DAYLIGHT SAVINGS

“It’s here! It’s finally here!” I cried as I went over to the oven to reset the clock. “Spring ahead!”

My son Alex came into the kitchen. “What are you doing?” he asked as he opened the refrigerator to see if anything caught his eye.

“I’m moving the clocks ahead!” I cried. “It’s Daylight Savings Time!”

Alex closed the refrigerator door and looked over at me with a confused look on his face. “It’s only Friday afternoon. I thought the clocks got changed tomorrow night?”

“That’s true.” I shrugged my shoulders. “But I like to start early.”

Alex laughed as he went over to the pantry to see if anything in there looked promising.

I went over to the microwave to change the time on that too.

Alex found a box of crackers, leaned against the counter, and poured a few into his hand. “So, Dad was saying this might be the last time we change the clocks.”

He watched me as I pushed several buttons on the microwave. “Wouldn’t that be nice.” I answered.

My husband Steven came into the kitchen. “What are you two up to?”

“Mom’s changing the clocks early.” Alex popped another cracker into his mouth. “I was telling her that this might be the last time we have to change the clocks.”

“It sound like that’s what’s going to happen.” He looked over at Alex and held his hand out for Alex to shake a few crackers into it. “I’m all for not changing the clocks twice a year but if they had to pick one they should have stayed on standard time instead of daylight savings.”

I looked over at Steven, a confused look on my face. “Why?”

“Because it’s better for our sleep.” He leaned against the counter next to Alex and popped a cracker into his mouth. “They’ve done studies that say if we stayed on standard time we’d get more light in the morning and it’s closer to our natural sleeping rhythm.”

“So why are we going to stay on daylight savings time?”

Steven popped another cracker in his mouth and looked over at me, raising his eyebrows.

I sighed. “Because when it comes time to make a good decision or a stupid decision…” I didn’t have to finish the sentence.

“Exactly.” Steven laughed. “But it’s still better than switching it back and forth every year.”

I sighed again. “I guess.” I headed to the living room, ready to change another clock. “I am going to miss that extra hour of sleep in the fall.” I called.

Alex followed me into the living room. “But now it’s going to be light out later so we’ll be able to go on walks after you get off from work.” He reminded me.

I looked over at him, nodding my head. “That’s true.” I picked up the clock that was on the shelf and began moving the hands forward. “But I am going to miss coming home from work and getting right into my pajamas.”

Alex started to laugh. “Five minutes ago you were saying, ‘It’s here! It’s finally here!’ that it was finally Daylight Savings Time!”

“What can I say?” I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m also a big fan of my pajama time!”