Happy 4th of July -- at least for some

For most American citizens the 4th of July is a time for celebration. I must admit it was that way for me as well, that is until Dalin came along. Dalin has a really hard time with Independence Day because as he puts it, "I don't like fireworks!" Dalin is absolutely frightened by them. He even hates sparklers. In years past he just screamed and plugged his ears. We've tried hiding out in the basement hoping he'd survive, but if he could even hear the boom or crackle he would just cry. In general it was a miserable experience.

I was pretty nervous this year. We spent the holiday in Utah, but my husband had to work so I was on my own with the kids. My sister-in-law used to work for Delta Airlines and still had a pair of the headphones they would use when out on the runway. It took a long time for me to be able to convince Dalin to put the earphones on. I must admit that the anticipation was actually worse than the event. By the time the fireworks had started, Dalin had stopped crying and had settles down in front of a show (Blues Clues). When the fireworks started he asked me what the sound was. I told him that it was the fireworks but that he was okay, because they were outside and he was inside. He kept watching his show and eventually one of his cousins came in and joined him. I asked Dalin if it would be okay for me to go outside for a minute. He thought about it for a sec and then said, "Yep, I'm okay." I was able to see the last 5 minutes (including the finale) of the show. It was great, but made even better by the fact that my little guy is growing up and learning ways to cope with situations made difficult by his autism.