Importance of Mother’s Day
International Mother’s day is usually celebrated on the second Sunday of May every year. This year Women’s Day is going to be celebrated on the 8th of May.
It is celebrated to thank and show gratitude to mothers for their unconditional love and sacrifices.
Mother’s day celebration in different countries
Mother’s day is usually celebrated on different days in different countries. But the history of Mother’s day dates back to the Romans and greeks.
The ancient Greeks were among the first to pay tribute to the moms. It was celebrated as a sort of spring festival to honor Rhea, the mother of all Greek gods. They usually celebrate it on the 2nd of February every year as Mother’s Day.
But this day was not recognized internationally, it was just among Greeks.
While in medieval Britain servants were given the fourth Sunday of lent to travel home and spend the day with their mums. The tradition is called Mothering Sunday.
It is more like a traditional day for them. They usually go to the main Church called the mother Church to celebrate the mothering Sunday.
Since then, that day has become mother’s day for UK people, and they celebrate it on Mothering Sunday.
Mother’s Day is celebrated in August every year in Thailand. It happens on Sikrit’s birthday. She is the current queen of Thailand.
In the majority of the Arab countries, it is celebrated on the 21st of March every year. Many European countries celebrated on 8th March.
Mother’s day in the United States
Mother’s day was celebrated for the first time in the year 1908 in the United States. There was a woman called Anna Jarvis and her mother’s name is Ann Reese Jarvis, a peace activist.
Her mother died three years before 1908. She used to love her mother very much and wanted to celebrate Mother’s Day to thank her.
Anna had her mother’s Memorial in Saint Andrews Methodist Church in West Virginia.
She wanted to celebrate her mother’s day and wanted the government to recognize it as International Mother’s day.
So she wrote to the political leaders to consider mother’s day as a national holiday. After 6 long years of struggle, it was fruitful when US President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s Day a national holiday in the year 1914.
When do people celebrate Mother’s day?
Children in the family celebrate this day to thank and express gratitude to their mothers for the sacrifices mothers do for them throughout their lives.
Mother’s day is celebrated on different dates in different countries. We in India also celebrate mother’s day on the second Sunday of May like the United States.
In the UK people celebrate it on the 4th Sunday of March. Greeks and Romans celebrate it on February 2 every year.
But the modern era mother’s day is being celebrated only because of Anna Marie Jarvis.
Story of Anna Jarvis
Anna admired her mother, Ann Resee Jarvis who attended to the wounded during the American Civil War and later became a community activist.
When Anna was 12, it is believed she had her mother pray that one day they might be a memorial day for mothers for all the good they do.
Anna never forgot that prayer and when her mum died in May of 1905, the plan for a holiday was born.
On the second anniversary of her mom’s death, Anna held the church Memorial dedicated to her mother’s good deeds in May.
In May of 1908, Anna held another memorial and handed out white carnations to everyone which were her mom’s favorite flowers.
She contacted Philadelphia philanthropist John Wanamaker to join the mother’s day community in hopes of honoring all mothers all across the nation.
In 1910 West Virginia became the first state to observe the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
After a fierce letter-writing campaign, Anna gourd Congress to federally recognize the holiday, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill that officially made the second Sunday in May mother’s day.
The holiday was meant to be spent in church and afterward sons and daughters with right loving letters to their mothers.
Carnations are worn on that day. Pink and red carnations were worn honoring their living mums and white carnations honoring their deceased mums.
With each year passing more and more mother’s day carnations were sold and by 1920 greeting card companies got into the Mother’s day business.
Why did Anna Jarvis fight against Mother’s day
Anna was enraged by what she considered the lazy excuse for letters that should be handwritten.
By 1920 the holiday creator was so appalled with the commercialization of Mother’s Day that she petitioned to abolish it.
In the year 1930, Anna got arrested for disturbing the peace at a Mother’s Day carnation sale.
Sadly Anna spent the rest of her life and family inheritance fighting for the mother’s day holiday. She finally died in 1948 leaving no children in memory of her.
Since then mother’s day has become one of the most profitable holidays for
Flower merchants and phone companies. And had the highest volume of sales on that day of the year.
This probably wouldn’t have pleased Anna, but deep down she would have to be satisfied that on her mother’s day, Millions of mums Around The World receive extra attention and well-deserved hugs.
Social activities on Mother’s day
In many countries, many feminist activities are launched on Mother’s Day. For example in 1968, Martin Luther King’s wife Martin Luther King Junior arranged a march to support underprivileged women and children in the society of America.
Similarly, in 1970 a movement was led to fight for equality and access to child care.
The commercialization of Mother’s Day
Over the years business owners have commercialized the Women’s Day today advantage.
For example in the USA mother’s day has been commercialized in a big way. People usually send flowers and sweet messages on Mothers Day. So the greeting card companies have a made-up big business out of this.
Mother’s day has become the most commercialized day and has ranked three after Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
People also try to send them chocolates, jewelry, and clothing or take them out for lunch to treat them. It will be a busy day and people have to book well in advance to get a reservation.
Take away
All the gifts from your mother are a good idea and they might make her happy, you don’t need to follow only these ideas to celebrate mother’s day.
Making your mother happy only on Mother’s Day is not a good idea. It is just meant to show the gratitude that you have towards your mother for all the good things that she does for society.
So instead of giving a fancy gift card, you can also write a simple handwritten message sharing the bond and gratitude you have towards yours.
The original idea of Anna Jarvis, the creator of Mother’s Day was also this. To take out a special day for mothers to spend time with them and make them special and feel happy.
