"Mommy!!!! We're gonna be late!!!"-it's a slap, sharper than any alarm clock. Your eyes snap open-there he is, your five-year-old, up and dressed already for kindergarten, standing by your bed.

He's right! It's too light out-the sun is shining through the window! He should be at school, already! The alarm didn't go off! You forgot to set it! His day's ruined! Your day's ruined! Everything's ruined!

Panicked, you throw off the covers, spring out of bed, and rush about, grabbing clothes, shouting incoherent instructions to your son, your husband, and the dog, while silently praying that you're not really having a heart attack and that your breathing will resume normally, one day soon?

And then, the alarm clock goes off. You glance at your watch on the night-stand-what? The alarm clock is correct. Then, you realize?

Oh, right? Yesterday was the last Sunday in October. You set the clocks back.

You collapse onto the bed, relieved-but-already-exhausted, waiting for the pounding in your head to subside. You're saved, but your day's still ruined-if only you could have enjoyed those last five minutes of sleep?

And, of course, your son asks, on the way to school-why? Why did we change what seemed like a perfectly respectable way of keeping time? Why is it later now, than it was last week-but it's still the same time as when we always go to school?

Do you know the answer?

The idea of time changes-from Standard Time to Daylight Saving and back-has actually been around for quite a while. Benjamin Franklin proposed adopting time changes, back in the 1780's. But it wasn't until the early 1900's that European countries mandated the changes, as a way of saving energy.

As the sun rises earlier and earlier in the Spring, people rise from sleep into bright daylight, at a time when energy use is low, anyway. And, as the sun sets later and later in the Summer, the need for electricity to light our homes is put off until later in the evening. So, governments decided, why not take advantage of the sun while we have it?

If we push our clocks ahead in the Spring and Summer, then we delay until late into the evening the need for electric lighting-we're actually "saving daylight", and using less energy. There are other benefits, as well. Fewer traffic accidents occur in daylight than darkness, and crime is significantly lower in daytime than at night.

Then, why "fall back" to Standard Time, in the Autumn? The daylight hours are few enough in the Fall and Winter, that they're better utilized for productivity when they occur earlier, according to the clock.

There-expain that to your five-year-old. Or, just tell him that mothers everywhere want the sun to come up earlier, so that they can better see their handsome sons in the morning, as they go off to school.