A day just for mothers! The person who thought up this day did so the year her mother died. (1905) She campaigned for three years for this recognition of Mother’s Day and in 1908 it came into being in the United States. It’s usually celebrated the second Sunday in May. Here are the Wiki facts: “The modern holiday of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. … Her campaign to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Having this holiday helps families to bond and so I think it’s a great idea despite all the commercialism that surrounds the day.
Mother’s Day is about loving the mother we have or had and appreciating what was done for us that was good. It isn’t about perfect mothers or perfect upbringing. I’m sure that as mothers are all different that there are as many different ways to make mother happy on her special day. The focus is on giving tangible gifts as well as the gift of time – spending time with mother. This is, perhaps, the most important thing to a mother. After giving so much of her time for her children, she appreciates the time they spend with her. On Facebook recently, I came across this interesting piece of writing straight from the heart of an anonymous mother that several mothers shared. I believe it rings true for many of us. Every year ( well, maybe not every year) my children ask me the same question. After thinking about it, I decided I’d give them my real answer:
What do I want for Mother’s Day? I want you. I want you to keep coming around, I want you to bring your kids around, I want you to ask me questions, ask my advice, tell me your problems, ask for my opinion, ask for my help. I want you to come over and rant about your problems, rant about life, whatever. Tell me about your job, your worries, your kids, your fur babies. I want you to continue sharing your life with me. Come over and laugh with me, or laugh at me, I don’t care. Hearing you laugh is music to me.
I spent the better part of my life raising you the best way I knew how. Now, give me time to sit back and admire my work.
Raid my refrigerator, help yourself, I really don’t mind. In fact, I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I want you to spend your money making a better life for you and the one you’re with. I have the things I need. I want to see you happy and healthy. When you ask me what I want for Mother’s Day, I say “nothing” because you’ve already been giving me my gift all year. I want you.
If you feel the same way, feel free to copy and paste… I did!
Time and memories mean more than any material item I could ever receive.
Mother’s Day isn’s all moonlight and roses. Mother’s Day can be bitter/sweet for many – especially for those who have lost a mother. These mothers are also remembered on Mother’s Day. I often take flowers to my mother’s grave and the cemetery is usually filled with other people doing the same thing on that day. We do this more for ourselves, I believe, than for our mothers. We know they aren’t in the cemetery – but it is our way of honouring their memory.
There is also the mother who has lost a child and for whom this day is a reminder of that loss. Mother’s Day is also a day to be sensitive to what other people are going through. My parents grave is across from the children’s burial site and I see many mothers there when I go. They go to take flowers, teddy bears, toys, and the like, for their children. There are also older mothers who have lost adult children and still carry that grief in their heart. They too celebrate Mother’s Day – in a different way.
What of the mother who is forgotten by her children? Her Mother’s Day is spent longing for them. I hope nobody reading this is in that category. However, if you are, try to think of the happy times you spent with your children and go out and treat yourself and have a happy day nurturing and celebrating yourself. Please don’t do what the verse below says.
For myself, I will not have my child near on Mother’s Day. He will probably call since he lives far away. But, for me, the greatest happiness on Mother’s Day is to know that he’s happy, healthy, and well. That is so on every Mother’s Day. At this stage of life, I don’t need anything. His happiness is my happiness.
This post, I know doesn’t cover all the mothers out there – stepmoms, grandmothers, foster mothers, etc. However, to each and every mother out there, a very “Happy Mother’s Day.” Enjoy your day and go with the flow. “The sooner we face the reality that we raise children in order that they might grow up and leave us to explore vast opportunities all over the world, and not worry about what their mother will do without them, the happier and healthier we will all be.” (Alexandra Stoddard from her book “The Shared Wisdom of Mothers and Daughters)
