The Pros and Cons of Darkness

I love the time of year from October through December. I love all the apple picking, leaf changing, pumpkin carving, costume wearing of October. The scarf wearing, hot cider drinking, family feasting, Thanksgiving of November. And I love the hall decking, carol singing, tree lighting, gift giving of December. But there's something I absolutely hate about this time of year: the dark.

Whether it's my Italian heritage or just my personality, I miss the evening sun. Perhaps I have a touch of SAD, but I find myself continually depressed each time the sun sets before 5. I have noticed a few perks to the early darkness, but they still don't brighten my mood. Here's my personal opinion of Daylight Savings Time:

Cons:

1. We need to leave the park before 5. Normally, I stay until around 6, unless I'm cooking something particularly fancy. It keeps the kids active and allows me time to spend with other parents. The early sun set seriously limits this much needed park time.
2. The kids get restless. They haven't quite adjusted to the time difference so they seem off when we get home from the park and it's still a while before dinner. 
3. Loneliness. There really is something about being alone with the kids when it's dark out that depresses me. I've been occasionally putting on the tv in the evening, something I never usually do, just to alleviate the feeling of isolation I've been getting with the early darkness.

Pros:

1. We've been having dinner earlier. Normally, we eat around 6:30. But with the early park exits and kids getting antsy, I've been serving dinner more like 6.
2. The kids go to bed earlier. Not sure if this stems from their not having adjusted to the hour difference or if the darkness just brings on a feeling of fatigue, but lately my night owls have been asleep by 8 or 8:30, which is pretty sweet.

So there is definitely a bright side to the dark. But I can't shake that sadness that comes with the early sunset. And for the next month, it's going to get worse before it gets better. But at least I know the holidays will lighten up this dark time of year.