you really feel it the hardest on the first monday morning after the time adjustment. thankfully, those geniuses who've institutionalized the D.S.T. must have recognized that to adjust the clocks on a night before a weekday would essentially cause a severe, single-day downturn in the Gross Domestic Product of this country.
and I've always been baffled by Hawaii and Arizona and have wondered how they've managed to opt-out of D.S.T.? who do you have to know to make this happen for your state?!?!
as with all things that are imposed upon you, like D.S.T., there's the good, the bad and the ugly:
the good
after working a full day at work, it's great to come home and have time to play outside with my toddler while the sun is still up.
the bad
having a toddler and trying to get her to adjust to the new time is ridiculous. as many parenting books will tell you, it's very good for the child to have a schedule...the structure to their day actually is comforting to them since they come to know what to expect. spring forward the time by an hour and try getting your toddler up, fed, and dressed in time to get out the door to daycare, then to work without being an hour or so late. it's nothing short of impossible, particularly during the first week, post D.S.T. it's downright stressful!
the ugly
I was tickled when my toddler woke up near her usual time. she was even agreeable when it came to eating her breakfast, even though it was about an hour earlier than when she usually has breakfast. it was almost magical....we actually made it out the door at a reasonable time. and during the drive to daycare, she was in a happy mood, babbling with me ("mamaaa" "daddeeee" "hi") and telling me that a cow says "moooo" when I ask....it's the usual banter we have while driving in the car.
then it all took a turn. suddenly she was crying! this is very unusual, but then I thought, "she must be tired from the time adjustment." when we reached a red light, I turned and caught a glimpse of her tiny little hand, wet with regurgitated cream of wheat cereal! it was gross, but then I figured she just must have coughed up a little bit of her breakfast.
when we arrived at daycare and I walked around to get her out of the car I was horrified! it wasn't just a little spit up...she completely barfed her entire belly full of cream of wheat with mashed banana bits! it was everywhere! on her jacket. on her shirt. in the little fat fold under her neck. on the child seat. on the buckles of the child seat. EVERYWHERE! and the grosses part was that the barfed up cream of wheat looked exactly as it looked when it was in her little cereal bowl before she ate it. how am I gonna feed this to my child again without having flash backs to the barf situation?!?!
bottom line: I blame the barf situation on the D.S.T. I'm convinced that her stomach was a bit unsettled from eating an entire meal while still a bit sleepy. damn D.S.T.!
I think parents with little children should have the option of pulling a Hawaii/Arizona and opt out of it. Everyone else can work their 8a-5p jobs during D.S.T. but I'd just roll in at my usual time which would be equivolent to 9a-6p D.S.T. no one would even notice. if anything, the line at the coffee machine would be a bit shorter.
that's it! I guess I'll have to make the sacrifice and move to Hawaii!
