Ryan has created a monster.
We absolutely love living in this great state of Washington. And we LOVE celebrating the Fourth of July here because you can really celebrate in style; just about everything is legal and it's a BLAST! (Literally! lol)
Last year, we were smart and went to the Indian Reservation the day after the Fourth to buy all of this year's fireworks ahead of time. We got such a good deal! And we were set. :)
As the Fourth has approached, Ryan started getting that look in his eye and all he could think about was blowing up stuff. He started to get crazy ideas, like buying MORE fireworks. I made him promise that he would pull out the supply he had stored up from our day-after shopping trip last year before he went out shopping, because I was confident we had enough and something of everything he wanted to have. Thankfully, he agreed. And when we did pull out all of the fireworks this week, I was right (of course *wink*) and Ryan had to admit it. We did good!
But there was just one more thing he'd really like to get. Just a few aerials, you know, fun little stuff for the kids. Uh huh. So, I went with him. Ryan unaccomanied in a fireworks tent is NOT a good idea. Even with me being "the mean lady who holds all the money", he still managed to get another set of tubes for his finale. But we left spending less than $100 so I was happy. We both got what we want.
*whew* Crisis averted.
Or was it?
Yesterday when Ryan got home from work, the first words out of his mouth were, "How much do you love me?" To which I responded, "I love you so much, I let you buy nearly $100 of fireworks even though we had a room full of fireworks already. How much do you love me?" "Well, uh...." So, I worded my question differently, "How much did you spend?"
"I stopped by this tent... 90% of the proceeds were going to soldiers (or their families, or something like that). And the family working the tent had a son/brother killed in action themselves. Then, while I was there, my co-worker stopped by. Turns out, his fiance is the cousin of this soldier who had died and it was her family working the tent..."
Again, I asked, "How much did you spend?"
"A lot."
*groan*
I committed him to staying away from any more fireworks tents/stands/stores. "Even if there is a poor, starving, orphan getting all of the proceeds, YOU CANNOT BUY ANY MORE FIREWORKS!!!"
The survivalist in him flashed his smile (that he knows I'm a sucker for) and quickly agreed, along with agreeing that he totally owed me and was going to do some major kissing up. He was done. No more. Don't worry.
Later that night, he and the girls went to return a couple of movies we had rented last weekend. They took awhile longer than I expected and I suspected (hoped) that they were picking out a new movie or two to rent. Instead...
The first thing I heard when the door opened this time was, "Don't be mad at Acadia, be mad at me."
"WHAT?!?!?!?! Did she take her wallet with her?"
Acadia had spent her birthday money to buy more fireworks!!! (He swears he tried to talk her out of it.) I was flabergasted!!! Are you kidding me? We already have enough to have our own firework stand, why would she use HER money to buy more? Ryan always lets her light some, so she didn't need to get her own for that. And if she really wanted to have "her own", she could have given ME the money and we'd let her have some of ours. This family certainly did not need more fireworks in this house!
But she didn't want to wait until Saturday, so she bought some to fire off in the meantime. Last night she lit a few of them, but she saved most of them to light with her friends either tonight or tomorrow night. She and I did have a little talk today about thinking things through and not just making decisions in the heat of the moment. I pointed out that she could have gotten a huge Littlest Pet Shop play center, or several smaller toys, or cute outfits (she's getting more into fashion lately), or even taken a girlfriend to a movie and lunch or something... any of which would have lasted longer and probably been worth more to her in the long time. I hope that next time she thinks a little more first.
I think she just got caught up in the heat of the moment. Her dad's been going crazy over these fireworks and we are all looking forward to our own personal pyro show Saturday night. I understand why she wanted to get them, I just hope she understands why she really didn't need to, and therefore it was a little foolish. Harmless, but foolish. :S
Oh, and lest you think I'm exaggerating about how many fireworks we have...
Do you see what I'm saying? No joke, we have PLENTY of fireworks and none of us need to spend a single dime on more!
But we are gonna have one heck of a firworks show this weekend! lol