When Is Mother's Day?
In the UK this year it is on Sunday March 26, three weeks before Easter Day. In the United States it is on Sunday May 14.
Why Is Mother's Day On Different Days In The US And UK?
In the United States, Mother's Day is on the second Sunday in May. It was set on this day by Woodrow Wilson in 1914 after a campaign by social activist Anna Jarvis to commemorate her mother, who had 13 children. It is a national holiday that celebrates the amazing work that mothers do.
In the UK, Mother's Day was until recently more usually known as Mothering Sunday. It is on the fourth Sunday in Lent. In the Church, Mothering Sunday officially celebrates the 'Mother Church', not mothers at all. It has also been known as 'Refreshment Sunday' as it is the traditional day for the Gospel reading of the miracle of the loaves and fishes.
How Did Mothering Sunday Become Mother's Day In The UK?
It hasn't really, not officially. From the 16th century, Mothering Sunday was the day that people returned to their 'mother' church for worship. Domestic servants would be given the day off to visit their mums or be visited by their own children and it became a great family occasion in church, one of the few times in the year when families could be together. With Easter just around the corner, it became a time when the Lenten fast was broken for a day, allowing hungry families a tantalising taste of the joy and feasting to come when Christians celebrate the Resurrection. This association of Mothering Sunday with honouring mothers, and the growing recognition worldwide of the US holiday which was never a church festival, have all contributed to make it known by most people today as Mother's Day.
Why Is It Mother's Day And Not Mothers' Day?
It was felt by the original founders in the US that it should honour each mother individually, and not as a collective group.
How Did It Become So Commercialised?
In the US, there have been many protests against the commercialisation of Mother's Day on the grounds that it was meant to be about feelings, not profits, but every year the festival gets bigger. In the UK, children going to church on Mothering Sunday hundreds of years ago would be encouraged to pick the wild spring daffodils from the roadsides to give to their mothers, who were often getting a rare day off from domestic service or other labours. Churches to this day still provide baskets of daffodils for children to give to their mothers. This tradition of gift giving in church is now translated into an international festival of card and present giving. Giving mothers chocolates on Mother's Day has become a tradition that sons, daughters and husbands ignore at their great peril.
