So it’s Mothers day 11th March 2018 ….
A card shop and restaurant’s delight, the world and it’s wife will be out having booked an overpriced meal at a restaurant, that will undoubtedly be crammed full! The flowers at the florist will have put their prices up! Chocolate prices will be higher than ever and then there is the card, so many to choose from!! More gift options will be on offer, a ‘special’ teddy with ‘I love my mum’ or a mug with a similar slogan, mum’s favourite perfume will be offered for a highly inflated price, in a gift box, accompanying items unwanted! Alongside face creams in similar packaging. There will be hampers, balloons, personalised jewellery, handbags, dressing gowns, you get the point.
All lovely and appreciated but an unnecessary expense.
Where did it all Begin?
The occasion is celebrated on different dates throughout the world, this year in the UK it will fall on Sunday, March 11 in 2018.
Mothering Sunday is a holiday celebrated by most religions across most parts of Europe. It falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent, exactly three weeks before Easter Day.
The ancient Greeks dedicated an annual spring festival to maternal goddesses and ancient Romans also celebrated a spring festival called Hilaria which was for a mother goddess called Cybele.
Once it was thought to be the day that people would visit their ‘mother’ church, the church where they were baptised, later, Mothering Sunday became a day when ‘domestic servants’ would be given a day off to visit their mother church and their families.
By the 1920s, the Mothering Sunday tradition became less celebrated and the commercialised American version of the holiday replaced the religious event, becoming more of an occasion for honouring the mothers of children and giving them presents.
A better gift than chocolates?
Time. It goes much more appreciated spending time together than any of the above. In our busy lives, it’s nice to set aside some time and plan a day to spend with your mother.
Mother’s value
If you have chosen to have a child, they are normally the most important people in your life. Sacrificing anything to keep them safe, being supportive of their choices, we love them unconditionally, we are protective, considerate, giving endless emotional support, yet sometimes they are unkind, thoughtless, nasty and embarrassed by us. We’ve shed tears, screamed, shouted and been used as a human mental punchbag, yet we still love them! One day hopefully they will find out what that love feels like and realise how we felt. As mother’s, we appreciate being appreciated!
What most mothers would really love is all year round recognition, not a commercial day where everyone feels obliged!
By Tracey Leslie
