In the United States, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May each year. Today is the second Sunday of May, so today is Mother’s Day.
Usually I try to find something not well known or trivial about these special days… during the Middle Ages, the custom developed of allowing people who had moved away from where they grew up to come back to visit their home or ‘mother’ church, and their mothers, on the fourth Sunday of the Christian festival of Lent. Back then, it wasn’t uncommon for children to leave home to work when they as young as 10 years old, so this was an opportunity for families to meet up again. This custom became Mothering Sunday in Britain — and, because the dates of Lent vary each year, so does the date of Mothering Sunday. Even though it’s often called Mother’s Day in the UK, it has no connection with the American Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day is not a federal holiday. Organizations, businesses and stores are open or closed, just as they are on any other Sunday of the year. Public transit systems run on their normal Sunday schedules. Restaurants are busier than usual, because people take their mothers out for a treat.
Mother’s Day has become a day that focuses on generally recognizing mothers’ roles, and it’s become an increasingly important event for businesses — especially restaurants and businesses manufacturing and selling cards and gift items.
As I’ve said before, mothers deserve to be honored every day, but it’s nice for them to have a special day of recognition and appreciation.
So Happy Mother’s Day to my favorite three Moms, that also happen to be the best three Moms I know — Claire, Kelly and Chassie…
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