It’s tempting to say that today is a great day for conservatives because we get to turn back the clock, literally, if only by an hour.

I’m happy because we get to go off government-imposed Daylight Saving Time. Last year, I made the case against DST here. A lot of readers emailed in their approval. A few, however, were strongly supportive of DST. The most compelling responses from the pro-DST crowd pointed out that by shifting the clock forward in the spring and thereby having more daylight around dinnertime, families are able to spend more time together outside. One father noted that he was able to play catch with his son after work—something he wouldn’t be able to do in the absence of DST. As a father who likes to play catch with his own son—and who has the advantage of working mainly from home—I didn’t have a good response. My heartstrings were tugged.

I should have thought longer and harder, though, because the response is fairly obvious, though it didn’t dawn on me until this week. I coach my daughter’s soccer team. The games are on weekends and we’ve held practices at 5 pm during the week. Although we have games scheduled for several more weeks, I’ve cancelled the rest of our practices—because as of right now it will get too dark too early to hold them. So when we let the government manipulate our clocks, what’s gained in the spring is lost in the fall. It’s just a zero-sum game. When it comes to the time, we should just leave well enough alone.