Who Invented Time Anyway?
Sometimes I stare at the clock in my kitchen — the one that’s always five minutes wrong because my husband refuses to fix it — and I think: Who decided we needed time?
I mean, wasn’t sunrise and sunset enough? Did someone wake up one morning, look at the sky, and say, “We need numbers for this”? Because honestly, I can barely manage my toddler’s snack schedule, and someone out there invented the second hand.
A Quick History of Time
Long before we had watches and iPhones yelling at us to get up, people measured time with nature.
Ancient Egyptians used sundials — shadows on the ground told them what hour it was. Which sounds nice, until it’s cloudy.
Water clocks came next, dripping water into bowls to measure time. Imagine explaining to your kid that bedtime comes after this bowl fills up. Mine would just drink it.
Eventually, mechanical clocks appeared in medieval Europe. Giant gears, swinging pendulums, ringing bells. Honestly, they sound cooler than my microwave timer.
Then came pocket watches, wristwatches, and now — smartwatches that tell us not just the time, but how many steps we’ve taken and how poorly we’re sleeping. Thanks for the reminder, technology.
Living By the Clock
I’ll admit it: as a nurse, time rules my life. Medications at 8 a.m., patient rounds by 10, paperwork before the shift ends. At home, it’s the same story. Naps, meals, appointments, bedtime routines — all dictated by the clock.
But kids? Kids have no respect for time.
My one-year-old thinks 3 a.m. is the perfect time for a snack.
My two-year-old refuses naps at 1 p.m. but falls asleep at 5 p.m., just when dinner is ready.
My grandmother eats lunch at 10:30 a.m. because “she’s hungry now.”
Honestly, in this house, we live in a different time zone entirely — Toddler Standard Time.
Funny Encounters With Clocks
Once, my grandfather “fixed” the living room clock by setting it 15 minutes fast. His logic? We’d always be early. Reality? We’re still late, just confused about how late.
My daughter pointed at the oven clock the other day and said, “That’s the time for cookies.” I can’t even argue — she’s not wrong.
My husband tried to hang a new wall clock but forgot to put in a battery. It sat there for a week, stuck at 12:00, before anyone noticed. We were basically living in a frozen moment.
The Pressure of Time
Sometimes I envy people before clocks. They lived by the sun, the seasons, their own rhythm. No alarm clocks yanking them out of sleep, no buzzing phones reminding them of deadlines.
Today, time feels like a boss we can’t escape. Running late? Guilty. Behind on chores? Always. Bedtime routine? A ticking bomb that can go off at any second.
And don’t even get me started on daylight saving time. Whoever thought of changing clocks twice a year clearly never had toddlers. Try explaining to a two-year-old that “the clock says it’s bedtime now” when the sun is still shining. Spoiler: it doesn’t work.
The Things We Don’t See
Here’s the wild part: we talk about time like it’s solid, but it’s not. It’s an idea. A system we created.
Einstein showed time is relative — it actually bends with speed and gravity.
Astronauts in space age a tiny bit slower than we do on Earth.
And black holes? Time basically stops at their edge.
So while I’m here racing the clock to get dinner ready before a toddler meltdown, somewhere in the universe, time isn’t even moving. Makes you think.
Lessons From the Clock
Time teaches me a few things every day:
You can’t stop it. Whether I’m ready or not, the clock keeps ticking.
You can waste it or cherish it. Scrolling my phone for an hour feels very different than laughing with my kids for an hour.
It’s both strict and forgiving. Strict because deadlines are real. Forgiving because tomorrow is always a chance to try again.
Final Thought
Whoever invented time and clocks changed everything. They gave us structure, order, schedules — and also stress, deadlines, and alarms.
But maybe the secret is this: time doesn’t just measure life. It makes life precious. Without the ticking, without the deadlines, we wouldn’t realize how much the moments matter.
So yes, I’ll still be late sometimes. I’ll still curse the alarm clock. I’ll still live on Toddler Standard Time more than anything else. But I’ll also try to notice the seconds that matter — the giggles, the hugs, the bedtime stories, even the chaos.
Because in the end, time isn’t just something we keep. It’s something we live.
