I am really glad the 4th is over.
I’m hopeful that the folks who live behind us know that.
I think at one time in my life I liked fireworks–but honestly, I can’t remember. I know as a child, and even with my own children, I watched them. I just know that for the past two days I’ve been completely annoyed by them.
I know what you might be thinking—they are just fireworks, it’s the Fourth of July, what do you expect, people have a right to blow them up, it’s a celebration…
But in our home, those sounds mean more than Independence.
I tried to think of ways to help Sam with the constant boom, the sounds that would bring intrusive memories, the sounds–that even during the day (yep, Monday and Tuesday)—distracted him.
I went into a “mom mode,” and went all overprotective and came up with a plan.
1. Calming tea. I found several types of tea and wanted Sam to have a cup before bed. I’m a big tea drinker, so I thought I’d have something in my tea collection to help with sleep, or even with calming his nerves.
2. Earplugs. We had a stash from when we went to see Monster Jam, and I figured I’d get a pair out incase that would help. Side note: it’s real tough to sleep in them.
3. Essential oils. I’m a newbie to this, but I have a few that help with travel, stress, energy, and sleep. I thought the sleep would help Sam, so he tried it out–and it may have helped. We were bound and determined to get sleep, so we went with some lavender.
4. Noise canceling headphones. While I could still hear the very loud, mortar like sounds, we both used some headphones the past two nights. We might be ready to promote Beats. Look for us in an upcoming ad.
5. Technology. iPads. We went to bed with our headphones and movies. Anything to distract from the chaos outside. Normally falling asleep to the TV is a bad thing, but wanting to block out sounds that were too familiar to war memories for Sam—I was all for it.
Now, these may not work for you all–they may sound silly, but honestly, I had memories of the last few “celebrations,” and they weren’t happy. They weren’t positive.
I thought of how uncomfortable Sam was. We put our dogs in our room with us because two of them were uncomfortable too. Memphis was slightly annoyed with the boom, but you know what–he was right there beside Sam.
I thought of what Sam said last year, when we were trying to sleep. “It’s like Baghdad.” That’s been in my mind for a whole year. The sounds were so close, so loud, and so frequent, he was back in combat. I wanted him to get a little sleep, and I wanted to avoid tears.
So, while the past two days have caused some anxiety, we’ve done our best to try new things, and develop new routines.
And really, we just want some decent sleep.
I vote next year we go to the mountains (or go far away).
We enjoyed lunch with my parents on the 4th, and then tried all the noice canceling and distractions Tuesday night. I’m ready for some solid sleep.