I don't remember how old I was when I got my own clock radio. Probably 10 or 11. But I do know that even from the beginning, I liked to be on time. In an effort to insure that I was never ever late, I would set the clock in my bedroom ahead by at least 10 minutes. Like I was fooling myself. Like my 6am self wouldn't remember that my 10pm self had messed with the time.
Whatever.
I still play this little "trick" in the bedroom. Both my clock and Troy's clock are set exactly 20 minutes fast. Keep reading, and hopefully I can explain this mess.
My alarm clock has a snooze setting of nine minutes. That means that I can snooze two times, and still be two minutes ahead of reality. I love to hit the snooze button. My arm shoots out and slams the button so fast - not even enough time to identify the song. I "sleep" for 9 more minutes, hit the snooze again, "sleep" for 9, and then I get up.
Here's the insane part: The whole time that I'm in the snooze/sleep pattern, my brain isn't really going back to sleep. It's doing the math. Math! I mentally acknowledge the 20 minute difference, and so on, as if it's a comfort to know that it's really only 5am instead of 5:20. I'm cheating myself out of 20 minutes of good sleep. Why do I do this to myself?
A few months ago, I noticed that Cameron had set his clock ahead by 11 minutes. Why, I asked.
"I don't know. I just do."
Yeah, me too. I guess this kind of crazy is easily passed on.
Aaron's clock is fast too, though I think his is more from random button pushing. When I noticed that he was getting up a few minutes earlier than before, I did the most scheming thing a Mom can do. I changed all the clocks in the kitchen. Bwwwwwahahahaha. Five minutes fast.
These are the clocks that Aaron looks at while he's gearing up to go to school. He knows the last possible minute that we can leave to get him to school on time, and he waits for it every day. Again, bwwwwwahahahaha. He's early, and he doesn't even know it. Troy and Cam know, though I've sworn them to secrecy. I wish Troy didn't know.
But it doesn't end there. The clocks in my car and Troy's truck are both three minutes fast. The clock in the front room matches the ones in the kitchen, in case Aaron happens to see the discrepancy. The clock on my laptop is 4 minutes slow. I need to change that, 'cause slow just isn't acceptable. Gotta make it fast. Troy's cell phone is 2 minutes ahead.
All these clocks, so different, and we're fooling no one. Little bit of math and we've got the real time. Okay, Aaron is fooled, but, shhhhhhhh.
Why do we do this?
It's my hope that all this mental time warping and refiguring will be the key to keeping our brains alert and active. Kind of an anti-Alzheimer's thing. What do you think?
Clever trick or crazy?
(And please tell me that you do this too.)
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11 comments:
We totally do this too! Only the clock in our bedroom is fast though. It used to be on my side and it was 15 minutes fast. Then I realized i was one pressing snooze for Dan over and over. Apparently i would shut it off so fast that he never even heard it and he was late and it was all my fault, blah blah. So now it's on Dan's side. And he set it so it's only eight minutes fast. He didn't tell me but i figured it out when i thought i was getting ready on time until i went out to the kitchen and saw the "real" time. Oh these mind games. I don't know if it's crazy or what but wanted you to know you're not alone!
One word for you....Psycho! Just kidding, I think it is great that you want to be on time. You are a dying breed. I think it is only respectful to be on time unless it is a party (then I agree with the fashionably late thing). I just hope you aren't developing an ulcer stressing about being on time.
Every single clock in my house displays a different time. Sad thing is, I don't know which is closest to correct! Also, not all the clocks have been changed yet from daylight savings. (But now the ones I didn't change in April are back to normal -- at least for the hour, the minute is still questionable).
A couple of years ago my watch battery ran out, and I never replaced it. Letting go of wearing a watch has been liberating. We still manage to be on time to school and church and such, but it's amazing how not counting down every minute eases the stress.
I DO THIS TOO! cameron and I appear to be on the same wavelength though since my alarm clock is set 11 minutes fast. there doesn't appear to be any logic to that number though...my snooze (which I LOVE!) is 9 minutes like yours but I hit it MANY more times than you do. sometimes there doesn't need to be an explanation, it just is what it is, right?! ;-)
Brent broke me of this habit of having all the clocks fast. It bugged him for years so I broke down and set the clocks on the right time.
Remember he is my let's be early to everything!! And we are trust me. Half an hour to church is just right.
We do this at our house too. My clock is 11 minutes fast, and Russell's clock is 20 minutes fast. I think I am trying to trick myself in the early hours of the morning into thinking its later than it really is. Doesn't work though because in my groggy state I still think oh...I can stay here 20 more minutes. (The 9 minute snooze is built in to this.)
Emily's clock became possessed and started setting it's own time and alarms were blaring at all hours of the day/night.
Aawww, as usual, you all make me feel so much better about my, uh, quirks.
Crazy! How do you keep it all straight? I lost my watch about a year or two ago and I joke that I lost track of time too.
You all need help! Think of all the "real" time that you waste while re-figuring the actual time in your heads.
Oh! I really, really love your blog! I love to set clocks ahead, however I have changed methods over the years. Because of being a "late" person and having late family members, instead of setting the clocks ahead by a set time, I ramdomly, set it ahead, so like 7 minutes or something. When the power goes out and it's time to reset. I find the correct time on the lappys. Then I keep pushing that time button till I don't know how much it's off. Set the rest of the clocks to match that one and wala. Done. Other wise I and the rest of the family do the math and we still end up LATE. It's actually a pretty good trick. For us anyhow.
I was laughing when I read this! I do the exact same thing with hitting the snooze button!! I really think I am getting more sleep. I wish I could just pop out of bed on the first beep. Someday.....
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