As we all probably know, Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday. However, I bet most of you just celebrate because you’re supposed to without knowing what Mother’s Day is really all about. Well, we’ve done a little research and have come up with some pretty interesting information.
Mother’s Day was celebrated for the first time in 1908 when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, WV. Jarvis then started a campaign to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday. She succeeded in 1914, however was disappointed by the holiday’s commercialization by the 1920’s. Now, countries all over the world celebrate Mother’s Day as well.
Mother’s Day isn’t celebrated on the same day everywhere, though. In the US (and many other countries) it’s celebrated on the second Sunday in May; Norway celebrates on the second Sunday in February; Russia is the last Sunday in November; and South Korea has opted for “Parents’ Day” celebrated on May 8th.
Anna Jarvis coined the holiday to be spelled “Mother’s Day” instead of “Mothers’ Day” (as it’s often seen spelled) to be indicative that the holiday’s purpose is to celebrate your own mother, not mothers as a whole. However, other days honoring mothers have existed during the 1870’s and 1880’s but were only ever celebrated on the local level. Julia Ward Howe attempted to establish “Mother’d Day for Peace” in the 1870’s; Protestant schools celebrate “Children’s Day”; and the traditional festival of Mothering Sunday, which falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent is a Christian holiday celebrated across Europe.
Everyone here at Sweeney & Sweeney wishes mothers across the world a happy Mother’s Day no matter how you celebrate.