MAIN Holidays Mother's Day

Why do we celebrate Mothering Sunday and Mother's Day? It is a holiday that is celebrated throughout the world, although not always in May.

But who started the celebrations? Did the tribes of prehistoric times gather flowers in the fields to bring to their moms back in the caves? Did the Egyptians send papyrus cards to their moms? The experts don't seem to have answers for all of these questions, but they can trace family celebrations honoring Moms back to the Middle Ages in Europe.

Children as young as eight or nine would leave home to learn their trade as an apprentice or to become servants in the homes of the wealthy. These children usually were in neighboring towns, but transportation was hard to come by and expensive. For most of the year they did not get to see their family. During Lent, before preparations for the Easter feasts required them to be busy and back at work, the young people would be allowed to return to their homes and families for a weekend. This became known as "going a-mothering."

Children walked the roads picking spring wildflowers to give to their mothers when they arrived back at their homes. They often brought small gifts from the merchants or nobles they worked for as presents for the family, including the traditional simnel cake.

The Sunday of their return the whole family would go to church and present gifts to the mothers and offerings to the church. This was a day of feasting when all of the restrictions of Lent were put aside for the day...in a way it was the Easter celebration for the working classes. This feast day became known as Mothering Sunday. After Mothering Sunday, the children would return to their labors and would not visit home again until Christmas time.

The tradition of gifts, flowers and festive meals has endured to become what we know as Mother's Day. Here are some of the best sites to explore how and why people celebrated Mother's Day long before there were e-cards and online florists...

Mother's Day Trivia and History - La Historia y Leyendas del Dia de Las Madres (Oprima aqui) - A history of Mother's Day starting from the earliest traditions and Mothering Sunday on to the movement for a recognized holiday in the USA ending with a bit of information on Del Dia de Las Madres in Mexico...

You searched the Gods for mother... - 89 goddesses associated with motherhood are listed in The Holy Database of All Known Gods on godchecker.com. They include African, Greek, Native American, Roman and many goddesses from other mythologies...

Mother's Day Trivia, Folk Customs, Myths and Fun Facts from Around the World - The girl's world site has a great collection of Mother's Day trivia including bits about the history of Mother's Day. Check out the rest of the site for great places to share stories about your mom, print out chore coupons to give as gifts and other Mother's Day kid's stuff...

Dominion & Domination of the Gentle Sex: The Lives of Medieval Women - There are no references to Mothering Sunday or Mother's Day, but if you'd like to find out what it was like to be a woman during the Middle Ages in Europe, this site and the links from it to others on the same topic are a good beginning...

also in Mother's Day--> Mother's Day Clip Art | Mother's Day Crafts

Mother's Day E-Cards | Mother's Day Gifts @ | Mother's Day Flowers @

Mothering Sunday | Mother's Day Poems

Mother's Day Party Ideas | Mother's Day Recipes