Yes it’s that time of the year again. Easter will have come and gone and mother’s day is right around the corner. Alexandra Clay recently wrote, and rightfully so, that “mothers make the world go round.” I think we all know that this is a true statement. Where would each of us be, if it would not have been for our mothers. From the beginning of time our mothers have taken care of each and every one of us. They fed us all of our lives, they changed our dirty diapers, and washed our dirty clothes. They comforted us when we were hurting,put bandages on our cuts and scratches, and nursed us through our illnesses. Who else could better know what we need or needed than our mothers. They protected us from all dangers, and made sure we were growing up in the right direction.
According to a recent study released by the center for global development, mothers took on an additional 173 hours of childcare in 2020 during the height of the covid 19 pandemic, while fathers took on only 59 extra hours. According to the Gallup polls, women “mothers” already have the primary responsibility for laundry, house cleaning , and cooking.It should be of no surprise to any one that moms do it all. For all they do, they are celebrated only one day a year.
Mothers should be honored all year round, but mothers day id the one single day of the year that we truly get to celebrate moms with a tradition of gifting and taking mom out for a nice meal she didn’t have to cook.” It’s a chance to be both appreciative and celebratory,” says Kristin McGrath , shopping expert at RetailMeNot.
When is mothers day, and why is it on a different date each year.Mothers day this year will be celebrated on Sunday May 8, 2022. The date changes each year because it is always celebrated on the second Sunday in May, and they land on a different date each year. The reason we celebrate mothers day dates back to Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis, a social activist and community organizer, during the Civil War era. According to the internet, before the Civil War, Jarvis, who was from West Virginia, created the Mothers Day Work Club, with the goal of teaching local ladies how to care for their children. These clubs unified women. In 1868 Jarvis came up with something called Mothers Friendship Day which had moms of Confederate and Union soldiers come together to promote harmony.
Around the same time in 1870, a suffragette named Julia Ward Howe wrote what was called the Mothers Day Proclamation, to promote world peace. She pushed to have a Mothers Peace Day to be celebrated in June.
Anna Jarvis, the daughter of Ann, came up with a fairly genius idea that was way ahead of its time in the early 1900’s. It was to be a day to honor mothers and the sacrifices they make for their kids, and Mothers day was born. When her mother died on May 23,1905, Anna worked tirelessly to have the second Sunday in May set aside each year as a day of honor to the mothers of the nation. Ironically Jarvis herself was both unmarried and childless, but she pushed to have her holiday added to the calendar and started a letter-writing campaign. Finally, in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure that officially made the second Sunday in May Mother’s Day. Interestingly enough all those cards, candy, and flowers you buy for mom today, Jarvis was having none of that. She wanted moms to be celebrated, not commercialized. In the 1920’s she slammed the incarnation of the holiday as a materialistic free for all. She might just have had a point. Think about it.
According to the National Retail Federation, it is estimated that in 2021, Americans spent a mind-boggling $28.1 billion on Mothers Day alone. That includes cards, flowers, and dinner outings. In fact, 68 percent of moms can expect to get bouquets on May 8. If you are reading this, you are already planning some sort of celebration for mom. It will probably include one or all of the above-mentioned gifts. Whatever it is, plan to make this Mother’s Day special for your mom. Remember all of the good things she has done for you.