MOTHER'S DAY

Mothers cannot do it all
But surely do they try.

Mothers hear the angel's call,
To comfort all who cry.

Mothers for themselves may fall,
For others they will fly.

Mother's bear the weight of all,
For their children, they would die.

A Mother's gift extends beyond
All bounds of time and space.

Her lovingness and nurturing
Make Earth a peaceful place.

(My Godmother - raised me; my Mother gave birth to me)

The Vocabulary of a Mother

• Dumbwaiter: One who asks if the children would care to order a dessert.
• Feedback: The inevitable result when the baby doesn't appreciate the strained carrots.
• Full Name: What you call your child when you're angry with him.
• Grandparents: The people who think your children are wonderful even though they're sure you're not raising them right.
• Independent: How we want our children to be for as long as they do everything we say.
• Puddle: A small body of water that draws other small bodies wearing dry shoes into.
• Show Off: A child who is more talented than yours.
• Whodunit: None of the children who live in your house.
• Bottle-feeding: An opportunity for Daddy to get up at 2 am.

The Origin of Mother's Day In America

There are two claims for the origin of Mother's Day in America. The person responsible for the modern form of this celebration was Anna Marie Jarvis, whose mother died on May 9, 1905.

A memorial service was held on May 12, 1907 in the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia. However, the first organized service was held on May 10, 1908. Anna, with the help of John Wanamaker, campaigned to establish Mother's Day as a national holiday in the USA.

On May 8, 1914, Congress passed a law which designated the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day, and the next day President Woodrow Wilson announced the first national Mother's Day. In this era it was a day for American citizens to honor those mothers whose sons had died in war.

It was Anne Marie Jarvis who created the association between the carnation and Mother's Day. The present tradition is to wear a red carnation if you mother is living and a white one if she is deceased.

An earlier claim to have established Mother's day in 1868 involved another Ann - Ann Jarvis, and this too had the theme of uniting mothers who had lost a son in the Civil War. However, this was called not Mother's Day but Mother's Friendship Day and its purpose was to reunite families that had been separated, or divided by the American Civil War.

For a long history of Mother's Day:
 http://www.theholidayspot.com/mothersday/history.htm

316 days until Mothering Sunday on 18th March 2012