Even though we do not really need a special holiday to say, “I love my Mum”, there is no way that we can ever begin to say this phrase enough. There is nothing more beautiful than the idea of setting aside a distinctive day to honor the one that kissed our boo-boos, taught us to tie our shoes, and spent hours listening to our adolescent moaning and groaning.

But how did this holiday come to be, and what did we do to honor our givers of life before that?

Early Origins…

The earliest historical records show that the ancient Egyptians were the first society to celebrate a maternal figure. The goddess Isis , commonly regarded as the mother of the pharaohs, was honored with an annual festival. Other Mother goddesses worshipped in various cultures included Gaia, Cybele, and Rhea.

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Fast forward to the 1600s, when a clerical decree in England broadened the celebration to include actual mothers – an adaptation of the European Christian tradition of honoring one’s mother church on the fourth Sunday of Lent. This new tradition took on the name “Mothering Day” and surprisingly did not cross the ocean over to America with the Puritans.

The Story of Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day, as we now know it, owes its roots to Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870.

Distraught by the death and carnage of the American Civil War, she called upon mothers to unite and protest the grotesque idea of sons killing other mother’s sons. The suggestion to form an international Mother’s Day failed, but the seed had already been planted. Anna M. Jarvis, daughter of Anna Reeves Jarvis, was inspired by her mother’s involvement with Howe’s movement and revived the campaign for the creation Mother’s Day.

The first official celebration took place on May 10, 1908 at Andrew’s Methodist Church in West Virginia. Finally, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson established Mother’s Day as the second Sunday in May. What could be a better way to say “I love my Mum” then petitioning for a national holiday in her honor?

Modern Celebration!

Today, over thirty countries across the world celebrate a variation of Mother’s Day or the alternative, International Women’s Day. Families say “I love my Mum” by dedicating a day full of activities, presents for mum, and dining centered around mom. Often reported as the second largest gift-giving holiday behind Christmas, American consumers spend almost 14 billion dollars in honor of their mothers. It is interesting to note that many other areas of the world still celebrate a much more spiritual version of the holiday.

Do not wait for Mother’s Day to give thanks to the special woman in your life: an influential female role model, the mother of your own children, or the especially important woman who read you your first bedtime story. No matter which day of the year you choose to say “I love my Mum”, no statement could be more well deserved.