funny from the fourth :: fourth of july flop from the past

When our children were very little, going to a big fireworks show on the 4th of July seemed downright exhausting–packing bug spray, head phones (mine hate loud noises), snacks (because how could one be expected to sit still without near constant snacking), blankets, drinks. And the near certainty that the evening would end in full on meltdowns at being up way. too. late. You get my point. Anyway, we decided to just do a few really basic “fireworks” at home, get the kids to bed early and call it a night.

So I went to the store and bought sparklers, black snakes and snap-its. Simple. Not too noisy or scary. And, as I was soon to learn, not fun or exciting. At. All.

First we tried sparklers. These were always my favorite growing up. And I still love them! My kids initially loved them, too, until one of them ended up burning her hand. Then just the mention of sparklers invoked so much fear there was no way they were going to play with those again.  After the sparklers, we went for the snakes. I thought they’d be at least mildly amused. I mean, they start out small and grow big. Should be impressive for a 2 and 4-year-old. But when they were done, my daughter turned to me and said “So, you light them and then they just look like poop?” Hmmm. Well, yes, honey. Yes, now that you mention it, that is what they do.  At least they were able to throw the Snap-Its on the ground to hear them make noise, but since my kids aren’t really fans of loud noises, this failed to impress them either.  In the end, I was just glad that I got a remotely cute picture of them in their 4th of July outfits that day!

So, for those of you with young ones, any tips for at home “fireworks” that are safe and fun for the littles?  Even if it’s a total flop, you’ll end up with a funny story to tell someday.  Happy Fourth of July!