On the first week of advent, my six year-old son, Ryland, was sitting next to me at church when he wrote on my little notebook, "I like Christmas because of all the presents."
A few minutes later, Brother Jorge said, "Christmas has become commercialized." It was as if he knew what was going on in the mind of a restless little boy ten pews away. "We have to remember that it's Christ's birthday and Christmas is about God's love," he continued. Indeed! Or as my mother would say, Amen!
Commercials of toys, jewelry, electronic gadgets, among other things, start popping up on TV even before Halloween. They get my kids all excited for the Holiday Season. "I want that for Christmas" will be heard like a broken record. It was last year, after a bout of the flu, when I told a friend that I wasn't sure whether to be happy or not this time of the year because it can be so stressful, with all the Christmas shopping, Christmas parties and family members getting sick. "I like Christmas because I like decorating the house," was my friend's reply that lifted my spirits and made me realize that, of course, I do LOVE Christmas.
The Christmas Season always brings back nostalgic memories of my childhood from way back home in the Philippines. I grew up in the 70's in a small town in Cavite. Christmas then was not about Santa Claus and presents under the tree. It was all about traditions and being with family.
The Philippines is known to have the longest celebration of the Christmas Season. The celebration starts on December 16, nine days before Christmas, with the misa de gallo (midnight mass). I attended the simbang gabi once when I was about eight or nine only because I wanted to taste one of those delicious delicacies, bibingka, which were sold just outside the church or along the sidewalks on the way home.
We would adorn our house with parol, a Christmas lantern made of bamboo strips shaped like a star and covered with colorful thin Japanese paper. I think these lanterns come in capiz nowadays. The parol is the symbol of the Star of Bethlehem that guided the Three Wise Men to the manger where Jesus was born.
And how can I forget the Christmas carolers. At night, children gathered in groups and went from house to house, singing Christmas carols. Sometimes they accompanied their songs with make-shift instruments of softdrink bottle caps that were strung together. The neighbours gave the carolers some loose change (coins). The grateful children would then chant "Thank you, thank you. Ang babait ninyo. (You are very nice.) Thank you!"
One of my fondest childhood memories is watching the huge animated Christmas displays in front of the COD Department Store in Cubao, Quezon City. My parents, my sister and I would travel by the Saulog bus from Cavite to Manila City Hall. We would then ride a jeepney to get to Cubao. We won't buy anything in the store. We would just stand there with all the other people and watched in delight as a Christmas scene was re-enacted.
On Christmas Eve, we would stay up until midnight and gather for the Noche Buena, the traditional Christmas feast. On Christmas morning, we would go to mass in our newest clothes. My mother would dress me and my sister alike, so much alike that you'd think we were twins. After mass, we went to our godmothers' and godfathers' houses. We kissed their hands (actually, we put the back of their hands on our foreheads). We were then given our present, which was usually cash money. We would go to Manila, as well, to spend Christmas with grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins.
New Year's Eve won't be complete without the popular paputok (firecrackers). Filipinos believe that one should greet the New Year with a bang. Due to safety reasons, some people choose to make noises by banging pots and pans and blowing horns. Another custom that is believed to bring good luck is to gather fruits that are round or wear something that has circles or polka dots. The round shape represents money. Children were encouraged to jump at the stroke of midnight so that they would grow tall. (Unfortunately, it didn't work for me.) We then gathered for the Media Noche (midnight meal). My favourite dish at this meal was, and still is, the warm sotanghon (bean thread) soup.
My kids will have different childhood memories of Christmas. Theirs will be of White Christmases, setting up the Christmas tree and all the trimmings on the last weekend of November, setting up the belen (Nativity scene) under the tree, Christmas concerts at school, Christmas parties at my work where they get presents, going to midnight mass on December 24, staying up late to open at least one present on Christmas Eve, and open the rest on Christmas morning and then spending Christmas Day with their grandma, aunt, uncle and cousins.
I guess it won't be that much different after all. Their memories will also be that of traditions and being with family. And, of course, I realize that the stress is all worth it when I see the delight on their faces and the sparkle on their eyes on Christmas morning when they open their presents and I hear the words, "Thank you, Mommy. You're the best!"
December 2004
