As we enter March, we quickly approach a special day – Mother’s Day. The history of it is fascinating, and so is the variety of ways it’s celebrated around the world.
A bit of history
In Ireland, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent, as in the United Kingdom, and has the same roots in Mothering Sunday.
Mothering Sunday is a day honouring mothers and mother churches, celebrated in the British Isles and elsewhere in the English-speaking world on the fourth Sunday in Lent since the Middle Ages. On Mothering Sunday, Christians have historically visited their mother church—the church in which they received the sacrament of baptism.
The practise died out in Ireland around the late 18th century but was revived around the 1950s due to Americanisation.
The modern Mother’s Day began in the United States, at the initiative of Anna Jarvis in the early 20th century. It is not directly related to the many traditional celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have existed throughout the world over thousands of years, however, in some countries, Mother’s Day is still synonymous with these older traditions.
Modern traditions
Mother’s Day dates and traditions vary around the world, and they are all equally lovely!
In Belgium, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. In the week before this holiday children make little presents at primary school, which they give to their mothers in the early morning of Mother’s Day. Typically, the father will buy croissants and other sweet breads and pastries and bring these to the mother while she is still in bed – the beginning of a day of pampering for the mother.
In Ethiopia, Mother’s Day is celebrated for three days after the end of the rainy season. It comes in mid-fall where people enjoy a three-day feast called Antrosht.
For the feast, ingredients will be brought by the children for a traditional hash recipe. The ingredients are divided among genders, with girls bringing spices, vegetables, cheese and butter, while the boys bring a lamb or bull. The mother hands out to the family the hash.
A celebration takes place after the meal. The mothers and daughters anoint themselves using butter on their faces and chests. While honouring their family and heroes, men sing songs.
In the Maldives, Mother’s Day is celebrated on 13 May. The day is celebrated in different ways. Children give gifts and spend time with their mothers. Daughters give their mothers cards and handmade gifts and sons give their mothers gifts and flowers. Maldivians love to celebrate Mother’s day, and they have it specially written on their calendar.
Plenty of countries celebrate International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day on the same date.
Our gifts to mums!
Here at Earsense we love pampering mums! Their resilience, patience and love are truly admirable, and we believe they deserve a little special something on their big day.
This year, to give our Mother’s Day gift bundles even more colour and love than usually, we designed a range of sweet greeting cards that can be attached to the gift with your personal message inside. Go on – give our gift ideas a look, and remember to hug and kiss your ma on her special day! 🙂