Mother’s Day or Mothering Sunday – the main holiday for each mother

Mother’s Day and Mothering Sunday are two similar holidays that are celebrated in United States of America and United Kingdom and that have similar holidays in many other countries around the world. Whatever is the actual name of the holiday and no matter what country it is celebrated in, the meaning stays the same – to celebrate motherhood and give thanks and congratulate mothers.

There are many ways how Mother’s Day is usually celebrated. The actual celebration will depend on the country where the holiday is celebrated and the country’s tradition. Each family will also celebrate this holiday in a different way. The common activities for Mother’s Day include giving flowers and gifts to a mother, thanking and congratulating a mother, doing nice things for a mother and other activities. There is also a tradition for the wearing of different carnations on this day.

As noted above, Mother’s Day is celebrated in many countries. In many cases it is based on the Mother’s Day celebrated in United States or the Mothering Sunday celebrated in United Kingdom. In this article we will focus on these two holidays. Many of the countries that adopted Mother’s Day from United Kingdom holiday are located in Africa. East Asian counties, on the other hand, mostly adopted the United States Mother’s Day. Holidays in other countries will be similar in nature and will have similar celebrations. Some countries may have country specific celebrations and separate holiday date.

First let’s look at the Mother’s Day celebrated in United States. It is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. Some employers may even give their employees a day-off on that day. This is, however, not a required holiday for companies. Since this holiday becomes more and more popular, it is important to mention the future dates when this holiday will be celebrated. In the next few years you will see Mother’s Day celebrated on May 8 in 2005, May 14 in 2006, May 13 in 2007, May 11in 2008, May 10 in 2009, May 9in 2010.

There are many facts in the history of Mother’s Day. For example, an interesting fact is that the first (first known) Mother’s Day was celebrated on 13 May in 1877 in Albion, Michigan, United States and was started by Juliet Calhoun Blakeley. We cannot say for sure how true this fact is but there seems to be a lot of belief in this story. Many women’s peace groups used this holiday for their meetings and other events.

When reading about Mother’s Day history, you will see the stories about the first private celebration in 1907 in Grafton, West Virginia by Anna Jarvis. You will also hear about the promotion of Mother's Day celebration by John Wanamaker. The Mother’s Day was officially proclaimed a holiday (signed proclamation document) in United States on 14 May 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson.

The Mothering Sunday is the United Kingdom holiday similar to the Mother’s Day in United States. This is also the holiday to celebrated motherhood. Each mother will usually be congratulated, thanked and will receive gifts on this day.

The Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. In the next few years you will see Mothering Sunday celebrated on these dates: March 6 in 2005, March 26 in 2006, March 18 in 2007, March 2 in 2008, March 22 in 2009, and March 14 in 2010.

Aura Mirchandani is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory.