William woke up at 4:47 on Sunday morning, even though we kept them up late Saturday night (watching Peter Pan) in an attempt to beat the Daylight Savings beast at its own game. Marilee has been crying in the 5:00 or 5:30 range the past three mornings. Penny has made the transition just fine. But all of them are going to bed at the same time as always, but William and Marilee are both down an hour of sleep in the morning. Which, as any parent knows, leads to really fun days filled with whining, tantrums, and thoughts of throwing said children out the window. I am fairly certain that parents of young children across the nation are in this same boat.

I've been reading through old blog posts in preparation for a book proposal, and I came across All I Want For Christmas Is Some Sleep, with the unfortunate reminder that the early early mornings started in November and continued well into December.

And what does all this have to do with Election Day?

It's simple. As multiple friends suggested on pre-dawn Facebook posts earlier this week, the timing of the election presents a clear opportunity. The candidates have parents at their most vulnerable. Sleep-deprived. Desperate. Four years from now, if someone pulled out a last-minute campaign promise to abolish daylight savings, he or she would gain the parents' vote across the board. Maybe I should be glad it hasn't come to this...

(Check back later today for a more sincere post about the election as part of my series for parents.com)