Mother's Day

And here's a little history lesson now about Mother's Day.

There are several suggestions as to how and where Mother's Day originated. Could it have begun in Ancient Greece, when they celebrated the great Mother of the Gods, Cybele? Or is it based on a tradition steeped in the Christian religion? Many would disagree, saying that Mother's Day, in North America at least, began in the US circa early 1870. The Boston suffragist, Julia Ward Howe, proposed Mothers' Day for Peace, a day not to celebrate mothers as is the case today; rather, it was to promote peace, social injustice, and protest against war (at the time, she referred specifically to the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War). The proposed date was June 2. Although some celebrated the holiday, it didn't last.

The Mother's Day and its meaning that we are more familiar with today is all thanks to Anna Jarvis, a woman who successfully campaigned to create a national day to honour mothers after her own passed away. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the second Sunday of May to be Mother's Day, and since Anna Jarvis had sent carnations to her own mother's funeral service, it was the first flower used to represent the holiday.

According to statistics compiled by the National Retail Federation (a US company monitoring consumer trends), Mother's Day is one of the biggest holidays celebrated by North Americans. Consumers will be spending just a little less than what they did for Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanza - spending for the day is predicted to top the $14.6 billion mark, and that's just in the US! A survey has also shown that most of us will be spending about $126.90 on gifts for their mothers, wives, daughters or other, mainly on flowers, restaurants and jewelry or clothing. In fact, over 66% will be buying Mother's Day flowers, choosing to shop at florists. The survey also indicated that men would be spending an average of $154.74, while women would be spending about $100.46.