I Married a Genius

We've entered a part of summer that I dislike. It has nothing to do with the weather, which is rather nice right now. I don't even mind the late sunsets. It's the fireworks. Don't get me wrong, I love a good fireworks display as much as the next person, but I don't love listening to the boom every night and listening to my dog whimper and cower by my side. Officially, fireworks are illegal around here. Illegal to set off that is. They're perfectly legal to sell and buy. Explain that one to me?

They started a few nights ago, and they will increase exponetially until the 4th of July. At that point, they'll begin to diminish again.

Last summer wasn't a real problem for us because Sera easily slept through them. This summer she's in a easily-afraid-of-unusual-noises phase. Any noise that she doesn't instantly recognize causes her to run to me terrified until I explain it to her.

The other night the fireworks started while Jim was putting Sera to bed. It wasn't even completely dark yet. We've been trying to push her bedtime back a bit in preparation of our trip out west. Jim opened up her blinds and sat rocking with her and explained the fireworks to her. They watched and oohed and aahed over all the pitty colors.

Last night, Sera was having a hard time sleeping. Her three hour nap came back to bite us on the butt. About 9:30 her cries became crying, so I brought her into my room. She likes to lie on momma's pillow. I turned the season one dvd of The Wire off and turned the TV to the Food Network. She likes to watch cooking. Around 9:55, I told her that in 5 minutes it would be time to go back to her crib. She fell back on my pillow, pulled the blanket up and began to snore. I think she thought if I thought she was asleep that she could stay. Unfortunately for her, she can't fake sleeping for more than a minute before she starts giggling and shouting. "Mommy, Sera wake up!" The only time she ever really fusses about going to bed is if she's come into my room for a bit. She only fusses for a minute or two, but her fusses are really full-on crying bouts. I still bring her in because otherwise she's whining and whimpering for hours. I'll take a minute or two of crying over hours of whimpers any time.

After another minute or two, we heard the boom and she saw the fireworks from my window. My window faces the opposite side of the house, but that didn't stop me. I suggested she go back to her crib. She jumped up eager to go. I opened the blinds, and she gave me a hug and kiss night-night. Then she settled in watching for fireworks until she quietly fell asleep.

What could have been a summer of sleepless nights and crying over the booms of fireworks has turned into a pleasurable event that helps her fall asleep.

He's a genius!