To Each His Own

This one is a long overdue post and I finally sat down to write it because God knows, next year we might not even celebrate the day like we usually do. Not to sound all gloom and doom, but hey, you do read the news everyday right? Enough said then.

So we have this tradition of bursting fire crackers on the 4th of July and since Manny is a stickler for rules, we don't buy illegal ones.Just the tame boring stuff you get in BiMart or Costco. This has been going on for almost 10 years in this house. While Noe is not an active participant in setting them off, he does sit outside in the driveway and unenthusiastically clap at the lacklustre crackers Manny sets off. He timidly holds the sparklers with his hands as far away as possible from his trunk and he is very wary of the whole process.He is not afraid of fire, this is a kid who uses the cooktop and the oven with ease in the kitchen. I think firecrackers are a completely different story.There is a loss of control when you are letting them off or holding them in your hand. There is no reducing the flame, turning it off option is there?

So for the last few years that has been our routine. Firecrackers from Costco or Bimart, very few bought piecemeal, Manny feeling morally superior, but I'm sure yearning to blast a few of the illegal ones.

So as June rolled around, I went to Costco and looked at the stuff they had. I found a good big package at Costco for a good price and bought it. I didn't bother with the fine print. A good deal is a good deal. I let Manny know that I had left it in the garage and he should check it out.That poor kid, decided that Mom knew best and didn't bother to see what the box beheld. 

So July 4th rolls in and he enthusiastically opens the package in the semi darkness to discover that the entire, the entire package was, get this, poppers...the tame kind which barely has any firepower in them. The look on Manny's face!! He was looking daggers at me and the only retreat I had was the fact that he hadn't checked the package when I had repeatedly asked him to. 

He rushed off to the tent sales at the nearby grocery store and stormed back in because they had wound up the store. He parked himself in the living room and was muttering about his stupidity and my choice of fireworks etc etc.

Where were Dad and the little one you ask? It hit me after mollifying Manny, that the two of them were not around. So I walk around the house looking for them and I find them in the garage, or more like the driveway, blissfully letting off the poppers. Every single one of them. 

Vincent looked amused. Noel was standing there, fearlessly picking up the poppers, one after the other and letting them off. No cowering or backing his butt out and keeping his hands as far away from his body as possible. This was someone enjoying every bit of the experience.Not in this many years had we ever seen this level of participation and enthusiasm. He was blissfully unaware of his brother's frustration and disappointment.He single-handedly finished the package. It took him a good hour to finish it off, but he was positively glowing form the experience.

So we had a kid who was sitting there despondently and another who looked like the cat who got the cream. It was usually the other way around! All, over the same pack of firecrackers. That was a lesson for all of us. What rocks my boat need not rock yours. Disparaging other's choices is unnecessary -unless their choice is a danger to themselves or others or involves negativity.

So do your thing..whatever it is. Have a good time!! Me? I'm buying the exact same package at Costco next year. Hopefully we'll be celebrating what has been celebrated for the last 249 years. Fingers crossed!!