Happy Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is this Sunday.  I thought it would be cool to learn about the origin of this noble day.  Did you know, Mother’s Day is centuries old? I didn’t.

Mother’s Day honors moms dating back to ancient Greek times.  I’m not into mythology, so I won’t dwell on that.  However, I did think it was cool to see the early Christians celebrated Mother’s Day on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honor Jesus’ mother, Mary.  Eventually, the religious order extended the holiday to all mothers and named it Mothering Sunday.  Once the English colonists came to America, Mothering Sunday discontinued because of lack of time.  This seems a bit unclear to me ‘lack of time’ unless the early settlers were too involved with basic survivals to carry the tradition forth.  The big landmark in the Mother’s Day history occurred in 1872 when Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace.

At the turn of the 20th century, Anna M. Jarvis, a Philadelphia schoolteacher, started a movement in 1907 to set up a national Mother’s Day in honor of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis.  She sought help from hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers.  The first Mother’s Day observed in a church service honoring Anna’s mother, they handed her white incarnations (camellia), here mother’s favorite flowers, which symbolizes sweetness, purity, and patience.  In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national day of celebrating mothers.  Anna’s hard work paid off.

Mother’s Day has flourished in the United States since Anna’s launched her campaign to honor her own mother.   The special occasion is often marked by giving mothers gifts of flowers like Anna honored her very own mother. This holiday honoring mothers has widely spread from the USA to other countries around the worldwide celebrating Mother’s Day at various times, but some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium also keep Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May as we do.

M – O – T – H – E – R
“M” is for the million things she gave me,
“O” means only that she’s growing old,
“T” is for the tears she shed to save me,
“H” is for her heart of purest gold;
“E” is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
“R” means right, and right she’ll always be,
Put them all together, they spell
“MOTHER,”
A word that means the world to me.
Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

Gift ideas for Mom

Personally, I prefer not a lot of money to be spent on me for Mother’s Day.  I like simple things.  Perhaps, your mother does, too.  Here are some inexpensive gift ideas, which may help to jog your brain.

1. Hand-made greeting card.  We all know Hallmark’s slogan, “When you care enough to send the very best.”  Isn’t your very best what you make yourself? It is through a Mother’s eye. Get out your crayons and doodle out a special card just for your dear Mom.
2. Prepare a meal for her – breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  She won’t care which one you pick.  The thought will mean the world to her. Oh yeah, don’t forget to clean up after yourself. Mom deserves a day from doing all chores.
3. Buy a small bundle of colorful, fresh-cut flowers from Walmart and arrange them in one of her favorite vases or an old Mason jar.
4. Give Mom a foot massage.  There’s nothing more relaxing than to have the souls of your feet rubbed. (Hint-Hint)
5. Present Mom with a free pass from vacuuming for a week, while you do that chore for her or whatever chore you want to volunteer for.
6. Get Mom some lovely stationary or fun gel pens or something artsy she enjoys.
7. Purchase her favorite hot beverage. You can get her several boxes of Celestial Teas to relax with or how about a pound of her favorite Starbuck’s or Seattle’s Best gourmet coffee.
8. Mom is sure to enjoy some soothing instrumental music. Just Google ‘soothing classical music’ to see what hits you get. Check this selection out @ Amazon!
9. Send your mom a magazine gift subscription to one of her favorites for a year – inspirational, cooking, crafting, health/fitness, etc. (go through Ebates and earn 26% Cash Back from magazines.com)
10. Give mom some of her favorite sweets.  It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Personally, I’m happy getting a bag of peanut M&M or Starburst candies.

Whatever you do for Mom big or small, it will mean the world to her.

Happy Mother’s Day to you!

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