Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis was a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called “Mothers Friendship Day.” She died in 1905, leaving behind her daughter, Anna Jarvis, to raise her other children.
In 1907, two years after her mother’s death, Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother’s memory and establish a national Mother’s Day. With her friends, she started a letter-writing campaign to urge ministers, businessmen and congressmen in declaring a national Mother’s Day holiday. She hoped Mother’s Day would increase respect for parents and strengthen family bonds.
On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made the first official announcement proclaiming Mother’s Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May. He asked Americans to give a public expression of reverence to mothers through the celebration of Mother’s Day.
As the popularity of Mother’s Day quickly grew, Anna Jarvis became a major opponent of how commercialized the holiday had become and she became disillusioned with her own creation. Though the original spirit of honoring the mothers remained the same, the mode of expression changed into a day of giving of flowers, cards, and gifts.
Mother’s Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercial U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother’s Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States. We only need to turn on the television or radio for 2 minutes this time of year to hear an ad for Mother’s Day.
This year, Mother’s Day in the U.S. falls on Sunday, May 9, 2010. Why not honor the memory of Anna Jarvis and her mother by remembering the true reason she created a national Mother’s Day? Remember when you were a kid and you drew your mother a picture or made her a paper flower in school? Those gifts from the heart are treasured more than anything we can buy from the store. Time is the greatest gift we can give anyone, and making someone something or writing them a personal card will be treasured for years beyond that bathrobe and slippers. It’s easy on the budget, too!
There are countless ideas, recipes, patterns and crafting ideas all over the internet. A few years ago, I made several casseroles for my mother that could be frozen and eaten later, labeled with the name and instructions for baking. My mother loved it and now expects it for Mother’s Day and her birthday, much more than a store-bought gift. Use your own creativity and imagination to come up with your own plan for Mom. Here are a few suggestions to get started:
Easy bath products to make at home:
Green Tea Bath Bags
Bath Bags
Basic Bath Salts
Cards you can print at home or suggested quotes to add to your own, handmade cards:
Printable Postcards for Mother’s Day
Handmade Card Ideas with Quotes about Mothers
Plant some herb or flower seeds in a pretty, hand-decorated pot:
Do you know a a single mother with small children who has no free time? How about offering to babysit ? You can also help her kids make a card for their mother, or another gift they can make themselves, like the ones featured here: Preschool Crafts for Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day Crafts: Bloggers Edition – An ebook put together by favecrafts.com
Do you know a mother who might be spending Mother’s Day alone? If you’re not a crafty person or don’t have any free time , send her address to Jett and Tessa who are working on the Postcard Project, and they’ll brighten her day with a card.
Whatever you do, why not take the challenge this week to do something to honor your mother, or someone else’s mother, by doing something creative and thoughtful. You will probably enjoy it as much as she will appreciate what you did for her.
Photo by Musée McCord Museum in Quebec, Canada, distributed under a Creative Commons license.
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