The 5th of July

If your 5th of July wasn't quite as magical as your 4th of July you're not alone. We had a wonderful Independence Day. It wasn't without its share of moments but overall it was a very good day. Our neighborhood really knows how to have a big celebration and we were able to spend the morning and afternoon with friends at parties and the evening with friends and fireworks. Its amazing to me that individual neighborhoods do their own fireworks displays - Austin really is the best city!

But for us fireworks it probably where this all went wrong. Lets face it - this really could have gone either way. Some kids love them! I even saw several of your kid’s pictures with the sweetest looks of amazement. Its heartwarming. Thats not quite the experience we had.  Laina was terrified of the fireworks the neighbors were doing and we spent a lot of that time inside alone trying to calm down for the “big” fireworks. We were only 5 minutes from home at a friend’s house but she was terrified and nearly convulsing with every noise. So we left. In the middle of the fireworks.

She went to sleep pretty easily even with all the noise outside but starting at about 1 am she would cry out about every 30 minutes. She did that off an on all night. When she woke up in the morning she just starting calling “Mommy, mommy” which she never does. Once I got her out she was ok. We had a few tantrums in the morning- a little more than normal but over things that usually aren't an issue. We went to church where she seemingly did ok in the nursery (thanks Laura and Kathryn!). But after that is where it all went downhill. I cant even begin to explain how extreme she was acting and how quickly she bounced from happiness to utter chaos. This behavior is pretty typical for her personality but this level was different. Thank God for my husband coming outside and being the Laina whisperer- we actually had a few minutes of peace and it was amazing. 

We went home- she threw a few more fits about nothing and I rocked her while she cried until she fell asleep. I should add that I cant remember the last time either of these two things happened. I have tried to rock her to sleep the last few months (she is turning 2 soon and I'm losing my baby!) and she just wants to play with me. And it seems like years since she has cried herself to sleep. But there she was- asleep on my shoulder. I held her for a little awhile and watched her in the mirror trying to remember how her sweet face looked all squished on my dress. I could have held her forever (but I didn’t...mama needs a break and it’s time for lunch!) So I walked out of her room feeling victorious and defeated all at the same time. I know - like everything with kids - it won’t last forever and soon this day will just be a memory. 

But I just wanted to share this with the other mamas that had a rough 5th of July (or any other day!) The days at the Britnell house are constantly filled with high highs and low lows and not a lot of in-between but that makes life so much more interesting. Having a strong-willed child is great- maybe not today- but I wouldn't trade today for a boring day if it meant losing all our great super extreme happy days. So don't wish away today, or this week, or this stage- but know you're not alone. And know that we have a whole year before we have to do the 5th of July again. 

...jessica britnell