No one will dread this weekend more than parents of toddlers. Why? Because around 100 years ago some cockwomble of a man decided it was a good idea to change time…TWICE A YEAR!
As I write this I am on my third cup of coffee having been up for FIVE hours (and it’s only 9:45am) so, as you can imagine, this will inevitably be a sleep-deprived, caffeine-fuelled, angry-mama rant of a post (with some vaguely interesting facts spattered amongst the expletives).
Daylight Saving sounds like such a positive term; but underneath lies a torturous shift in time that torments parents across the world. I already have to forcibly keep my kids in their beds until the clock says 6 (I am unashamedly jealous of all you muthas who have miniatures who sleep until 7am or later). But on Sunday I will have an hour-longer battle thanks to the shit-show that is Daylight Saving.
Chuff off Daylight Unicorn
But who’s to blame? Germany was officially the first country to instigate DS in 1916 as a measure to save energy during war times; but I feel a tad harsh blaming them (cue an upshift in my Britishness as I adopt a ‘we mustn’t talk about the war in the same sentence as Germany’ attitude).
In fact, I have to turn to my adorable second nation for an even earlier (if not very localised) use of the Devil’s Time. Thunder Bay in Canada (for my non-Canuck readers Thunder Bay is a comparatively small city which sits over 1,300km North West of Toronto, just above Wisconsin) started time-shifting in 1908, with many other Canadian cities following suite soon after.
Again, I can’t really pin this hellish event on my maple-worshipping fellows; so let’s look closer to home and see who all us mamas can curse come Sunday morning. The culprit is a charming man called William Willett; who, in 1905, put forward the notion of moving the clocks but sadly (or luckily) died before the idea was implemented in May 1916 (just days after our German friends).
William Willett. Photo: Chronicle/Alamy via http://www.bbc.com
As always, the United States have a finger in this early-rising pie too. The man, the legend B-Frank wrote a paper (“An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light”) in 1784 suggesting that Parisians get out of bed earlier to save on candle usage. Quite Franklinly (see what I did there?!) he can do one too!
Benjamin Franklin – A Portrait Of A Tired Mother
So there you have it, a cacophony of short-sighted blokes all independently thinking of the same way to drive mothers (and fathers) to the depths of eye-bulging despair during the formative years of their fledglings lives. Good luck to all of you this Sunday!
*Many thanks to www.timeanddate.com for educating me on Daylight Saving!
The British Maple 
I am dreading this weekend! My youngest daughter wakes up at 5.30 and the thought of that being 4.30 every day makes me want to cry! x #picknmix
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Well it’s 4:59am and we’ve been up for an hour! Hope your morning was better x
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Cockwomble!! 😂 This shall become my new insult! Love your blog Abi x
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Thanks Sally! There’s plenty more insults to come but I thought I’d spread them out x
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Ugh…Not only does it mess my kids, it’s dark all the time. I hate this time a year. Funny post!
#picknmix
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I know…the dark mornings are so depressing. I’m trying to embrace hygge to combat it!
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Haha this made me chuckle! It is now officially the spawn of satan. Although it may once have served a valid purpose it really doesn’t anymore so why do we have to keep doing it?
#fortheloveofBLOG
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I feel exactly the same way! Thanks for stopping by
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This made me giggle. It seems a bit silly to me changing the time, but obviously others know better lol.
#fortheloveofBLOG
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I’m fast learning that most people know more than me!
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Ha I used to hate the clock changes when mine were small, these days though it doesn’t make any difference they sleep til I wake them – bliss 😉 Thanks for linking up to #PicknMix
Stevie x
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I daren’t even dream of a time when I have to wake them!
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Haha! We have been up since 4 am today. I don’t know what happened… but it did. I do like the lighter mornings though, it makes me feel a lot safer getting into work. As always, little button is quite happy to pretend that the clocks haven’t changed. p.s. that unicorn! 🙂 Hope it’s not been too painful? #KCACOLS
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It was pretty rough but could’ve been a lot worse. Fingers crossed for more sleep tonight!
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I never knew all of that! Ive always blamed farmers foe the fact the clocks change… not sure where I got that notion from. Regardless I’m up since an ungodly hour and for some reason the toddler won’t nap! It’s a seriously long day today #kcacols
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Yep…today was a verrrrrrry long day here too. Fingers crossed for some more sleep tonight!
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Haha, I knew it must have been a mans fault! #KCACOLS
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Yes, this is so try! Thanks for linking up to #KCACOLS Hope to see you on Sunday!
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
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I am not looking forward to daylight savings time for sure…. the only positive is that we won’t be waking up in the dark for a few weeks. #KCACOLS
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I hope that at the time of writing that your little ones have gotten used to the time change? I used to hate it too when mine were babies and would spend the whole week leading up to it adjusting their routine by 10-15 minutes each day. Thankfully these days it doesn’t make too much of a difference and even if they are up early we can tell them to play in their bedroom! #KCACOLS
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So interesting to know where it all started! We’re still catching up on sleep from the clocks going back. Mornings feel so early at the moment….#fortheloveofBLOG
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Had a good giggle at this especially the newly designed Benjamin Franklin 😂😂
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Hee hee – I think it was so small, people haven’t noticed! Thanks for stopping by x
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We only had one morning on Sunday following the clocks going back when my daughter woke up at 4.30am! It was only short lived though and we quickly managed to get her back onto her normal wake-up time again. When I was young and carefree, I used to really enjoy that extra hour in bed. Thanks so much for linking up at #fortheloveofBLOG. Claire x
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It’s a nightmare. My toddler is totally out of whack, has dropped her nap and has tantrums like they’re going out of fashion ever since, and i just can’t seem to sleep at all unless it’s 7pm and on the sofa! #picknmix
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Oh, though we don’t have this concept in India, I always thought it was a good way to save electricity. I had never thought it was such a pain in the #^& for people actually living it! Hope some sane and bold person does away with it!
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