Americans, just like the Brazilian people, celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May. President Woodrow Wilson, who issued a proclamation in 1914, asked Americans to give a public expression of reverence to mothers on this day. Carnations have come to represent Mother’s Day, following President William McKinley’s habit of always wearing a white carnation, his mother’s favorite flower.
What about in other countries?
Mothering Sunday is celebrated in the United Kingdom on the fourth Sunday of the Lenten Season. Although it is often called Mothers’ Day, it is not the same holiday – nor does it share the same origins – as the American Mother’s Day. In England, Mothering Sunday has a church-based origin. Most English churchgoers attend the nearest parish to their home, which is colloquially referred to as their “daughter church”. Historically, it was considered important for people to return to their “mother church”-either the church they grew up in or the main Cathedral in their area-at least once during the year. It became customary, therefore, that people would make this return visit on the forth Sunday of Lent. Historically, children would give their mothers small gifts on Mothering Sunday-usually wild flowers they picked on the way to church. Today, much like in the American version of Mother’s Day, children give presents, flowers by post, and cards to their mums.
Mother’s Day will be celebrated on Sunday May 08, 2011 (in Brazil, the U.S. and in many other countries around the World). In the UK Mothering Sunday was celebrated on the 3rd of April, 2011.
Celebrations of mothers and motherhood occur every year throughout the world. Although many countries celebrate Mother’s Day every second Sunday of May, other countries and cultures give it different meanings, associated to different events (religious, historical or legendary), and celebrate it on a different date or dates.
In spite of the different meanings and dates, Mother’s Day is always a time of commemoration and celebration for Mom. It is a time of breakfast in bed, family gatherings, and crayon scribbled “I Love You’s.”
So, here is a little poem to honor each and every mother of the World.
M – O – T – H – E – R
“M” is for the million things she gave me,
“O” means only that she’s growing old,
“T” is for the tears she shed to save me,
“H” is for her heart of purest gold;
“E” is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
“R” means right, and right she’ll always be,
Put them all together, they spell “MOTHER,” a word that means the world to me.