Today, April 3rd, is Mother's Day here in the UK. Now at first I thought it was just that we all celebrate at different times all over the world, which is true, but not just because we want to (similar to changing the clocks, done by country). But as it turns out, it's celebrated at different times all over the world! Most Arab countries, although it is a bit condemned here and there, celebrate it on March 21. Compared to Norway that celebrates it the second Sunday of February, a baker's dozen who celebrate it with International Women's day (March 8), with pretty much everyone else around the world recognizing their Mothers sometime in May.
Here it is celebrated on this day because it is the 4th Sunday of Lent. Now this Sunday in Lent is known as Laetare Sunday where you celebrate the mother of the church, which is theVirgin Mary. This day started here in the UK as a Catholic tradition to visit your mother on this day annually around the 16th Century. Since travel wasn't all too common in those days, unless you were at the royal court or something of that sort, it was made a big deal and even sometimes servants who had family close by got the day off to go spend with their mothers. The other part of the tradition was to go to the Mother Church, which was the largest church in the area. The holiday slowly stopped happening all over Europe until about 1935. Cue the Americans who came in to help during WW2 and sparked it back into life!
The states, we celebrate Mother's Day the second Sunday of May every year. It all started with this woman Anna Jarvis in West Virginia in 1908. She was determined to show her love for her mother, I guess the woman had a rather large impact on her life. It was Anna's mom that wanted to have a day that celebrated all mother's all over the world. And in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made it an official holiday! But like most holiday's in the US, it has since turned into what is temed a Hallmark Holiday. It now is the day that has the largest sales of flowers, greeting cards, and most international or long distance phone calls.
As with both types and reasons for Mother's Day, it has now become a day that involves gift giving to one's mother and in my family taking them all out for dinner or at least lunch after church. It is so very important, that most child custody cases involve where the children will be on either Mother's or Father's Day. In my family, even though my dad got every other weekend and 3 weeks in the summer, he always got my sister and I on Father's Day and my mom had us on Mother's Day. As far as church goes, I usually only go 3 times a year: Christmas, Easter, and Mother's Day. That is all my mom ever asks for a gift from me, who knows if it's that's reflecting poorly upon me... I'll let you know when I figure that out.
Mother's Day has been celebrated for many reasons: Catholic Dogma, love of mom, Muhammad's daughter's birthday, to honor the woman who had no children of her own but saved countless Jewish children in Nazi Germany, Royal family's mother's birthday, and countless others. So everyone should do something special, on whatever day you celebrate your Mom. Sometimes, even though it's corny, they still love to get that hand picked bouquet from the garden, the macaroni jewelry, or simply by wearing a shirt that says "I Love Mom," it will make sure they keep loving you and are willing to cook you your favorite meal every once in a while. Let's face it, no one will ever make food like Momma, Mother, Madre, Mam, Mum, Mommy, or whatever you would like to call her; make everything better when the world feels like its all going to hell; remember they brought you into this world, and no matter how much they love you, they will still threaten to take you out of it. So Happy Mothering Sunday Momma, you're still getting your card and presents on the US Mother's Day :)
