I get excited when I hear about methods of turning back the clock when it comes to looks and health, but when I physically have to set the clock back an hour, I do not get thrilled.

Tonight is that night when we all push back time, and even though some think they are gaining an extra hour of snooze time, let’s face it, at some point it will catch up to you.

When I was younger, I liked the idea of it getting dark sooner. It made going out on a date seem like it lasted longer, especially since my curfew was 11 p.m. But after I became a mother, the reality of messing with time had lost that loving feeling.

Babies do not understand that clocks have been reset and getting them to sleep at their scheduled bedtime is a nightmare.

All my babies have grown up, but I still do not like changing the time. As I have matured, my internal body clock has become one of the regularities I have come to enjoy, and messing with time gets everything off kilter.

Why can’t we they just leave well enough alone?

I did a little sleuthing on the internet so I could try to understand why I have to endure these 60 minutes of adjustment and found it all started in 1918, when President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law to support the war effort during World War I.

However, seasonal time change was repealed seven months later, but some cities, including Pittsburgh, Boston and New York, continued to use it.

Sounds like some of those guys in Washington were thinking like me, leave time alone, but timedate.com stated that in 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to institute year-round DST in the U.S.

Following World War II, states were allowed to decide on their own if they would observe DST. This caused confusion for trains, buses and the broadcasting industry, so once again, those in congress got to decide how time would tick and established the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

DST would begin on the last Sunday of April and end the Last Sunday of October.

Interestingly enough, my internet source said that even though a uniform time was enacted, states still had the ability to opt-out of observing DST by passing a local ordinance.

Revisions have been made over time to the Uniform Time Act of 1966, and the current policy states that DST begins the second Sunday in March and ends the first Sunday in November.

As of today, most of the U.S. adheres to DST except Hawaii and parts of Arizona.

I propose that Mississippi jump ship along with these two states so we can enjoy some consistency.

Resetting the clocks twice a year is a hassle, and if we did not have to turn back time, it would certainly cut down on those of us showing up to church extra early!

•

Terri Frazier is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. You may reach her at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com or 601-636-4545, ext. 135.