I favor the more home-grown and low-key Fourth of July celebrations. When I was a teenager and in college, I had my fair share of the crazy and busy July 4th celebrations. I've learned, though, through some hard experiences that some of the best 4th of July memories that I have are the ones that involved a day at the pool, sparklers in the back yard, and then catching the local fireworks.
That's not always a popular decision. It's hard not to want to cram a lot into your holiday weekend. It's one full glorious day off, and who wouldn't want to have a cookout and swimming and the best possible fireworks (I live outside D.C., so the downtown fireworks don't get much better than that... but the commute in and out of the city is grizzly no matter what you do), and to create a big ole demonstration in Americana. The fact of the matter is, though, that most kids can't handle it. A long day on the 4th means a longer week ahead for us. So, we kept things very low-key yesterday. We played with flags, did some home-made drawings of patriotic icons and talked about their significance, spent the morning having a nice big brunch and then drove 10 minutes to the nearby county fireworks display, which was perfect. The kids fell asleep in the car on the way home, slipped into bed... and it was done.
Patriotic, and relatively tantrum free... which to me is its own kind of freedom :-) Happy Fourth of July to you!
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