It may seem a bit late to write about Sinterklaas, as this happened a month ago, but I still want to share this special story about how Sinterklaas helped the dentist and only have some time now.
(Just some info first for those who do not know about the Sinterklaas tradition: Sinterklaas visits the Netherlands and Belgium (and some parts of France and Germany) on the 5th of December. He is similar to Santa Claus. He arrives with a steamboat from Spain and brings many presents. Children are allowed to put their shoe by the fireplace some evenings and sing songs about him, to get rewarded with some extra presents before the big day arrives.)
This year was a bit different. Not just because our boys were older and it got more intense and exciting for them. No, there was another reason. In September we visited the dentist with the boys and the dentist then said to them they had to get rid of their pacifier for the benefit of their teeth. She was very friendly and said they did not have to do it now, but that it was a good plan if they could give it to Sinterklaas later this year, so he could give it to a baby that needed it. The boys agreed with her and promised they would do it. So every other week for the past months we would remind them that soon they would not have their pacifiers anymore.
When Sinterklaas finally arrived they still agreed, but we of course dreaded it actually happening. They still really needed their dummy’s at night to fall asleep and we were not looking forward to the possibility of many bad nights. But we brought up the issue daily now and said they could let us know what present they wanted in return. We discussed this often and by the 5th of December we finally worked up the courage to make them do it… The boys were brave, sang their songs and then put their pacifiers in their shoes. Then they went to bed without any issue! And slept!
The next morning they were still okay and happy with their presents. The week went fine without any sleeping issues. Here and there they asked for us, but nothing major. After a week one of them started to ask about his dummy, he wanted it back. But we talked about it, reminded him of the dentist and eventually he fell asleep. This repeated regurlarly but in the end, it went really well. We are now a month later and they never ask about it anymore.
Honestly, we were so surprised about this because they were really attached to their dummy. But I guess all the preparing really helped and they were ready for it. So this is why I had to share this story, because it worked. Finally no more pacifiers in the house.