BUMP!

Nothing much was going on for the twins that day. We were hangin' around the house, havin' a lazy day. Their dad was doing yard work and busy all day. The house was quiet. Emma slept on the couch.  Ethan and I, in their room, were right in the middle of our make-believe dinner when all of a sudden--

"...something went BUMP! How that bump made us jump!"

I jumped up from the table and ran to the door! It sounded like a cannon had fired--I wasn't sure. With caution, I peered out from the door. I looked all around for that thing that went bump. And the whole time my heart was going thump, thump, thump.

Ethan was tugging at my shirt. With concern, he said, "What was that? I heard a bump!"

Their dad then appeared with a devious grin. By his hops and fist pumps, I knew he was at it again. The Fourth of July was a few days away. Of course, Rodney lit a firecracker today. He buys them every year. A certain kind, I'm not sure what they're called. They aren't very big, in fact, pretty small. But the sound that they make and the things that they shake are most certainly big and tall. They have but one purpose: to deliver the most reverberating bump the neighbors have ever heard. Every time he lights one, he laughs like a kid. Every time, it tickles him just to know what he did. Over the years, I have come to love his signature jump-making bumps, his menacing but tantalizing bumps. Big Bumps, that's what we'll call them, Big Bumps.

The very first ever July at our house, his series of untimely bumps made the neighbors come wandering out.  With curious confusion, they looked all about.

On the night of Independence Day, they were all out to see the display. That's when they discovered the source of the mysterious bump that had been making everyone jump. My husband walked calmly into the street.  A few neighbors noticed him as he dropped a Big Bump down a tube there on the street. People were buzzing and carrying on, still ooo-ing from the previous display. He lit the fuse and then quickly stepped out of harm's way. I'm sure they were all expecting a colorful burst to flower nicely overhead, but instead came the powerful thump. There was a sudden bright flash that expanded and contracted like a portal to The Land of Make-Believe--

                KABOOM!


The neighbors fell silent.

Rodney laughed, raised his fist and yelled out like a barbarian, "YEEEAAAAHHH!"

 I hid my face.

                                           ............................................


I smiled as I came in and closed the door behind me. My heart resumed its natural pace. I said, "I heard the bump too, Ethan. It was a firecracker. Daddy lit a firecracker in the back yard. It's okay."

Emma slept right through it.

"A firecracker?"

"Yep, a dangerous firecracker made that loud bump."

"It was scary. Is it a dangerous bump?" he asked.  Ethan and Emma have been learning all about the most important categories for all kinds of things, all different shelves and boxes for things: what's dangerous/safe, dirty/clean, scary/not scary? Is it something we eat, or not? What's delicate or their toy? There are also Ethan's favorite categories, what talks, doesn't talk and gots eyes, doesn't got eyes.

I tried to explain in an honest, exciting, and most un-frightening way: "It was scary. And it can be dangerous. But it's fun for adults and it can be fun for kids, too. The Fourth of July is coming soon! There will be lots of bumps. It's a celebration! Like a...a big bump party! It'll be fun and scary and loud."

"Bumps are scary and...a celebration," he confirmed.

"You and Emma will have to stay by me. We'll all be careful and we'll all have fun! A Bump Party with Thing 2 and Thing 1!"

And so began, in such a manner, our on-going talk about all of the bumps that are sure to make us jump on the night of the 4th of July.

“'I know some new tricks,' said the Cat in the Hat. 'I will show them to you.
Your mother Will not mind at all if I do.'”

The next day Rodney decided to introduce the kids to smoke bombs. I thought it was a great idea to practice staying back when Daddy lights one and for them to see that it was fun and exciting. They loved smoke bombs! "Daddy's makin' a blue bump! Daddy's makin' a purple bump!" They both shouted as they jumped for all of the bright and colorful bumps.

As the big day of the Bump Party came nearer, more and more bumps could be heard. Here and there, now and then, there would be something somewhere that went bump. Ethan and Emma were both concerned, but Ethan especially needed answers about this curious bump.

"Is the bump in my room? Is the bump in the wall?"

"The bump is outside. And you're safe from it all."

"Are we scared?"

"No, we're not scared. We're safe." I explained in the best way that I could, that bumps are just loud, and jumps could be good!

"Is Emma safe?" he asked.

"Yes, Emma is safe."

"Is Mommy and Daddy safe?"

"Yes, baby, Mommy and Daddy are safe too."

                                            ...........................................

At church during Children's Time, he was sure to alert our preacher and congregation that he had in fact heard the bump, but that, thankfully, Emma was safe from the bump.

The day of the Bump Party finally came, and all day we celebrated, even when it rained. We went for a boat ride with Mimi and Pappy, Aunt Amy and Uncle Mike, cousins, Kacie and Karli, too. And when we came home, we played in the drive and made bump after bump after bump. All day, we had all kinds of 4th of July fun. The kids rode on their trikes around in the drive, and played their first hopscotch game. They drew pictures with chalk after the rain, and their Daddy took a scooter ride.

"Look at me! Look at me now! It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how."

The kids even had their very own bumps, Pop-Its bumps. Sparks of excitement fired off in their eyes. They'd throw those little bumps as hard as they could. They made their own bumps, and it made them feel good.

"You will see something new. 
And I call them Thing 1 and Thing 2."

When their daddy made a really BIG BUMP, you wouldn't believe how it made those kids JUMP! This can't be good, the kids must've thought. Their daddy may like it, but Emma and Ethan do not.  Those big bumps are scary when they are lit.  The twins "do not like them, not one little bit."

They had such a long day in the boat and driveway, boating and bumping and jumping away. It was time for the twins to go to bed. But before they laid down their little twin heads, they said, "Daddy's outside makin' bumps."

Then, they fell asleep fast in their bed, and not once did they jump.

Not even one of those bumps made them jump.

"Then The Cat in the Hat said, 'That is that.'
And then he was gone, with the tip of his hat."