Nostalgic Moments: My Christmas Memories

Christmas brings new hope, happiness, and enthusiasm to everyone, most especially kids and kids at heart. Each one of us has his memorable moments of the season. Some were full of emotions, excitement, satisfaction, and enjoyment. I do have memories of Christmas too, which I considered as my nostalgic rememberings. As most people say, “Christmas is for the kids to enjoy.”

I grew up in a broken family, in which we only had our dad with us. I have only a few memories with my mom as a kid. Though the father was very busy as a public teacher, he didn't fail to give us joy every Christmas. He made us believe that Santa Claus truly exists. He let us enjoyed and be excited when the “ber months” started.

What was Christmas like for you as a child?

I always look forward to this season, a season wherein the place was full of lights, enchanting carols that sets everyone's mood. It's the time where we spent most of our night at the plaza. The place was full of lively decorations, it feels like you're in a little town where Santa lives. Appears like you have your little wish come true for a little moment. That's what I felt before about Christmas as a kid.

Christmas for me as a youth were the presents and the foods too, that's true. I completely believe that Christmas is a season of giving and receiving gifts, and to receive a blessing in December, we need to be nice and good first throughout the year. Our dad always reminded us of the song about Santa Claus.

“He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why Santa Claus is coming to town.” 🎅🏻

Every Christmas we sang that song and we get excited for the 24th midnight to come.

Christmas Vacation

When it's Christmas time, we knew it's vacation time. So everyone was enjoying the cool breeze of the month and waking up late without any fear of getting late at school. No assignments, no reviews, and no projects and school work. Mostly we spent our holiday vacation at home. This is also the time where my father has no report at the school he worked on. He always let us enjoy watching television shows and gave us enough food to relish while watching.

Hanging of Sacks/Plastics

We often do this traditionally, honestly, we're not using sacks, instead, we used larger plastics to hang at the midnight on the 24th of December. Each plastic has a name written on it. My brother and I were always in competition in looking and choosing our plastics. We do believe that the bigger the plastic the bigger the gifts we receive. That's why we didn't want to use sacks for hanging. Then, when the morning of the 25 has come, we woke up early and excitedly walk straight to our plastics to check if Santa gave us presents for Christmas. The time we saw our plastics were full of gifts we proudly showed them to our father. Without knowing that, dad is our Santa.

Christmas Family Reunions and Parties

Back before when I was still young, our family was full of celebrations when December comes. The family reunions and the Christmas parties were always present. Every second week of the month, our aunts and uncles will hold a small gathering for the whole family for us to celebrate. Usually, we will go to our second cousins' residency. The party was held at their place because they were the ones who usually organizes the celebration. The party commonly started at 3 pm and there. will be an exchange of gifts and games. While the grown-ups were busy talking and checking out each other, we, the kids enjoyed playing the games. Some of the games we had fun with that I still remember were Trip to Jerusalem, Statue Dance, Paper Dance, Hep-Hep Hooray, Eating Apple, and Straw Relay. The whole moment was priceless, the laughter and the joy we shared altogether was immeasurable. Now, every time my cousins and I talked about it we all have smiles on our faces every time we recalled it.

Receiving Red Packets or Angpao

Have you seen an Angpao before? It was a red packet or envelope and one of the shiniest things in our eyes during this holiday season. It's because. it contains money! As a kid, receiving money even a small amount of ₱20 is a joy. Every Christmas or New Year, every child member of the family will receive an angpao from our grandparents and aunts. I remember I received a 500 peso bill from my grandpa and my happiness was immeasurable at that time. I bought a dress from it and add the remaining money to my savings.

New Clothes

Aside from the presents, when celebrating Christmas, our father usually bought us new clothes. I don't know why, but it's one of the reasons why we get excited for the season to come. As kids, receiving and wearing new clothes were fun and fulfilling. Even we wore the cheapest clothes at the store, as long as it was given for Christmas became elegant in our feeling.

Caroling

One of the most well-known activities here in the Philippines is Christmas caroling. When the ber months came, you will hear different Christmas songs played on the radio and some are being sung right in front of your doorstep. This is one of the most unforgettable things I did as a child every December. My cousins and I went to different houses and sang some Christmas carols, such as jingle bells, we wish you a very Christmas, Joy to the world, Silent night, and some Pinoy Christmas songs. After singing, the resident of the house we sang to, will give us a small token of appreciation, it may be coins or small bills. Then we will excitedly go straight to the carnival located in the plaza. And you know where we will spend the penny we received from singing? To the Ferris wheel, yes, we just spent our money to take a ride and enjoy the view of the plaza from the top of the Ferris wheel. Then we went home with a wide smile on our faces and told our father what has happened that night.

Noche Buena

I can say that it is the most awaited part of Christmas by everyone. Each family has its own way of celebrating Christmas Eve. We too celebrate Christmas Eve with a simple gathering at home. I, together with my father and brother celebrate the evening by preparing a simple feast of Noche Buena. Usually, our menu for the night was spaghetti, sandwiches, lumpia, fruits, and soda. We waited until midnight to greet the 25th day of December altogether. Though it was just the three of us who celebrates the night, it was fun and memorable too.

Simbang Gabi

It is one of the traditional events of Filipinos during this season when December 16 comes. Most. people believe that if you complete attending the Simbang gabi from December 16 to December 25, you can make a wish and it will come true. Simbang Gabi is a mass held at night or midnight. I didn't miss to attend this mass before, my father and I usually went to the church together. And after the mass, he will buy me a hot “bibingka” or “puto bongbong” from a vendor outside the church. Truly one of a kind tradition for us, Filipinos.

Those were just my nostalgic moments during Christmas day when I was still a kid. As time goes by, I turned into a grown-up woman and have my own family. Then, the way I celebrate Christmas is quite different than what I usually do before. The priorities and the activities are now done by me because I am a parent now. If before I believed that Santa Claus does certainly exists, now I, myself together with my partner became Santa Claus of our kids. If before, I was the one who received gifts from my relatives, now it's my kids turn to receive theirs. While writing this article, I suddenly remembered the song titled the First of May, sang by Bee Gees.

“When I was small and Christmas trees were tall

We used to love while others used to play

Don't ask me why but time has passed us by

Someone else moved in from far away

Now we are tall and Christmas trees are small

And you don't ask the time of day

But you and I our love will never die

But guess we'll cry come first of May”

Oh, how time flies so fast. If you come to think of it, recalling those memories feels like it just happened yesterday, everything was still clear and fresh. However, we need to move forward and do the things that we need to do. Though the pandemic is still present up until now, Christmas can't be stopped from coming. Few more days to go and it's Christmas time!

May your Christmas be loaded with blessings and may the joy and peace of Christmas be with you all through the New Year. Wishing you a world filled with warmth and good cheer this season. Advance Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄🎅🏻

Written by: @eommaZel🥀✍🏻