To Believe in Santa or Not !

The Back Story

Around two years ago (2010), it was we (The Parents) who introduced our then 5 year old son to the relation between Christmas, Santa Claus and gifts. We did that for a reason and in the end were left kind of embarrassed. The full story is here.

What happened in the coming years made us learn the true meaning of "You Reap What You Sow" :-)

The next year (2011), as the Christmas approached, Pranav started wishing for the oh so popular in this generation of kids - A PSP. We did not pay much attention to it. We were vacationing on a beach in Krabi that christmas and got off by saying that Santa Claus will not be able to deliver any gifts here, instead he has asked us to buy you something. Pranav bought that explanation. So we took him to a market off the beach and he chose a sand digger. We got off easily and all was forgotten.

The Persistent Wish

As the Christmas of 2012 approached, Pranav started to tell us everyday that in the coming December holidays he doesn't want to go anywhere for vacations. On asking many times, he explained that he doesn't want to miss Santa this year and he is already wishing for a PSP everyday. We were taken aback.... this 7 year old, otherwise mature and rational kid, still believes in Santa !! Moreover he remembered what we said last year about gifts not being delivered outside home even though we never discussed this ever.

The discussion continued.We knew that all his friends had a PSP and he had been waiting for 2 years to have one of his own. Throughout the year he never asked us to buy one for him and kept waiting for the next Christmas. "I don't think Santa will give a PSP, why don't you ask for something else?", I tried to persuade him. "Let me at least ask for it, rest is up to Santa." he replied. 

The Secret Enquiries on Santa's behalf

Before giving in, we decided to make some enquiries on the models and cost of a PSP, because ironically, for Santa to be able to keep his name and fame, we had to do all the ground work.

Whilst my husband made some enquiries in Mustafa Centre, Pranav pitched in, saying, "Papa, you don't need to spend any money, if Santa will give it to me then it's TOTALLY FREE." Hmm... so we had to find ways of making enquiries secretly :-)

We finally bought one from Mustafa. Pranav was of course elated on finding one under his bed on Christmas. Can't say whether he was more happy to own a PSP or with the fact that his friends had paid for it while he got a damn good deal by getting it for free ! 

The next task was to set some rules for its usage. We had to tell him that Santa has send these rules. And thus once again we contributed in keeping the faith in Santa going. 

Heart vs Mind - Is this what Faith is ?

Now, we do realise that this is a very dangerous thing. Pranav was already getting the idea that he can get an expensive thing for free on Christmas. It was a kind of an achievement and vindication for him. We did not want to outrightly prove him wrong, so we started giving him subtle hints that there is no Santa and these gifts are bought by parents. He kind of understood in his mind that this could be true but in his heart he did not want to believe this. 

A friend suggested that one of the way to stop this without any heart break is to tell kids that Santa fulfils wishes only till kids are single digit age...(see this will be a chance in touching up on Math as well :-)).

We don't know how the next Christmas will be on our pocket, but when I think of this episode, I realise may be this is what faith is like... it gives one Hope, Hope that there is someone out there who has the power to fulfil our wishes. It gives us a reason to be good, to sort out what is it that we really want and then be patient and persistent till he hears us :-) 

Joys of Paris in India ?

On our recent visit to India, we were driving on the almost empty noida expressway. Pranav was looking out of the window, excitedly, taking in the sights. In Singapore, long drive is a rarity. In fact, the joke goes that 'Do not run too fast else you might find yourself in Malaysia'. 

We were all quietly lost in our thoughts when suddenly Pranav exclaimed, with a deja vu kind of excitement in his voice. "Look, Look, we are in Paris !" His face lit up and had an expression of bewilderment and excitement of discovering something.

We looked around, puzzled, trying to decipher what he was referring to. It took us a while to understand that he was pointing to the following.

                                                                                                                   Photo from here

The omnipresent power towers which we seldom give a second look. 

Our immediate reaction was to burst into a hearty laughter. Ya Ya !  I know it wasn't a display of mature parenting... more so because Pranav just hates anyone laughing at something he has said. But sometimes it becomes unavoidable :-)

I hated breaking the truth to him.... but it had to be done. Pranav just reacted with a little 'Oh !'
 
Later, he decided to make it into a little joke and tried fooling his grandparents in Ahemadabad by pointing towards these towers and exclaiming - "Look Dada... so many Eiffel Towers !"

Dental Woes

The Pain

I ignored the tingling sensation and the sweet pain in the jaw when a small part of my wisdom tooth chipped off, and avoided seeing a dentist. With almost 4 filings in my teeth and an extraction, I am wise enough to know that it means another painful extraction.

As luck would have it, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I was literally praying to let the nurse be rude and say that there is no appointment available for a month. My prayers went unheard. She was all ears and promptly asked me to see the doctor the very next day.

The Dental Surgery clinics in Singapore are akin to the Paan shops in India… you will find one in every neighbourhood. As I entered the clinic, which is just across the road from my house, there was no queue and I was directly ushered in. The doctor turned around in his revolving chair and asked, “Hello Ms, What can we do for you today?”  Umm.. how do you answer such a question J plus I immediately doubted his skills…a dentist who talks so politely to you with his 100% attention … is it some gimmick!. Aren’t good dentists supposed to make you wait and act pricey?

After the routine examination, I was whisked in adjacent room for an X-Ray. As I entered back in like 10 seconds, the doctor was already studying my jaw on his computer. He again revolved in his chair, explained about the required extraction and still expected some questions from me. Once he was convinced that I had run out of questions, he said, “So, do you want to go ahead with the surgery now?“

Now…as in Now ??

Almost 5 years back, when I got my wisdom tooth extracted, in India, I had almost fainted. The pain and swelling that lasted a few days…. The feel of stitches in mouth….the khichdi and porridge meals…. The ice packs….all came back to haunt me!

The Decision

I made some enquiries on whether it is safe to get something as big as a tooth extraction done at a neighbourhood clinic where the dentist talks to you nicely, explains what exactly is happening and encourages you to ask questions ! Shouldn’t I be going to a big hospital or something? Well, I got positive feedback on neighbourhood clinics and finally decided to go ahead with it.

All prepared to have painful four days of Chinese New Year holidays ahead (bye bye Tiger, welcome Dragon), I announced to everyone who called up for Birthday party invitations / plan of an early morning nature trail / a potluck dinner etc. that I am going to be in bad pain and wouldn’t be able to join in anything.

The Surgery

The next evening I heard the doctor say, “Raise your hand if you have any discomfort during the surgery”. I felt as if I was going on a diving expedition.

The injection for the anaesthesia hurt. As soon as a tool was inserted in the teeth, I shouted and simultaneously raised my hand. The Doctor had to give another shot in the nerve. I cursed the moment I decided to go ahead with this.

Soon after that I could not feel anything but knew that the tooth was being drilled and cut and pulled. Actually while writing this.. I realized how amazing the local anaesthesia is…and decided to do a little reading about its history. Interestingly, the first usage was with cocaine and because it is addictive other “-aine” drugs are now used like idocaine, novocaine or tetracaine!

Read more about it here - The story of local anaesthesia and How stuff works

Doctor kept asking me in between – “Are you feeling ok?” and surprisingly I was actually feeling quite comfortable. Before I realised, the doctor announced that the surgery was over.

He showed me 3 pieces of blood stained tooth…and explained that the whole tooth has been extracted and the surgery went quite well with minimal cutting of bone.

Happiness that Money can’t buy

I walked home taking small steps…expecting the fainting sensation to come anytime – it didn’t.

Next day, I kept waiting for the swelling and pain to come – it didn’t.

The next to next day, I stopped pain killers and waited for the pain –nothing!

I called everyone back to announce that I had no pain and would join in all activities.

By the second day I almost forgot that I had a surgery. Only when I laughed too much while playing Pictionary over potluck dinner, my jaw pained a bit.

On the seventh day, I went to get my stitches cut and dared to tell the doctor,  that because I had no pain at all and no swelling, I doubt if the teeth was pulled out fully ! He asked me jokingly – did you do the surgery or me?

Well … HE did… but in this whole episode I experienced the sort of happiness that money cannot buy.

(Well…it did make me poorer by 800+ dollars but the fact that the cost was fully taken care of by insurance did contribute in the above mentioned feeling!)

PS: Some gathered Gyan: Wisdom tooth is actually a vestigial organ…an organ which has become redundant. With change in eating habits (more processed food instead of raw) the jaw does not expand enough and so doesn’t have enough space to accommodate this late arrival. As a result, the wisdom teeth grow tilted and put pressure on neighbouring molars to create space for itself. In some policies, the government actually encourages people to get rid of the wisdom teeth at a young age to have less of such hassles in old age.