My first mistake concerning the 4th of July celebration was taking seven of my children with me to the store yesterday and then telling them to go pick out the fireworks. Yes, I should know better, after 24 years of parenting. I insisted that they put one $27 box back on the shelf.

As we proceeded through the checkout lane with our five-foot tall box of fireworks, with a $97 price tag, I did question my sanity. Of course, this purchase in combination with my other food and beverage purchases put the tab over $300, which then requires a manager override to ring up. The people behind me were not too pleased, but my children were.

They considered this an opportunity, or practically an invitation, to visit the snack shop and purchase Slushies while we waited. Since three of them just had tonsillectomies on Friday and need plenty of fluids, I really couldn’t deny the request. They knew they had me; I had just talked to them the previous night about their insufficient fluid intake for that day.

Problems began immediately when we arrived home, my son who happens to be a genius and has ADHD, is also a pyromaniac. He had opened the fireworks and found a lighter before we had the rest of the groceries unloaded from the van. He did show amazing self-control when I told him he absolutely could not light any fireworks until Super Dad and the rest of the children were ready to come outside.

The four year old has no impulse control, and no fear, and had to be forcibly held back to a safe distance during the demonstration. We also had to remove fireworks from her possession numerous times, as she thought it was her turn to light them.

Our 13-year-old daughter wanted to immediately clean up and put the burnt fireworks in the garbage. Once again, we had to explain fire safety to her as well as how to avoid burns. With FAS, some lessons have to be repeated, no matter how well they previously knew the information.

Our baby, (I can’t believe she is going to be one on the 24th) is scared to death of any loud noises and practically becomes hysterical. We first noticed her fear a couple of months ago when my son started his motorcycle. At first, we thought she was just afraid of motorcycles, until we took her into a public restroom. The sound of a commercial toilet flushing had her screaming.

Needless to say, it will be impossible to take the whole group to a public display of fireworks. Therefore, we will be having our own party here on the farm tonight, with the baby safely inside watching out the window and Super Dad supervising the others.



ADHD Meet Genius
Time Alone? – Living with FAS and ADHD
Three Tonsillectomies, Will They Cure Special Needs?
What is FAS or FAE

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