Fellow parents, if you too are slogging through the post-daylight-saving-time doldrums today, we raise our extra large tankards of coffee to you. What is it about an hour’s time change, in either direction, that can absolutely derail your entire family’s wellbeing?! “Spring forward” and “fall back” sounds like something energetic and fun — like some revolutionary way to put a pep in your step — but really, it’s just code for “let’s throw everyone’s sleep schedules into a tailspin” (insert diabolical laughter here) and whether you’re springing or falling, it sucks. There’s no doubt that it can mess with you no matter what your station in life, but for anyone who has to navigate the time change with little kids, it seems like an evil double whammy. And parents feeling the pinch are taking to X, the platform-formerly-known-as-Twitter, to commiserate.
So is this daylight saving time the one where my kids will wake up an hour before they need to, or the one where they're cranky because I wake them up before they're ready to?
— Laura Locke Estes (@lblestes) November 3, 2023
Thanks to daylight saving time, my kids now have an extra hour to fight with each other.
— Sarcastic Mommy (@sarcasticmommy4) November 6, 2022
Does anyone hate daylight savings time more than parents of young kids? No. The answer is no.
— Ann Stals (@ann__stals) March 13, 2022
Well wishes to all my fellow parents of young kids out there as they battle through the semi-annual challenge of trying to align daylight savings time with some semblance of sleep routine for their children. 😀🙏
— Andrew George (@AGeorge1011) March 13, 2022
Seriously, everyone loves to brag about the chance to “get more sleep” — but for parents of little kids, it just ain’t happening.
Let me tell you, kids do not give a damn about daylight saving time
— Ricky Chu (@RikDaddy) November 5, 2023
And we sense some major sarcasm here:
Daylight savings time with kids is the best just the absolute best
— stop listening to WIP (@brian_jenks) March 13, 2022
To be honest, we’re … not even quite sure how to explain this whole mess to the little ones. Or why it’s even still a thing.
Explaining daylight savings time to my kids.
— Chase (@ChaseCaster) March 13, 2022
"So it's just like a big prank?"
I tried to explain daylight saving time to my 9yo and it made me wish that instead of only going back an hour we went back to before I had kids.
— Dad and Buried (@DadandBuried) November 3, 2019
My kid is arguing with me about Daylight Saving Time not making sense and A) I feel him and B) I'm so tired, y'all. 😩
— 🌈🖋️ Beautiful Battle Kitten ☮️🌈 (@AuthorKitaraF) March 13, 2022
Actually, come to think of it, we don’t really get it either. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.
Daylight savings time is fun because not only do your kids wake up an hour early but somehow they also go to bed an hour late
— Real Life Mommy (@reallifemommy3) November 6, 2023
Daylight Savings Time: When you put the kid to bed an hour later, he wakes up at the same time, but is now cranky bc he missed an hour of sleep.
— Sarah Isgur (@whignewtons) November 6, 2022
Whatever reason that the start and end of daylight saving time continues to exist, parents are suffering the consequences — and we’re just straight up not having a good time, bro.
Jail for a few nights > daylight savings time with kids under 5
— Tom Dunleavy (@dunleavy89) November 5, 2023
Why does the day after daylight savings time feel like I went on a drunk college bender…. Only difference being the kids still want breakfast
— Brokedad (@15Royals15Chief) March 14, 2022
And you can spare us those “helpful” tips (which always seem to come from people without kids).
Good Morning to everyone except the people who tell parents to keep their kids up later during daylight saving time so they will sleep longer.
— My Life Is The Pitts Family (@LifePitts) November 5, 2023
Not even celebrity parents are immune to the wrath of daylight saving time.
🚨 daylight savings is NO FUN with kids in the house 🚨
— Andy Cohen (@Andy) November 6, 2022
We can hope all we want to that this will finally be the age where we’ll find that mysterious “extra hour” that daylight saving time reportedly brings, buuuuut …
In case anyone was wondering, age 6 is not when kids start sleeping later and taking advantage of Daylight Saving Time. #sleepy#whatextrahour
— Dr. Almond (@MrsErinAlmond) November 6, 2022
Every year I hope that THIS is the time my kids are going to be old enough to sleep in when daylight saving time ends, and every year I find myself roused from bed at 5:30am (née 6:30am) and filled with profound disappointment
— Nate E-K (@NEwertKrocker) November 6, 2022
Take heart, though — there is a light at the end of the hellish DST tunnel. (Even if it literally takes years to get there.)
A day not championed enough is when your kids gets old enough to not be affected by daylight savings time. It’s glorious https://t.co/EMOAJ5Spoj
— Ben Johnson (@BenJohnsonTUL) November 5, 2023
And, let’s count our blessings that at least this isn’t a thing any more:
Kids these days will never understand the stress of tag teaming with family members to change every damn clock in the house after daylight savings time. The stove, the microwave, multiple alarm clocks, the vcr, that one decorative clock on your mom’s dresser 😂
— Nick Simmons (@NorthwestNick) November 5, 2023
There may be arguments for daylight saving time, but if there are any that make up for the hell that is enduring daylight saving time when you’re a parent, we have yet to hear them. All we hear is the sound of our cranky kids … and our jaws cracking when we yawn.
However, until that changes, there is one pretty brilliant workaround.
Parenting pro tip: send your kids to the grandparent’s house for the daylight savings time changes.
— Christopher Vance (@cScottVance) November 5, 2023
Best idea ever.
Before you go, check out the kids’ sleep products moms swear by …
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