Welcome to Manila WOLF! Here's a big hug from Daddy...
I sit here in my office right now, typing this piece and thinking of my son Wolf. In about 45 minutes an EVA airplane at NAIA will be taking him back to America. What can I say? Having my son home for 12 days was a joy for me, but getting prepared for his first homecoming was pure ecstasy!!!
This is how the traditional Pinoy sniff-kiss looks like!
Here’s a note of warning to all of you who like to surprise your loved ones by showing up at their doorstep unannounced: please, don’t do it! You will rob your loved ones of the happiness involved in getting ready for your visit. Assuming that they love your company of course, LOL!
My son Wolf was plotting something like that to shock me – but my Nanay-senses were too sharp and I got wind of it really fast from a little bird whose name I will withhold in the name of personal safety.
So I called Wolf up and asked him straight if was coming home. It was easy to get him to tell the truth – I just said: “Sweetie, the aircon is busted so if you want it fixed, you better tell me or else you’ll be sleeping in a hot room!”
Our first lunch together in a year and a half!
He spilled the beans REALLY quickly after that and I got what I wanted: a month to prepare for his first visit home after he left the nest a year and a half ago.
I don’t know about other Moms but I find so much happiness in preparing for my kids – even if they are now bigger than me.
First thing I worked on – the aforementioned aircon. When it comes to comfort THAT is the MOST important thing in my book – I can sleep on a banig on the floor in a cold room but the plushest bed is nothing without AC!
Then I got him some new curtains, a new mattress, had the Ondoy-ravaged bed repaired by a carpenter, shampooed the rug, cleaned up the room, made space for his luggage and clothes and put out his Pokemon pin and card collection.
Found his pa-cool-na-pa-cute photo taken when he graduated from college (UST) and put it in a Hollywood-themed frame for his desk. Then I bought him one of his favorite goodies: Oreos from Japan which I put on his bed. Had an emo-looking balloon bouquet created for him; they are better than flowers – they last beyond a month! But then again when the balloons are dead they become an environmental hazard. Ugh, you just can’t have it all, can you…?
The day before Wolf arrived, Ron, Diandra and I toiled away for half a day in the dining room designing, with pentel pens and cartolina, a Welcome Home Sign – this is a tradition for the Titular Family to ALWAYS put up an intricately-designed welcome sign whenever someone comes back from a trip abroad. Because it’s tradition, it’ s really never a surprise but I raised my family well and they all know how to ‘act surprised’ when they see their welcome signs after a long trip home.
The intricately designed Welcome Home sign on the left... Wolf in the middle... and the emo-balloon bouquet on the right!
As Gandalf said, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” And with that in mind, I decided that the ONE THING I HAD TO DO while Wolf was in town was set up the Christmas tree and take family pictures! October is actually an okay time to put up a Christmas tree in the Philippines since Christmas here starts in September when the SM chain of malls begins to play Christmas carols. I kid you not!
Putting up our special ornaments!!!
Another Titular tradition we have is assigning special Christmas ornaments each year to every member of the family. So you can imagine just how eclectic our tree looks like with all these different ornaments we’ve amassed over the years!
Sad to say, Wolf won’t be in Manila on December 25 this year – it will mark his 2nd time to spend Christmas away from us – but thanks to the wonder known as Skype, he will be able to join in the fun and watch us tear open our gifts!
And thanks to the other wonder known as Amazon dot com, he won’t be left out in the gift-recieving department! He’ll get all his goodies wrapped and delivered to his doorstep, without me breaking a sweat!
Sending Wolf off at NAIA!
Well, I am going to miss my baby… but not for long – he’s promising to come back home next year, perhaps in January 2011. That means December 2010 will be extra special with preparations for the RETURN OF THE WOLF!
Pure ecstasy for this MOM!!!
Saying goodbye to my baby...
The Titular Papers 