Twas The Night Before Day Light Savings Time Began

I can't even remember the conversation that brought us to this remark...

'Well, Son, you can sleep outside in your tent tonight.'

Thomas' face lit up and this prospect. Sarah Grace immediately chimed in with her intent to camp out too, and Elizabeth was a scant two seconds behind Sarah Grace.

We watched the weather, and it was finally decided that they could indeed sleep outside. Frankly, we never even considered that they would actually do it. There was some hesitation on Sarah Grace's part. Monsters and such. We figured after the novelty wore off and the night set in, they would be through the door like shots.

So we equipped them with warm clothes, lots of blankets, a very large flashlight, and encouraged them to not be afraid. God was with them, and they had each other. And a flashlight.

We pitched their little tent right up against the house and tucked everyone into it about 7:30. Within minutes, Sarah Grace came in looking concerned, but only asked to go to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, she needed to go to the bathroom again. Half an hour later, here she came again.


We were willing to let them giggle and have their fun for quite a while, so long as they stayed in the tent. We were even willing to pander to Sarah Grace's need to come in the house every few minutes, to reassure herself that all was well.


Somewhere around 9:30, we told them it was time to pipe down and get to sleep. After all, it was Saturday night, and we did have church the next day. By 10:00, they were quiet and sleeping.

Then we remembered the time change. It was actually 11. Joshua and I scurried about getting things ready for the next day and then went to bed. We cracked a window to better be able to hear the kids (who were essentially right outside our window).

I laid in bed and listened to the creaking and rustling. I rolled over and snuggled down under the covers. And I listened. And I was restless. And I listened.

'Are you awake?' I whispered.

'I am now,' came Joshua's sleepy reply.

'Do you think they will be okay?'

'Yes.'

'Are we really okay with letting them sleep outside all by themselves?', I pressed.

'Well, yes... are you going to sleep?'

'Probably not. I am listening for them, just in case.'

I couldn't state what my 'in cases' were. Just speaking such things out loud terrify the heart of every mother. But that man who knows me so well and loves me so much heard the fear in my voice.

'Would you like to bring them in?' asked my sweet husband.

'YES!' I replied, my feet already on the floor and moving towards house shoes.


We literally dragged each child out by their feet until they were far enough out of the tent for us to pick them up.

They slept through it all.

Once they were safely tucked into bed, I sighed with contentment and snuggled into my own bed to sleep.

For no where near as long as I would have liked to sleep. By the time we relaxed for the night, it was nearly 1 AM. The alarm was set for 6:15.

The alarm clock was not reset for Day Light Savings. I woke up about 5:30 because Thomas took a bathroom break. I was thankful for the 45 minutes left to sleep and my head hit the pillow again.

At 7:00, I was roused again by Sarah Grace and her needs. I glanced at the clock while she was making known her needs and bounced right out of the bed, announcing we had effectively missed Sunday School and were working on missing church, as well!

The morning went smoothly, considering that the kids were running off about four hours less sleep than normal. Our Sunday's tend to be really hard, since we are away from home from 8 or 9 AM until 9PM.

The kids slept until ten Monday morning, when I finally made them get up to eat breakfast. At nap time, there were zero struggles and the naps lasted a tad longer than usual.

So, this is either the worst thing to do on a time change...or the best. It all depends on how you look at it!