Mother’s Day History, Facts, and Memes!

BUT MOMMMMMM! How many times have we said that? Countless. Sunday is quickly approaching, and that happens to be Mother’s Day. I am lucky enough to say that I am so happy I am my mother’s daughter. It took me a long time to grow up and see how similar I really am to her, and how much she really has done for me, even behind the scenes. Kept me safe, and fed, and helped me be brave and strong. I hope that everyone out there has someone like that, even if its not their mom, or their own mom. Even though this Sunday is for mothers… let’s make sure that we also appreciate all the others that have been our saviors and strength.

So when did this day start and what is the history behind it? Well, let’s find out, read some facts, then rejoice in some related memes for fun.

Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the clearest modern precedent for Mother’s Day is the early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday.” Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation.

Funny enough, the American incarnation of Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Following her mother’s 1905 death, Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother’s Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children. Anna Jarvis had originally conceived of Mother’s Day as a day of personal celebration between mothers and families. Her version of the day involved wearing a white carnation as a badge and visiting one’s mother or attending church services. But once Mother’s Day became a national holiday, it was not long before florists, card companies and other merchants capitalized on its popularity. Jarvis would later denounce the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar.

Here are a few more things you might not know about Mother’s Day:

• More calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year, approximately 122 million calls.
• After Christmas and Hanukkah, more people buy flowers and plants for their moms on Mother’s Day than any other holiday. Around approximately one quarter of all the flowers purchased throughout the year are bought for Mother’s Day.
• According to the National Restaurant Association, in 2018 about 87 million adults made plans to go to a restaurant for Mother’s Day.
• The first thing a baby can vocalize is the ‘ma’ sound, which is why in almost every language the word for mother begins with the letter ‘M’ or is some iteration of the ‘ma’ sound.
• On average, shoppers spend $180 on gifts for their mothers. A nationwide total of $4.6 billion was spent on jewelry and $4.4 billion on diners or brunches.

So what will you be doing, or not be doing for Mom this sunday? Will you not be causing her trouble? Will you be taking her out to brunch or mowing the lawn? Let us know or feel free to share some of your favorite memes in the comments! Also… tell your mama I say… what’s up 😉