Mothers Day in America

In the United States the tradition to celebrate an annual Mother's Day was started nearly 150 years ago by Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker. She organized a day to raise awareness of poor living
conditions in her mountain community and since she believed such a day
would be best advocated by mothers. She called it, "Mother's Work Day."

Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragette, and the author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace,
since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than
anyone else.

In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to remember the life work of her mother. She began to lobby prominent businessmen and politicians including Presidents Taft and
Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor
mothers. In 1914 all Anna's hard work paid off when President Woodrow
Wilson, signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.

Initially people observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually, by sending cards, presents, and flowers. Today, the second Sunday of May, has become the most
popular day of the year to dine out, and telephone lines record their
highest traffic, as children take advantage of the day to express
appreciation to and for their mothers.

Mothers Day over the Pond

The correct name for Mothers Day in the UK is Mothering Sunday but more often than not it is now called Mothers Day. It always falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent but because dates vary for Easter and Lent,
the actual Sunday to celebrate it varies too. Although the origins of
Mothering Sunday are distinctly different to the American origins the
sentiments are very similar.

In olden times churchgoers would worship at their nearest parish or "daughter church" each Sunday but it was considered important for people to return to their home or "mother" church at least once a year.
So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their "mother"
church. The return to the "mother" church eventually became an occasion
for family reunions.

Gradually the custom of visiting the mother church died out and by Victorian times many boys and girls, as young as ten years old, had left home and were apprenticed locally to craftsmen or employed as
domestic servants. Days off were few and far between but it became the
tradition to give the children a day off on Mothering Sunday. It is
thought that the custom of giving flowers on this special day
originates with the children picking wild flowers from the hedgerows as
they walked home to mother.

Sharon Donson

Yorkshire Lane

http://www.rubylane.com/shops/yorkshirelane.