raising young children

Did you know the big, lovable guy who goes by name of Santa Claus actually has a mean side? Well, he does. According to my dad, that is. Yesterday, I heard a story from my father that I’ve never heard before. And that’s pretty unusual since he’s in his 70s and I’m in my late 30s. You’d think I’ve heard them all by now.

We were talking about dreams, because my youngest son is complaining about nightmares, when dad told me this hilarious story. When he was 6-years-old, he had his tonsils removed. He said as soon as he went under with ether, he had a horrible nightmare about Santa Claus. Santa chased him, beat him up and threw him off a cliff onto a pile of sharp rocks.

Now that drea is slightly more interesting because my dad is Jewish. No, you don’t need to analyze him and send me a thesis paper about it. What’s crazy is many years later, when my dad was 15-years-old, he had his appendix removed. As soon as he went under the ether again, bad Santa was waiting for him. In fact, Santa said something like, “You’re back?” He said those are the only two times he’s ever had those dreams.

I’ve always been quite interested in dreams and have lots of books about dream interpretation on my bookshelf. I’ve talked about them with The Stir too! My sister and I have talked about dreams a lot and we actually have the exact SAME reoccurring dreams where we open our mouths to talk, and our teeth start spilling out.

My son actually laughed about the dream too and teased my dad about bad Santa. Of course, we reassured him (my son!) that was only a dream and Santa is actually a very nice guy. Hanukkah Harry, on the other hand, he’s a little bit mischievous. I guess my son already knows this because a few weeks ago he woke up complaining about a nightmare about dreidels! Go figure.

The first visit to the dentist was going to be a breeze. I picked a wonderful new pediatric dentist office in our neighborhood. In fact, they visit elementary schools explaining the importance of good dental health to kids. I prepped my boys (3yo & 6yo) weeks prior to the visit about what would happen. “The lovely, nice dentist will look at your teeth to make sure they are healthy and white.” “Nothing to be worried about, boys.” “It’s easy-peasy stuff!”

We arrived on time and the boys were blown away by the awesome waiting area. TVs, toys, video games, a huge tree in the middle of the room, stuff animals all about. Heavenly! Again, my mommy self was totally upbeat. Not a trace of fear on my kiddos’ faces. I was almost ready to pat myself on the back when everything changed.

I heard crying off in the distance and saw a mom explaining to the woman at the check-in desk, “I can’t get her out of the car right now…” I saw that weak smile on that mom’s face and my blood pressure began to rise. Sure enough, her 6-year-old was sitting in the car – screaming – because she didn’t want to come in. Uh-oh.

Eventually the dad walked in carrying a screaming, crying, kicking little girl. My 6-year-old noticed her, but didn’t react. My 3-year-old instantly had a petrified look on his face and slowly began to hide himself behind a TV stand. I was ready to explode. I almost asked the parents to remove their child, because my children still believed dentists were “fun” and their bawling child was quickly destroying everything.

I quickly went over to my younger son and told him not to worry about the little girl. “Why is she sad, mama?” he tearfully asked me. “Because she’s very grumpy today,” I answered. “She’s fine. She’s just very very grumpy.” He seemed to understand that she was just grumpy and relaxed. “Why is she so grumpy?” he asked. “Because she wants a lollipop and her mommy said no,” I lied. My son nodded. He understood the sadness of not getting a lollipop. After coaxing from mom, dad, and two hygienists, the little girl finally left the waiting room. Evidently, she was there for a filling and didn’t want to drink the “happy juice” for sedation.

My boys ended up doing a great job. They both sat still for the hygienists and didn’t squirm too much. The hygienists were great about explaining all of the steps, so that helped a bunch. My boys didn’t like getting x-rays, but they cooperated and got the job done. They left with new toothbrushes, floss, toothpaste, stickers and a balloon. On the way out, my younger son said, “I wonder what happened to that grumpy girl, mama.” Oh, she’s taking a nap now. I think she’ll be just fine,” I said.

How was your first experience at the pediatric dentist?

Tag: raising young children

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