Mother's Day - Why You Send Carnations

In the United States, it's know as Mother's Day and falls on the 2nd Sunday in May (2009 - May 10th.) In England, it's called Mothering Day and falls on the 4th Sunday of Lent (2009 - March 22nd.) No matter what's it’s called, it is the one day out of the year when children, young and old, try to show in a real way, how much they appreciate their mothers.

In America, Mother's Day did not become an official holiday until 1915. Its founding was due largely to the determination and love of one daughter, Anna Jarvis. As a girl, Anna had helped her mother take care of her garden, mostly filled with white carnations. When Mrs. Jarvis died on May 5, 1905, Anna was resolute in honoring her. She asked the pastor at her church in West Virginia to give a sermon in her mother's remembrance. On the same Sunday in Philadelphia, their minister honored Mrs. Jarvis and all mothers with a special Mother's Day service. Anna Jarvis began writing to congressmen, asking them to set aside a day to honor mothers. In 1910, the governor of West Virginia proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. A year later, every state in the union celebrated it.

Children give their mothers red carnations, the official Mother's Day flower. It's traditional that you wear white carnation to honor a deceased mother, and pink carnations to honor a living mother. You will also see beautiful gravesite displays of white carnations in May.

On Mother's Day morning some American children follow the tradition of serving their mothers breakfast in bed. Other children will give their mothers gifts that they have made themselves or bought in stores. And of course, this is the busiest day of the year for American restaurants – no one wants Mom to cook dinner on her special day!

The British equivalent, Mothering Sunday is in essence equivalent to Mother's Day, and the name, Mother’s Day is used more and more. But this is a recent development, and its history is quite different. Mothering Sunday did not begin as a celebration of motherhood, but celebrated the return of people to their "mother church" for a service to be held on the fourth Sunday of Lent. This was usually a large local church, or more often the nearest Cathedral. People who did this were commonly said to have gone "a-mothering." Mothering Sunday was frequently the only time that whole families could get together, if prevented by geography or working hours.