Mother's Day as we all know is a day honoring mothers, when mother are presented cards, gifts, flowers, etc. It is celebrated in almost every country of the world, though not on the same day. In US, however, it is the second Sunday of May which is observed as the Mother's Day. Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Belgium celebrate Mother's Day on the same day as the United States.
Mother's Day doesn't find its roots in US. And neither does it have a recent origin. Mother's Day celebration dates back to the times of the ancient Greece, where this day was dedicated to Rhea, the mother of Greek Gods. Another school of thought suggests that Mother's Day gets its inspiration from the Mothering Sunday, observed in England in the 1600's. On Mothering Sunday, the servants who stayed with their employees would go to their homes and honor their mothers.
In US, it was Julie Ward Howe who suggested the observance of Mother's Day with an intention to unite women against war. This idea was influenced by the attempt of Ann Jarvis, in 1858, to improve sanitation through what she called Mother's Work Day. Her daughter Anna Jarvis struggled to establish a memorable day for women after her mother's death in 1907.
The first Mother's Day was celebrated in 1908, when Miss Jarvis persuaded the church in which her mother taught Sunday School in Grafton, West Virginia, on the occasion of the death anniversary of her mother which was a second Sunday of May. Anna Jarvis was very close to her mother and missed her after her death, so she thought that children should appreciate their mothers while they are still alive. She was of the view that this would increase respect and love for mothers and strengthen the family bond.
The declaration of Mother's Day as a holiday was given by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914, and since then the second Sunday of May is observed as the Mother's Day in US.
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