Initially appeared on vox.com on 5/21/2009.
I
One reason we choose to go home every late April to early May is so that our vacation coincides with Adrian's birthday. It is of course a very significant day for both families (Adrian being the first apo), and i also think it's important for him to grow up identifying himself as a Filipino whose roots belong in the Philippines.
Last year's birthday was a fairly grandiose bash, as we combined our homecoming, Adrian's dedication, and his first birthday party in a single affair. Extended families to the first degree on both sides were invited; catering was done by a Spanish restaurant, a litson was ordered, and a photo booth was hired for entertainment and souvenirs.
This year's birthday party, while slightly muted, still contained elements of the same. Unfortunately not all family members were able to attend and there was no entertainment aside from conversation and (for the kids) tv, but the food was still outsourced, complete with litson.
II
Another "feature" of our past two vacations is the "quality time" that Adrian gets to spend with the Chongs.
Long ago Gianina and i decided that we would always need to spend time with just each other, which led to the birth of our Thursday date nights. Perhaps the peak of this principle would be our "vacations within the vacation," i.e. last year's trip to Bohol and this year's trip to Palawan (more on this later). Consequently, Adrian is left to the tender minstrations of my family.
The mini-vacations naturally contain a mixed bag of emotions. On one hand Gianina and i are happy to be "honeymooning," but on the other we worry that Adrian will cry nonstop, will get sick, will learn to drive and get in an accident, etc. Last year's reunion after coming back from Bohol was somewhat heartbreaking when he did not seem interested in letting us carry him after four days of separation (we suspected that our tans made us look like strangers).
It seems that this year's FDU (fear, doubt, and uncertainty) were all in vain. Apparently when he woke up the morning that we left, asked for "Mama?" and my mom explained that she was in "the office," it was good enough for him, as he did not pine for his mother at all (which he usually does, even when she's standing just ten feet away from him) and proceeded to enjoy himself with his grandparents. To him, that was probably as much a vacation as it was for us - finally he was free from all the restrictions foisted upon him by his unreasonable parents, free to roam and commit as much mayhem as possible without fear of reprisal or timeout.
On our return, he immediately smiled and hugged both of us. No harm done.
I do have the sneaking suspicion that his grandparents spoiled him silly. I've noticed that he seems a little whinier than before, especially when he doesn't get his way.
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