  It's not easy living in a state where air conditioning is required in order to live or you'll get sick from the heat.  This week it's going to be back up to the 90's, which is better than it was through most of the summer.  Yes, the weather is finally turning towards something nicer.

As the weather changed we decided it was time to sort through old clothes.  The boys will probably both need a new winter wardrobe.  My older boy has pretty much outgrown all of his clothes.  It's not that he's too wide in the middle.  Actually, clothes that fit him around the middle are too short on him.  It's that everything is too short.  My younger one will probably be set for another few months, but he's starting to not fit his pants around the middle and his shirts don't want to go over his head.  Since he's been born that's been a sign that he's about to shoot up like a weed, and if he does that he probably isn't going to fit anything in length much longer either.  Thankfully we can still manage on shorts and t-shirts for a while longer.  I guess that's the good thing about Texas!  The warm weather means summer clothes really last.

The whole thing has me thinking about the weather.  I love the weather back home.  This time of year we would soon have lessons on why the fall leaves change and all of that.  Things would be getting cooler and we would have to start planning to bundle everyone up for the cold.  This time of year is filled with shopping for winter jackets and snow boots and knitting mittens, scarves, and hats.  We might even be in the weather for long pants, sweaters, and light jackets.  My daughter would probably want tights with some of her skirts.  My littlest and I would be starting the fight over whether or not he has to wear a hat.  He doesn't seem to think there's a need.  I, on the other hand, would realize that his ultra-fine baby hair isn't going to do much to keep his head warm and he needs something to make up for that.

It was a little sad going through the boy's things.  I'd forgotten how much of the clothes I had in a 2T I'd already given away to a friend of mine whose son grew into them sooner than mine did.  We're going to have to start carving out a little bit of money every month to start getting him some new clothes a little at a time.  Thankfully there are plenty of places with low cost clothing for a toddler his size.  I hate thinking about the new size he'll be in.  2T typically fits a toddler at age two.  That means he's no longer my baby and is now considered a toddler.  He's almost two, which seems nearly impossible!  It doesn't seem like it's been so long since he was born.  How incredibly fast time has flown this year.

My older son is going to be jumping into boys clothes this year.  Things sized at x-small are just the right length.  I know I could still shop for him in the toddler section and look for things that are 5T, but the only reason to truly hold on to that is to attempt to hold on to his youth.  I keep wanting to think that he's still a toddler, but he's a preschooler.  He's taking an interest in reading.  He loves super heroes and dinosaurs.  Pokemon and Transformers are favorites of his.  He's even starting to get interested in sports.  He's no longer happy with the simple things that used to please him.  He's growing up before I know it!  He's growing to match in size too!  He's jumped from a 3T being perfect in size to a 4T being a little too short in all of a year!  It's good to see him growing.  Maybe he won't be the shortest boy in his classes at the co-op this year after all!

Then there's my daughter.  I can't call her my little girl anymore.  She's much too big for that.  Thankfully, she's got enough in hand-me-downs and in clothing from Marrok's mom to last her through the year.  My only problem is going to be in keeping her in shorts and pants for the homeschool co-op.  She's got PE first thing when we get there, so she'll need to be wearing something suitable.  You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get her to dress warm when it's cold out!  She'd prefer to wear skirts and dresses all the time, even better if they're sleeveless.  She's really starting to develop her own sense of style, and it's a lot more feminine and girly than I could ever imagine any child of mine being!  Every day it seems like she's just more and more adult, and she's only eight!  I can't help but think she'll be all grown up before I know it.

In all of this, I don't think I would have taken the time to reflect if the weather hadn't started to turn already, even though it's turning back before we know it.  I'm really homesick already.  I wish I could be looking forward fall leaves and snow this year, but I know that's not going to happen.  I don't have very many options for that in Texas.  Even so, as the weather turns cool, I know I'll at least be able to enjoy taking my children to the park.  The kids and I can enjoy going for walks.  It will be nice to get outside.  I can't wait until we can throw open the windows and let the cool air in instead of spending a fortune in electricity to keep the house a bearable temperature.  I can't wait until things start feeling a little bit nicer.  Now if only that could speed up and my kids could slow down on growing for a little while!