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I have never, ever, ever in my 42 years of life been a fan of 4th of July. And make fun of me all you want, but the main reason I don’t like it?
I’m afraid of loud noises.
There, I said it. I’m afraid of the insanely loud BOOM! noises that accompany fireworks on 4th of July. I feel the same way about unexpected Ka-BOOM! thunderclaps, too. Don’t like ‘em. Loud noises make my heart race, and when I was little, made me cry.
When I was pregnant with Ryan in 1996, we moved into a new house on July 3rd. We moved out of an apartment on the second floor of a quiet complex into a neighborhood that was populated by a whole lot of “we don’t give a crap what you think of us” kind of neighbors.
So, here I was, 6.5 months pregnant having just spent two days moving from the apartment to the new house. And what was my introduction to my new next-door neighbors?
The night of 4th of July, they gathered in their driveway which was practically right underneath my bedroom window, and spent two hours lighting off firecrackers. I closed all the windows, I turned a fan on to “high”, I kept telling myself it would be over soon.
It went on and on and on. Finally, I got up and went downstairs at like 1:00 AM and introduced myself to my new neighbors. In my maternity nightgown. With my ankles that were swollen to the size of telephone poles. “Hi”, I said. “I was wondering if you would be done soon, I have to work in the morning and I spent the last two days moving and as you can see, I’m 6.5 months pregnant so I don’t sleep well as it is”.
The kind, understanding reply I got from the mother of three who was my new neighbor? “We’ll be done WHEN WE’RE DONE. It’s a HOLIDAY.”
In the nine years we were neighbors, we never got along.
Anyway, so that’s my unpatriotic secret- I hate 4th of July. And tomorrow, Chris is forcing me to go to the neighboring township where I grew up and watch fireworks. Something about making special family memories or whatever. And I’ll GO, and I’ll put on a happy face, and I’ll take pictures, and when the fireworks go off, I’ll try not to cry.
Ka-BOOM!
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I hear you… I grew up in Hawaii and firecrackers there tend to be of the crazy Chinese 10,000 loud explosion variety. They go off all night and when it’s all over and the smoke clears, the streets are literally flooded with singed red paper. The 4th of July sucks but New Year’s is usually even worse. And of course the constant booms make all the dogs whine and howl. Ugh.
I am so glad i’m not alone in this… I HATE THE 4th. Fireworks going on at all hours of the night, all day, all night, all week, all month I HATE IT!! They’re even ILLEGAL here so I don’t get it… People have no consideration for others who have kids, need to sleep, want to sleep. Fire them off till 11pm, after that you’ll hear me YELLING at everyone out my window. I HATE THE 4th!
I feel your pain. I don’t mind seeing the displays from a distance because then the noise is less and the smoke in the air doesn’t affect my asthma.
Hallelujah! Someone else who gets why the Fourth stresses me out. My fear isn’t of the loud noises, but of the (illegal) bottle rockets the people in my urban neighborhood launch toward houses, shrubs and trees, even in the middle of a drought. No neighborhood in our city seems to be immune…we drove home from a pubic fireworks display last year through what I can only describe as Armageddon. Fireworks whooshing past cars, small children illuminated by Roman candles, standing in the middle of the madness. What is wrong with people??? Why is this considered “family fun”??
Twitter: Table4Five
says:
Kate-I forgot about those horrible bottle rockets! They make me want to throw myself on the ground and yell INCOMING!
At least I live in a neighborhood populated by mostly senior citizens, so I don’t have to worry about rude neighbors shooting off fireworks under my bedroom window anymore.
You and I both have a phobia, but don’t remember the name – fear of loud noises. I have been known to take ear plugs to a display when I HAVE to be there. I’d much rather watch from afar just so I don’t hear the loud booms.
With you on that one, but then I AM English
Seriously though, we have the same problem here from around Nov 5th (Guy Fawkes Night) until New Years. So inconsiderate of people to just let off so many fireworks all damn night, any night between those dates. You never know if you’re going to get a good nights sleep or not!
Hey, I live in Knoxville, TN, where none of my neighbors stop the fireworks until they pass out drunk in their lawns. It’s so annoying.
We use to have a neighbor–and I’m not kidding at all–who would light one firecracker about every 15 minutes. That was it. It was like he only had a dollar when he went to the fireworks store and was determined to make his 20 firecrackers last through the night. Every time you would be about to drop off to sleep….POP!
Crap. Just now I had every window in my house shake. It’s like they are setting off dynamite this year…
mention to the neighbors what you feel, so they can understand. or install any posts on the front of the fence: a voice is loud!
Twitter: debmomof3
says:
I don’t mind fireworks and firecrackers at all, but we’ve had a horrible time this year with Abby. She is absolutely terrified – and even now, a week later, people in the neighborhood are still lighting them off. She hasn’t slept well all week and even with 2 nightlights and the bathroom light on, is completely freaked out by the noises. If I knew which neighbors it was, I’d say something, but I think it’s more than one house. Hopefully they’ll at least run out soon… Sigh.