Surprise Mom with a Mother’s Day History This Weekend

Gentle Reminder!
Nudge, Nudge!

Three days until May 12, 2019; Mother’s Day! Let the countdown begin!

Long before jewelry was the gift to give, the matronly aspects of women as mother’s of community were publicly celebrated on many different days throughout the Ancient Greek year. Today in the US, Mother’s Day is a single moveable feast celebrated on the second Sunday in May. The 9th day of May in 1914 was the first official Mother’s Day. President Woodrow Wilson loved his mother so much he gifted her a day on the calendar. Or maybe he was dropping hints to Edith, his soon-to-be second wife. The tone of the official document is effervescent with political amour, praising the American Mother by mandating flag waving “in love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”

In US history the idea for a national Mother’s holiday sprang from a group of socially and politically active Mothers during reconstruction following the Civil War. After the war, mother’s of Union and Confederate soldiers came together in many West Virginia communities in an effort to build trust in their politically divided towns. The daughter of the primary organizer publicly celebrated her mother’s efforts the year after her mother’s death and so planted the seeds of Mother’s Day in the US. The ancient and modern origins of Mother’s Day are clearly honorable, yet historians note the timing (1914) of this holiday mandate might also have been a political concession intended to soften the blow as Wilson continued to deny women the right to vote. You can read Wilson’s official presidential proclamation via the National Archives. Regardless of proclamation motivation, our nation has come together since before the First World War to make special time to tell all the mothers, “Thank you for all you do.”

One popular way to celebrate Mother’s Day is to take mom out for a meal. Pancakes, waffles, omelets, and other breakfast fare seem among mom’s favorites. IHOP, Denny’s, Waffle House, and other 24-hour breakfast restaurants love the Mother’s Day rush. So, if you want to treat mom and skip the crowd, try cooking at home, or going out for dinner instead.