In the United States, Mother’s Day is observed on the second Sunday each May. It is recognized as a holiday to honor mothers and is typically observed by presenting cards, flowers, and gifts to the mothers and influential women in our lives.
The Origin of Mother’s Day
Celebrations honoring mothers date back to the ancient Greeks and Romans who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses.
Forms of Mother’s Day are celebrated all over the world. The American Mother’s Day holiday can be traced back to Anna Jarvis. Ms. Jarvis began her campaign to recognize the sacrifices of mothers for their families following her own mother’s death in 1905.
Jarvis wrote letters to newspapers and politicians urging them to recognize Mother’s Day as a national holiday. She saw her dream realized in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson officially established the second Sunday in May as a nationally-recognized holiday, Mother’s Day.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Anna Jarvis to become completely disillusioned by the holiday. She didn’t like the way the greeting card and floral industries commercialized the day. By 1920, she began urging people to quit buying cards and flowers. Jarvis became as active in campaigning to have the holiday dissolved as she had been in seeing it established. She even used her own money to fight legal battles involving the use of the name Mother’s Day.
Ideas for Celebrating Mother’s Day
Anna Jarvis’ campaign to have Mother’s Day dissolved was unsuccessful. As many as 113 million Mother’s Day cards are purchased each year, making the holiday third after Valentine’s Day and Christmas for the greeting card industry. Almost $2 billion is spent on flowers for the holiday.
It is not uncommon for children to give their mothers homemade cards and hand-picked wild flowers for Mother’s Day. Some other ideas include:
- Serve your mother breakfast in bed
- Clean the house for her
- Spend time enjoying her favorite activities with her
- Make her favorite meal
- Read aloud to her
- Play games with her
- Let her enjoy a nap or quiet bubble bath
- Preserve the flowers you give your mom
Article by Beverly Hernandez
You might also want to print the coupon book below. It includes coupons that moms can redeem in exchange for things like having household chores completed or Breakfast in Bed prepared by family members.
Make a Mother’s Day coupon book for your mom. Print the pages. Then, cut out each graphic along the solid lines. Stack the pages in any order with the cover page on top, and staple them together.
The last page of coupons are blank so that you can fill them in with ideas specific to your family. You might consider services such as:
- Washing the dog
- Cleaning the windows
- Running an errand (particularly useful for teen drivers)
- Doing the laundry
Source: Printable Mother’s Day Coupon Book and Activities (thoughtco.com)
