It was Bonfire Night on Sunday. Normally we’re excited by fireworks, but this weekend it felt like we were under siege.
There have been sporadic fireworks going off since Diwali started on the 15th October, but they were few and far between and kind of fun. TOH isn’t bothered by them much and the older two got over their fear of fireworks when they were younger, but PW is still uncertain of them; she’s developed a problem with loud noises (even cars and buses going past are too loud to her) and my current anxiety level is so high that I start shaking with unexplained bangs nearby.
Where we are living at the moment is a large housing estate on the edge of a major town. Normally it’s pretty quiet; there are less sirens, late night arguments and lights than the previous house, where we were smack bang in the middle of the town.
The firework parties started on Friday Night as soon as it got dark. It wasn’t too bad, but it put me on edge which triggered the meltdown that I had on Saturday (Meltdown Feelings). Saturday night was the official town display on the beach, so as soon as it got dark, the family firework parties around town started again… then they calmed down for an hour or so (while the display was on) and started up again afterward.
PW spent most of the evening with earmuffles (her word) on and her bedtime routine was thrown out because she was too wired to sleep, so she ended up falling asleep in front of one of her favourite DVD’s. TOH and NOS were playing Destiny 2 until early morning as well, so I didn’t sleep particularly well either – I think my meltdown and anxiety had disturbed SB and they kicked all night (well it felt like it), it made it difficult to fall asleep.
Of course, that wasn’t the end of the Fireworks. Last night (sunday) the families around us had their firework parties. They were closer to us, so every huge banger that went off made me shake. PW had her earmuffles on again and refused to eat her tea. She was still overexcitable by bedtime, so she ended up lying in bed watching her favourite DVD again.
The fireworks didn’t stop until after 11pm.
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