An early Christmas

The minute the 'ber' months come around, Metro Manila begins celebrating Christmas. Malls get dressed up with Christmas trees, lights and ornaments, shops display their Christmas merchandise, and everywhere you go and whatever mode of public transportation you take, cheesy pop Christmas songs blare out from speakers both mono and stereo. Personally, I don't mind the decorations, but I hate the music—and that's all I'll say about it. Anyway, there is something about our early and long Christmas season that I approve of wholeheartedly: the various projects meant to help the poor. Some are short-term, Christmas-only projects. I remember a toy shop which asked its customers to buy one extra toy to give to a child in an orphanage, which the shop would match with another toy of the same value. Then there are the long-term projects which use Christmas to try to raise both awareness and more funds, taking advantage of people's generosity (or guilt) during this season. The Children's Hour falls into the latter category. It is a fund-raising, non-profit organization which is trying to convince corporations, employees and individuals to donate at least one hour of their earnings once a year to help poor Filipino children. Now that's easy enough to do, right? The organization does not have its own projects—it gives grants to other organizations which help children. That makes a lot of sense, if you stop and think about it. The Children's Hour has a special emphasis on education and literacy, though feeding and health programs are also supported. After all, how can a child study when all he can think of is how hungry he is? I hope this box—and many others like it all over the Ayala Malls—gets filled by the end of our Christmas season on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany.

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My sister and her three young daughters are arriving tonight for a one-week visit. Wheeeee! I will still try to post a photo everyday, but I hope you will all understand if I don't get to visit much this week. I want to spend as much time as I can with my four girls. Looks like I'm also celebrating Christmas early this year.