I love Daylight Savings in the spring as it means longer daylight hours. I am so happy. I have more energy. I can run outdoors again. The days are getting longer.
Now, Daylight Savings can provide a little craziness in people’s schedule. For instance, if you forget to turn back your clock you could find yourself an hour late to church that Sunday morning.
One year, I was getting ready for work thinking I had plenty of time. This was several days after Daylight Savings. When I realized that I was an hour off. School was actually starting in 10- 15 minutes. Thankfully at that time, I lived 5 minutes away from work. I managed to throw on some clothes and arrive as students were walking into school from the buses.
This year, Monday morning is when the Daylight Savings Craziness struck me. It was dark when my husband and I were leaving for work. The one downside to Daylight Savings in the spring. Yet, nothing else was out of the ordinary. It was a normal Monday morning and a typical day of teaching.
Until right before lunch. While I was teaching, one of my students politely raised her hand to ask a question. However, her question was completely unrelated to the phonics lesson. This sweet girl’s question was “Mrs. Nyakairu, do you know that you are wearing two different shoes?”
I looked down at my feet and was stunned to find out that she was right. I was wearing two different brown boots.
The amazing part was that I hadn’t noticed. Even though I had been wearing them for five hours that morning. Another teacher had been teaching with me that morning. My students had been with me for four hours. I had interacted with adults throughout the school building.
Did anyone notice my mismatch shoes? Not a single person!
Now, I realize that both of the boots are brown and very similar. This past fall, I was very sad to find that I had lost my favorite pair of boots while moving to Boston. All the outfits I wanted to wear with the chilly fall weather were incomplete without my brown boots. So, I eventually bought a new pair of brown boots. I later discovered the original pair, strangely packed with my hiking gear.
After I got over the shock of wearing mismatch shoes, I realized there wasn’t anything I could do about it but go throughout the rest of my day.
Normally my husband picks me up from work. He also drives me to work every morning, saving me an hour commute (one way) on public transportation. I really love my husband.
However, this was the one day that Stephen had late meetings at work. The one day that I was going to be taking the T (train) home. The one day that I had a dentist appointment and would be waiting in the dentist office. The one day that I would be walking around Boston. I had a feeling that someone may wonder why I was wearing mismatch shoes.
My solution. To wear the snow boots I had at work. Yes, I keep snow boots at work. Only in Boston. To wear at recess time when we walk our students to the public playground. In the snow, in the ice, and in the cold. I learned quickly that snow boots keep my feet much warmer.
And that was the end of my Daylight Savings Craziness. What will next year hold for me?
beloved 