This is one of my hot buttons…
I abhor daylight saving time. I hate it.
My body hates it.
My mind hates it.
My life hates it.
Does anyone else feel as strongly as I do?
The spring, in particular, is my biggest gripe, I don’t have the bandwidth at this stage in my life to lose an hour.
I remember when the kids were little–it was terrible. Their clocks didn’t change one bit, and getting them to bed was an absolute nightmare in the spring–I think I cursed for a full two weeks after we sprung ahead!
And all this week, I have been sluggish, tired, and cranky. I know the culprit is the time change.
I did a little digging to try and diffuse my anger at the whole thing. Why do we do this?
The original reason for Daylight Savings Time has nothing to do with giving farmers more productive daylight time to get their crops in which many believe. Even I did.
It has to do with energy conservation.
According to the History Channel, “The real reasons for daylight saving are based around energy conservation and a desire to match daylight hours to the times when most people are awake.”*
Daylight Saving Time was originally put into effect in the US in 1918 and then repealed again in 1919 after the first World War was over. It was strictly supposed to be used for wartime.
Daylight Savings Time came back in 1942, for World War II, but once the war was over, it was never repealed, and that led to inconsistency among the states as to the use of it.
From the History Channel, “Finally, in 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which standardized daylight saving across the country and established its start and end times in April and October (later changed to March and November in 2007).”*
I remember when it used to change back in April and October. It seemed a bit more reasonable to me then. This most recent change to March is way too early. I am not ready to have it light out at 7 pm. It’s too early in the spring. Our daffodils aren’t even up, the kids are still playing indoor sports, and it’s cold out! I still want to be hunkered inside at 5 pm–when it’s dark!
Within the last year, I thought there was legislation passed to do away with Day Light Savings Time. What happened? Am I crazy? Was a dreaming this up?
That would be “no.”
The Sunshine Protection Act, was passed in the Senate in 2022, but it stalled in the House and expired at the end of the last 2022 session of Congress.
However, thanks to Marco Rubio, he is trying to bring it back around and get this time change thing gone, once and for all.
In March 2023, the Florida senator reintroduced a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent across the country, arguing an end to the “antiquated practice” of changing clocks twice a year.
Thank you, Marco Rubio!
I figure by next weekend, my internal clock should feel back to normal. But I have to ask myself, is this necessary? The daylight and clock seemed very well synced in my book before last Saturday night.
I love my “fall behind,” but man, the whole “spring ahead” concept, I just can’t grab onto that one! LOL 🙂
I hope you all catch up on your Zzzzz’s. And if you think of it, reach out to your government leaders and let them know how you feel about Daylight Savings Time.
With tired love,
Kate
*Andrews, E. (2023, March 9) Why Do We Have Daylight Saving Time? History. https://www.history.com/news/why-do-we-have-daylight-saving-time
0
