Mother's Day is a holiday that has been celebrated in various forms for thousands of years. However, the modern version of Mother's Day as it is celebrated today originated in the United States in the early 20th century.
The earliest recorded celebration of Mother's Day was in ancient Greece, where the festival of Cybele, the mother of the gods, was held in the spring to honor the mother goddess and to celebrate the beginning of the growing season. This festival was later adopted by the Romans, who celebrated it as the festival of Hilaria in honor of Cybele.
In England, Mothering Sunday was a day set aside for people to visit their "mother church," or the main church in the area where they were baptized, and to be reunited with their families. This day was usually celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent and became a popular day for children who worked as servants to return home and be with their mothers.
The modern version of Mother's Day as it is celebrated today was inspired by two women, Anna Jarvis and Julia Ward Howe. Anna Jarvis, a peace activist from West Virginia, organized the first Mother's Day observance in Grafton, West Virginia, in 1908 to honor her mother, who had died the year before. Julia Ward Howe, a social activist and writer from Boston, was the author of the "Mother's Day Proclamation" in 1870, in which she called for an annual day of peace dedicated to mothers and motherhood.
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution declaring the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day, and since then it has been celebrated as a national holiday in the United States and many other countries around the world. Today, Mother's Day is celebrated in over 40 countries around the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, and is a day to honor and celebrate mothers and motherhood
Mother's Day is a special occasion to honor and celebrate the women who have brought us into the world and nurtured us through our formative years. It is a day to express gratitude and show appreciation for the sacrifices and love that mothers have given unconditionally. A great Mother's Day gift should reflect this sentiment and bring a smile to a mother's face.
Here are some factors that make for a great Mother's Day gift: