the fourth of july is supposed to be about freedom

and gratefulness for those who have served.

i feel those things,

but at our house it’s also always

about something quite different.

i’m gonna copy what i put up on fb and ig

a little while ago and

paste it right

here.

because the big patriotic stuff has its place,

but how we look at each other each day

and how we choose to treat each other based

on what we see, needs a place, too…

today

i am practicing

my “it’s just gonna be big bangs for a little while

and we’ll be right here the whole time – you so got this” face.

one of my kids has ‪#‎spd‬ (sensory processing disorder).

they’re hyper sensitive to smells

and certain textures on the skin (socks are always hit or miss),

and lights, and loud noises.

this holiday is always traumatic.

we can stay away from firework displays

(we record and watch them later on tv

so we can take breaks as needed and control the volume),

but there’s no escape from random neighbors who light stuff off

and you can still hear

the display of the town next door

even with the windows shut down tight.

so we turn on fans for white noise and play favorite music

and put them to bed early praying that they fall asleep before the noise begins.

it’s exhausting to try to protect

a special kid (who looks like any other kid)

from ‘normal stuff’ that will turn them into a shaking heap of tears

who clings to you because they feel neurological pain

from what others are enjoying. truly heartbreaking to watch.

please remember the next time

you see a kid acting erratically in a ‘normal’ situation

or a parent who looks

a bit haggard and hyper vigilant,

that there is always so much more going on

than shows on any ones face.

so much more.

‘neighbor’ taken from 5:14 of galatians.

photo taken by leslie buckley of blueeyedcrafty photography.