To many, Mother’s Day seems to be no more than a commercial holiday invented by corporate America as a scheme to sell flowers and greeting cards and fill restaurants to max capacity on the second Sunday of May every year. However, the origins of Mother’s Day are much purer and go back many years that pre-date the creation of opportunistic flower and card companies. Even in ancient times, the Greeks held regular festivals to honor Rhea, goddess of earth and fertility, and mother to all other goddesses.
Since the Middle Ages, people in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe have recognized mothers on a day they call Mothering Sunday, which is observed on the 4th Sunday of Lent. Admittedly, Mothering Sunday experienced a resurgence in 1913 following the popularity of the then swiftly growing American Mother’s Day, thanks to the efforts of Constance Penwsick Smith.
While Anna Jarvis of West Virginia often gets credit for originating the modern idea of Mother’s Day in the United States through her own institution of “Mothering Sunday” in her home church, there are many other women who contributed to the enthusiasm of institutionalizing an official American “Mother’s Day.”. Anna Jarvis’s mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, served as an early inspiration for the holiday in the years prior to the Civil War when she took it upon herself to teach mothering skills to local women in her community. Julia Ward Howe, an abolitionist and suffragette, declared in the 1870’s that all mothers must unite to promote peace. Juliet Calhoun Blakeley, a temperance activist in Michigan, advocated for Mother’s Day observations as well, starting in the late 1870’s.
And then there Mary Towles Sasseen of our very own tri-state town of Henderson, Kentucky, who actually articulated the concept many years previous to Anna Jarvis. As a school principal in Henderson, Saseen had a vision of celebrating mothers in the schools. In her iteration of Mother’s Day, Sasseen invited students’ mothers to the school on April 20th when the children would present a program of songs, stories, and poetry about the gifts of motherhood and the home in hopes of strengthening those bonds. Saseen published a pamphlet in 1893 to define her goals and objectives, and in it states:
“By a Mother’s Day, I mean a day on which parents shall be invited to the school and a programme presented, the recitations being on the subject of mother, the songs referring to home…Home [is] the magic circle within which the weary spirit finds refuge; the sacred asylum to which the care-worn heart retreats to find rest. Home! That name touches every fiber of the soul. Nothing but death can break its spell, and dearer than home is the mother who presides over it…We find that every man and woman, whom the world has called great, whose words have been treasured for their wisdom and goodness, all cherished their memories of mother, of happy, innocent childhood and of home.” https://www.theholidayspot.com/mothersday/viewhistory.htm
But it really was Anna Jarvis, daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis, who lobbied for a national Mother’s Day holiday following the death of her mother in 1905. Jarvis teamed up with Wanamaker department stores to organize the first official celebration in 1908:
“Following the success of her first Mother’s Day, Jarvis—who remained unmarried and childless her whole life—resolved to see her holiday added to the national calendar. Arguing that American holidays were biased toward male achievements, she started a massive letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians urging the adoption of a special day honoring motherhood.” –https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially established the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day in the United States.
We have lots of ways to celebrate Mother’s Day in the tri-state. Some of you may already have your Mother’s Day celebrations locked and loaded, but for those of you who like the excitement of leaving things to the day before, here are some ways to shower the mother-figures in your lives with plenty of affection:
Movies: many local cinemas have re-opened, so check the listings and showtimes at your favorite theatre to plan a movie outing that Mom will enjoy
Movie in Henderson: Check out this movie about Mother’s Day that was filmed in Henderson and merges the stories of Jarvis and Sasseen. It will be shown at three different times on Saturday, May 8. You can learn more by checking out the story in the Courier and Press:
Cut Flowers: you can’t go wrong with flowers in a vase, and this time of year, you can find them at almost every grocery store, but you can also ring up a local florist.
Flowers to plant: the gift that keeps on giving. If you buy a perennial, she will remember your love every year. Want to make it extra special? Volunteer to help her plant it. You can visit any number of local nursery’s and garden centers to find something she will treasure.
Gift Shops: find a special trinket at one of the many locally owned gift shops in your community.
Gift Cards: for those things she is reluctant to spend money on herself
- Car Washes
- Movies
- Spa (manicure/pedicure or massage)
- Her favorite boutique/clothing store
Homemade Gifts
- Coupons for house cleaning, laundry, or other chores
- Time to herself
- A homemade card or hand drawn picture
Homemade Meal: Cook a special meal. If you need inspiration, there are plenty of menu ideas on-line. Just type in “Mother’s Day Menu Recipes.”
A meal out at her favorite restaurant: but you probably want reservations if you can get them. At this point, you might have to submit a rain check to be redeemed later this month.
Her favorite family activity: even if everyone else in the family hates it, the mother in your life will appreciate everyone putting on their happy faces and joining together to play that game she loves or taking a hike at her favorite location. You know, do that thing together that Mom never gets to do because she is always obliging everyone else.
Just as not every house is suitable to everyone, not everyone has to celebrate every holiday. We would be remiss to not acknowledge that for some people, Mother’s Day, like some other holidays, can be fraught with emotion and not very celebratory. Please be sensitive to those around you this year if they have lost a mother, have a difficult relationship with their mother, or are struggling with motherhood in general. Additionally, think of Mother’s Day as encompassing a lot more than just the women who raise children: peacemakers, homemakers, caretakers, mother earth…the list is truly endless.
