Is It Super Lame That We're Not Doing Anything for the 4Th?

We are doing nothing... Absolutely nothing.
Actually we might have steaks on the grill, but that's it.

I've been cooking a lot. I have a Boston market coupon for 1/2 off their family meals..we are livin the high life!

You could go see the fireworks without dealing with the crowds. Find out where they are and then park somewhere and stay in the car to watch them. It's the only way I will go lol. My husband loves parades. I couldn't care less lol. But we took the kids when they were younger. My husband now takes my son and goes.

I'm joining the super-lame party! We are doing nothing and we like it. :) Kiddo is a bit fearful still of fireworks, so why bother? We will have plenty PLENTY of years ahead to sit in a car for hours as the cars clear out, all of us going home from some Independence Day event.

We live in an area where the two fireworks displays don't start until an hour plus after Kiddo usually falls asleep, and have no parades either. No joke. If he were interested and excited for it, we'd go up to Mt Tabor and watch the fireworks from there... but he's JUST NOT.

FWIW, I didn't remember any of our 4th of July outings until I was seven. You'll be fine and so will your kid!

Your son is 4.
Every year, there is the 4th of July.
If not this year, then next year or the next, etc.
You are not "robbing" him of any memories.
If your Husband hates the crowds/waiting in line for things, then YOU can take your son to these 4th of July things/events/parades.
You can still do it.
Even if your Husband does not want to.

My husband also doesn't like crowds, line-ups, parades etc. When my husband doesn't like to do things I just leave him at home. The boys and I have made wonderful memories of our own. We just celebrated Canada Day, and I took the boys camping so we could catch the fireworks on Sunday night at the lake, then we came home and caught the fireworks in our city park on Monday night.

My husband is the same, so the kids and I, used to be all 8, this year it will only be 6, go and do things without him. The kids and I aren't going to miss out because he has the issue.

The 4th is like Christmas in my house. It's the second favorite holiday. Our town goes big, it's a very small town though. There's a parade, fireworks, rides, games, you name it. Very old in feeling though, it's just awesome.

I have VERY fond memories of the 4th of July! In 1976 - we were in Seattle for the Bicentennial Parade and fireworks show! IT WAS A BLAST!!!

July 2010? Wright Patterson AFB - we sat in my mom & dad's motor home and watched the fireworks...well, outside their motor home!! :) I even got on the roof!!

July 2006 - Devils Tower National Monument and Mount Rushmore ....INCREDIBLE!!! And so many more years of OOOHHHH'S & AAAH's!!

Do I think you are "robbing" him? Maybe. I have awesome memories!! What do WE do? We set off fireworks in our cul-de-sac! No crowds - lots of fun, laughter - ooohhh's and aaaahhhh's....

If your husband doesn't like crowds - YOU take him! Let him stay home...or find a place to park...there's PLENTY of places to go in LA! Newport Beach has GREAT fireworks!!! Go to the pier....heck - you can walk the beach with your feet in the water to stay cool....There is soo much you can do! Don't let your husband stop you from going out and making memories with your son!!!

I think if I lived in LA with such a big population I might not want to do anything either! Maybe one year you should spend the 4th in a very tiny town. They have the best July 4th celebrations. Cute small town parade...the kids participate...the pets participate...the kids decorate their bikes. Friends all meet at the park and grill burger/hot dogs together. Our neighborhood pool has such a fun celebration each year...they have fun games for the kids with prizes, a pie eating contest, etc. The town puts on a tiny fireworks display in the evening. :)

It's usually 5 million degrees here on the 4th. Not to mention the giant mosquito that eat you alive. Oh, and all the bugs sticking to your sweat. Good times.

This is the first year we are doing the 4th with my son, because the high is only 91!!! That's SO abnormal here, to have the weather so cool. If it were the typical weather, we would not be going.

How sad. At least put a flag up or bake an apple pie or something.

Geez, I hate posts like these.

Its 1 freakin day out of your life. Heaven forbid anyone asks your husband to carry heavy things wearing full body armor and run for his life in the extreme desert heat with bullets flying past him and bombs going off all around him. Thank goodness he doesn't have to spend any time away from home, away from his family and career and his kids, to make sacrfices and be willing to die for perfect strangers who can't stand crowds and wait for things.

Thank God for the brave service men, past present and future, who are doing the actual protecting of my freedom. God bless them and their families forever.

i'm with your husband.
we have the WONDERFUL antietam battlefield with its bigass 4th of july shindig right up the road, complete with the maryland symphony orchestra playing the 1812 overture with real cannons. i haven't gone in 20 years. i can hear the cannons from here, and if i stand on my deck i can see some of the fireworks.
but we DID take the boys when they were little.
now we have a big cookout here every 4th, that both sides of the family have come to count on. it's a lot of work, but i still prefer it to going somewhere.
i don't think you're robbing your son of memories, since each family is different and emphasizes different things. no one can do everything. my kids love snowboarding. we never went on snow or ski vacations when they were little, ever, so i guess we deprived them of mountain winter vacation memories.
they provide them for themselves now.
unless you NEVER do anything fun or memorable, i suspect your son will have plenty of awesome memories and not feel cheated that you keep quiet independence days.
:) khairete
S.

I get that hubby doesn't like crowds, but if you're ok with them, then take your kid to something. Hubby doesn't have to go. You can do a family BBQ later. My hubby had out of town work over a few holidays, so I took our son to the St. Patricks parade, to the Easter thing. There's no reason to NOT do something just because hubby doesn't like it.

Now, if he has a problem with you doing things without him because he doesn't like doing the crowd stuff, THAT is a separate problem that needs to be addressed.

I don't think it is important to go to a parade or see fireworks. I do think it is important to celebrate the day if you are an American (it doesn't matter if you were born in this country, it matters if you are a citizen).

I hope you teach your child(ren) the importance of this holiday and how much the service men and women give up for you to continue to have freedom.

Get some flags from the dollar store and celebrate at home.

My mother hated crowds, and my dad was deeply impatient and hated lines for anything, so we didn't do things that exposed us to those things. We did drive up onto a hill and watch fireworks on the 4th, and I thought that was fabulous. :)

I have great memories of BBQs, playing with cousins, camping, and just sitting on the backyard patio with a popsicle or lemonade. We played hide and go seek in the dark, we ran through the sprinklers (and rarely went to the pool). I loved it at the time, and I still think it was a pretty great childhood.

I doubt that you do nothing. You probably do lots of little things that seem lame and ordinary to you, but will be cherished traditions for your son. Still, you can always add a bit of something fun to holidays to make them more special. Do you wear red, white and blue on the 4th? Maybe you can start a tradition like having blueberries, strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast that day.

We'll be having a family BBQ that day. My kids are old enough that my daughter is now the one who hosts, in her back yard. :)

Don't stress, and enjoy your quiet fun.

I hate crowds and all that too. Why not do a cookout at home, and buy some sparklers to light when it gets dark. Your son would have a good time with that, and it's simple.

I hate crowds too. We always stay home on the 4th. We actually just moved to a larger house and decided to have a party for anyone else that doesn't want to do anything. lol So we will have about 12 people over tomorrow. I don't think your kid is missing anything. We used to buy home fireworks and light them off but where we moved doesn't allow them. So we will just have a ton of food and if anyone wants to see fireworks, a couple places do them close by. I think the kids are excited to see fireworks when they are little but not so much when they are older. Maybe if you stay home still do some fun things, make july 4th food, get some fireworks, have a couple friends over. Good luck.

If your husband doesn't like crowds (I can relate), leave him home and take your son. If there's a parade or public fireworks show nearby, go.

Not sure where exactly you are, here's a list of 4th of July events in Los Angeles.
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/feature?section=news/local/lo...

Personally, I LOVE the 4th of July. I'm making red, white and blue snacks I've gotten off Pinterest and from blogs, we're BBQing, and since fireworks are legal here (in most of OC they're not) we'll have fireworks right in front of our house, 3 or 4 of our neighbors and us take turns setting them off, the kids love them. I'll probably watch some on TV, too, Boston usually does one to music, it's pretty cool.

You don't have to go to a parade or even the big fireworks.

You can just cookout at home and purchase your own ground fireworks and it can be just as special. :)

We usually go to my SIL and BIL's for a cookout and then walk to the fireworks in their city. They went out of town this year so we are meeting up with some friends for dinner and doing fireworks with them.

We don't like the crowds either, but we are lucky that we live in a neighborhood with a park that sits sort of on top of a hill and allows people to see many of the different fireworks being set off in the city. It's way better than fighting the beach crowds and we still get to have a picnic, let the kids play, watch the fireworks then bike ride back home.

If you would really like him to see fireworks, is there a location you could drive to - perhaps a lookout of some sort that isn't going to be crazy busy like the beach crowds would that you could just watch from your car and maybe have a little car picnic, then drive back home? Or, like us, a park or open space that's up high enough to see some of the City's fireworks. I imagine in L.A. there are a lot of locations that set off fireworks???

I'm not one to say that you're robbing him of memories or not. All I can say, is that I have great memories of the day - whether it was sitting on a hill watching fireworks or eating bbq in the backyard with close friends and family and lighting sparklers. There was an understanding that we were celebrating a very special and important day and we were told as such. You make the memory what you want it to be - just make it more special than any old night at home and you won't be robbing him of anything.

Best

Nothing for me. I have to work on Friday so I couldn't stay out late. My friends are going camping and leaving on July 4 in the morning.
We are doing a family trip to Clifty Falls on Saturday morning, getting a hotel and then driving to Louisville on Sunday if it isn't too far. Both places are only a couple hours so what the hell.

We do the parade--kids love seeing the fire trucks.

We will then go to my brothers for a BBQ.

I prefer to do nothing, but the kids know its our nations bday, so we have to celebrate :-)

We thought about going to the parade today, but all four of us were like ....ugh, crowds...and we decided not to go. My older son is going to the pool with a friend later, my younger son is playing with a neighborhood child. My husband mowed the lawn and I'm doing laundry. We're going to grill brats and sweetcorn for dinner and we'll probably watch a movie together later tonight. We're content to be "independent" of other people today. :-D

Stay at home too and put up our tent in the yard and have a picnic sitting infront of it. I think that crowd is not for 4 yos.

There aren't any parades for the 4th here, which I'm bummed about because it was one of my favorite things growing up.

We are just going to barbecue outside and play in the water all day, then go to the firework show.

If you have the money, I would pick up some small fireworks to do at home. My DD LOVES seeing the smoke bombs, butterflies, and fountains. We do sparklers too, but she does not get to hold it herself.