Spring Forward Sucks

Welcome to my annual complaint about Daylight Savings Time.

I only kvetch about it once a year, the week we lose an hour. For some reason, gaining an additional hour in October doesn't bother me. (I mean, what's wrong with looking at the clock and discovering it's actually EARLIER than you thought? Fall Back Sunday is my favorite day of the whole year!)

But losing that hour again in Spring is nasty, for the entire family. It was tough last night, when 6:00 rolled around and I needed to start cooking dinner, and no one was hungry... Forcing my daughter to go to bed at her normal time was just as bad, since she wasn't close to feeling sleepy, and forcing her back to bed every time she got up again to tell me about it...

... and then, there was this morning, when neither one of us was able to wake up fully. We started the day feeling off, because we had to hit the ground running.

"They should make Daylight Savings Time a three-day weekend," my daughter moaned.

She makes a very good point. I wonder if anyone has done a study on productivity levels on DST Monday. I bet giving everyone the day off would be better in the long run.

We were only 10 minutes late leaving for school, and it was only through a miracle of traffic and timing that I got her to the gate just as the bell had rung.

But that was just school. I'm afraid I'm doomed to spend the rest of the day feeling less than sharp. I realize that's kind of typical for Mondays, but losing that little hour just compounds it.

So now I'm mainlining caffeine and trying to catch up on all the work I didn't finish last week. It doesn't help that I went into auto-pilot mode this morning: after dropping Megan off at school, I pointed my car over to the weight loss clinic for my usual weigh in, and then automatically went to the gym.

Midway through my workout, I remembered that I'd changed my weekly appointment with the trainer. I have to be back there today at 1:00.

It took me another five minutes to decide to cut short my elliptical time and walk to the Starbucks next to the gym. As it is, I was moving less enthusiastically than usual. The spirit was willing, but my body would like nothing better than to go back to sleep.

I guess I shouldn't fight it. If I make myself tired enough today, I might feel sleepy earlier in the evening and catch up with the time change sooner.

If only I can do the same for my kid.