Mother’s Day

Every second Sunday in May, mothers become queen-for-a-day. Children give cards, flowers, and phone calls as offerings of their love. What started this tradition of soggy toast in bed? Most people think greeting card companies manufactured Mother’s Day. In fact, this holiday has far more engaging roots. Its history embodies many social upheavals of recent centuries, from women’s suffrage to the rise of consumerism.

The earliest tributes to mothers date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated this festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Christ. In England this holiday was expanded to include all mothers and was called Mothering Sunday.

In the United States, Mother’s Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it “Mother’s Work Day.”

The original idea emerged as a call to mothers, rather than children.

Advice from Famous Moms

Giving advice and admonition is what we mo-thers do best: “Clean your room. Do your homework,” “I don’t care what the other kids do ...”or “You’re not wearing that!”

We like to believe we give good advice, but let’s face it; sometimes it isn’t. Throughout history, mothers have been advising and admonishing their children. Suppose the following mothers had addressed their offspring thusly; would the course of history have been changed?

Michaelangelo’s mother: “Get down off that ladder before you fall and break your neck!”

Anne Boleyn’s mother: “Now don’t lose your head just because you’re marrying the king.”

Napoleon’s mother: “If you’d worn gloves like I told you to, your hands wouldn’t be cold.”

Benjamin Franklin’s mother: “Oh, go fly a kite.”

Dale Carnegie’s mother: “Try to get along with people.”

Sara Bernhardt’s mother: “Stop acting like that!”

Mother of Ivan IV: “You’re just terrible!”

Маdате dе Pompadour’s mother: “Do something with that hair!”

Achilles’ mother: “There’s nothing wrong with your heel.”

Schubert’s mother: “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

By Doris Hier