Yesterday was my favorite day of the year.
It wasn’t my birthday or anniversary. I didn’t win the lottery or score a kiss from Matt Damon. Heck, I didn’t even get a pass on cooking, laundry or vacuuming.
What I did get is something no parent can put a price tag on—-extra time.
An entire hour. Sixty glorious minutes. A bonus 3600 seconds.
What parent doesn’t dream of having a 25-hour day?
Goodness knows most of us find a way to squeeze 30 hours of work in a typical 24-hour day. So why wouldn’t we celebrate an extra hour?
Thank you Daylight Savings Time!
By setting the clock back an hour parents around the country (well, most of the country) were able to play with their kids longer, take care of chores, or, if fate dealt you a winning hand (and your children actually allowed it), get in some extra Z’s.
Back in college I used that extra hour to party. This year I used it to soak the dirt and chocolate stains out of my daughter’s lily-white pretty kitty Halloween costume.
Oh what a difference a decade makes.
I wish I could have used the extra hour to sleep. I certainly could use the rest. Especially given that Halloween was a late night filled with parties and trick-or-treating, which was followed by candy consumption negotiations with a 4-year-old, baths, bedtime stories, laundry, cake baking (for the next morning’s All-Saint’s Day party), and dishes. Then, when that was done I began my “real job” (the one that actually pays me money to complete).
Sleep? What’s that?
Seriously, how many parents with young children actually use that bonus hour to sleep in?
You try telling a 2-year-old that she has to sleep an extra hour because lawmakers are trying to make the most of daylight.
Good luck.
Cynicism aside, I truly do cherish falling back an hour. After all, I grew up in Hawaii where the clocks remain the same 365 days a year. I didn’t experience the joys of Daylight Savings until I moved to the mainland for college.
Ask any parent, who battles the clock each day what they’d wish for if given the chance, and I will bet you anything that their answer would be: “More time.”
More time to give their daughter an extra kiss. More time to watch their son create a LEGO masterpiece. More time to share a snuggle under the covers. More time to just be together.
Sure, I’d love to have a larger bank account, a bigger home and a fancier vehicle, but I will happily settle for an extra hour of precious time once a year… even if I don’t get to use it to sleep in.
What did you do with your extra hour?
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