Cats: Time change, what time change?

A week after daylight saving time has ended and standard time begun, are you used to darkness at 5 p.m. and sunlight at 6 a.m. yet?

I love standard time because I'm an early-to-bed type of person. As one friend said, "I start getting sleepy at dark-thirty."

Not everybody's transition is so smooth. Time changes always boggle my family's collective mind and put a crimp in our already precarious sense of punctuality.

It takes lot of concentration to figure out puzzles such as, "Well, we said we'd meet them at 2 p.m., but since the time change, is that really 3 p.m.? And since they're driving in from Eastern time, should we meet at 4, instead? Or maybe 1?"

In my family, we each of us handle Time-Change Weekend differently. My husband admits to being easily amused and stays up on Time-Change Sunday until

2 a.m. to watch his cell-phone clock magically return to 1 a.m.

"It's like going back in time," he said.

At least he's on top of the procedure, which is good because he's the only one who knows how to change the clocks in our cars.

Younger Daughter, who goes to school in Birmingham and makes straight A's, holds down an internship and a job, and to all appearances, is a smart and functioning young adult, has at best a tenuous relationship with the concept of time, as evidenced by a conversation we had after she drove from Birmingham to Huntsville.

Me: "So, did the drive take you about two hours?"

YD: "No, not two hours. Just about a couple."

I rest my case.

Older Daughter, on the other hand, was impressing me greatly with her calm reassurance that she had the time change under control. At 25, she's got a husband, a house, part-time jobs and

19-month-old Capt. Adorable to take care of.

Thinking back to my own young-mom days, I asked if her routine was going to get skewed by the time change.

"No problem," she said confidently. "I've got it all taken care of. It's easy to remember that we 'fall forward,' isn't it? And then later we've got to 'spring back.' Piece of cake."

I blame myself. When she was little, we'd travel from our home in Eastern time to my hometown in Central time every Time-Change Weekend to celebrate my mother's Oct. 30 birthday - and the resulting two-hour mix-up in her nap and meal schedules threw her off for days.

At least there are four family members who weather time-changes with ease - our four cats are always hungry every 12 hours, no matter what.

Cathy Wood is a freelance writer living in the Shoals. For more from her, visit TimesDaily.com.