Chances are you’ve seen some posts starting to pop up on Facebook about how the clocks are going back this weekend. Which is normally seen as something to celebrate seeing as it, in theory, gives us an extra hour in bed on Sunday morning.
Unless of course you have young children who have absolutely no concept of time.
In that case, the extra hour is something that we remember fondly from our pre-children days, and then start to dread as we prepare ourselves for a good few weeks of really unreasonable wake-up times while the kids adjust.
So, in an attempt to bring a little humour to the situation, here is my guide to the things we parents think and say during the 5 stages of coping with the loss of that extra hour in bed:
Denial
“The kids aren’t actually awake. No, they can’t really be awake yet. It’s 4.30am, they’re just stirring. They’ll settle back to sleep in a minute. If I just shut my eyes and go back to my dream then the kids will do the same, that’s how it works isn’t it? I mean, they’re not properly awake anyway”
Anger
“Damn. They’re properly awake. Are you actually kidding me?! For the love of God, it’s 4.30am! And why do they always have to call for me? Shout for Daddy instead for once!”
Bargaining
To your other half (after you’ve shaken them awake):
“If you get up with them today I’ll do all the cooking and cleaning for the rest of the week”
To your children (after you’ve stumbled into their room):
“If you just stay quietly in bed and look at books for an hour you can watch Peppa pig and eat chocolate buttons for the rest of the day”
Depression
“Argh, this sucks. I don’t want to get up yet. It’s so dark out, and it’s so bloody early the heating hasn’t come on yet so I’m freezing.
*quiet sobbing*
Oh God, it’s so early that Cbeebies isn’t even on yet ”
Acceptance
“Looks like it’s going to be a 10-cups-of-coffee kind of day. Right, let’s get up and get the first cup going. Then stick the Sarah and Duck DVD on for the kids. At least they might go to sleep at a decent time tonight!”
Do any of these things sound familiar to you?
Or are you one of the parents who actually prepares for the clock change by adjusting bedtimes etc all week? I’ve never been organised enough to actually do that!
Love it. So true. Urggh cold dark mornings. I host a linky on Fridays (FridayFrolics) for funny posts if you fancy joining. #TheList
Thanks! Will come and check out the linky! x
My first experience of this is to come this weekend as my little one is only 8 months old. The problem is, we’re not long back from our holiday in France and I can’t seem to get him out of French time, so he’s already going to bed an hour earlier than he was, and waking up at silly o’clock. So I’m sort of dreading Sunday morning! Cbeebies should start an hour earlier on Sunday too.. the middle of the night might be a good idea! #TheList
Ha ha so true. Kids should come with a reset button that changes their time too. Thanks for linking up to #TheList x