Happy Independence Day!

Independence Day. Fourth of July. Whichever you prefer to call this quintessentially American holiday, it’s a day that means picnics, ball games, and pool parties. It’s all about hamburgers, hotdogs and ice cream. Sunglasses, shorts and sunburn.

It’s often a much-needed day off work, and for lots of us, a couple of extra hours to sleep late.

It can also mean fireworks being set off right in your neighborhood. Late into the night. In the yard next door or right behind you. Just yards away from your bedroom!

I’m a fan of fireworks on the Fourth of July, and not just the big displays communities put on in parks and stadiums around the country. I mean the kind that families set off in their backyards to the delight of their kids. I have fond memories of just such mini-displays growing up.

The city I grew up in had ordinances against selling fireworks within the city limits. The adjacent town, however, had no such ordinances, and it was a much-anticipated trip over the city limits each year with our dad to buy fireworks. Oh, the excitement!

At first, when my brother and I were little, it was just sparklers every year. Those were fun, and for really little ones, that’s about right. But as we grew older, we wanted more. Firecrackers at least! But if we were lucky, we’d get to choose some bottle rockets, cherry bombs, or the ones that spun sparks around in circles.

You know what I don’t remember about Fourth of July fireworks growing up? People in neighborhoods lighting them off into the wee hours of the night. Seems like it was understood, especially when the holiday fell during the week, that most people had to go to bed and sleep so they could get up in the morning.

Now, I don’t want to step on anyone’s celebration. It’s a fun day, and fireworks are an important part of the symbolism of the celebration of our nation. And they’re a blast! (Sorry, couldn’t resist that one.)

So what can you do when you find yourself lying in bed, longing for some sleep, but you can’t quite get there because of nearby, late-night revelers? I don’t have any foolproof solutions, but here are some things that might help:

Go out and have a lot of fun during the holiday. Play hard. Get a little sun. Enjoy your kids and pets. Make sure you’re good and tired by bedtime.
Don’t eat too much, too late in the day. Hard, I know, when so much good stuff is on the menu on a day like this. But if you go to bed full, and especially full of yummy, snacky, treat-y things, you might feel uncomfortable and find it difficult to drift off.
Take a shower right before bed. Make sure your body feels fresh and cool. Comfort is a big part of getting to sleep.
Use a sound machine or an app on your phone with white noise or a sound-effect you find relaxing. The sound of rain falling, ocean waves, wind through trees, or crickets chirping can be quite relaxing for some people.
Have a fan running in your bedroom. It will provide nice, cooling airflow, and it will also add a layer of soothing sound that can help block out unwanted noises.
Earplugs might just be the answer for noisy nights like these. Some people wear them every night (or day, if that’s your sleeping pattern), but if you’re not one that likes the idea, you might just find they’re the perfect answer for the sudden, explosive sounds of fireworks.

However you celebrate the day, have fun, stay safe, and hopefully enjoy a good, restful night of sleep!