We all want to spoil our Mother’s Day. While we should be thankful to our dearest moms every day, Mother’s Day offers the opportunity to display this gratitude. It is unsurprising that, across many different countries and cultures, Mother’s Day (or a form of Mother’s Day) is celebrated. The love for our mothers is truly universal and crosses continents and language barriers.
Contemporary celebrations of Mother’s Day are attributed to a movement in the United States, spearheaded by social activist, Anna Jarvis. Jarvis posthumously gave her mother the ultimate Mother’s Day gift. The creation of the day in the US and eventually, the popularization of Mother’s Day worldwide. Jarvis’ mother had often voiced her wish for the creation of such a holiday.
Three years after her mother’s death, Jarvis organized a memorial service to honour both her mother and all mothers at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church. This marked the first celebration of contemporary Mother’s Day in the United States.
Originally, Mother’s Day traditions included church attendance, the sending of white carnations and family get-togethers. In 2021, Mother’s Day is now the United States’ third most popular holidays when it comes to the sending of greeting cards.
Mother’s Day Around the World
Across the globe, Mother’s Day is celebrated in many different ways. While the date of Mother’s Day varies, the majority of nations celebrate the day on the second Sunday of May. However, in some regions, existing religious celebrations around Motherhood adopted the contemporary traditions of Mother’s Day but retained their original date of the celebration. The most notable of these is “Mothering Sunday” which is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. Other countries link Mother’s Day with international women’s day which takes place on March 8.
Along with variation in dates, some countries have unique traditions which stem from the creation of Mother’s Day in their regions. In France for example, it is tradition to gift a mother’s hand-written poem and in Mexico, children perform skits and sing songs.
