Tips of The Season

In Britain Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent. It’s the day when children give their mother a card, flowers or a gift to show their appreciation for all her hard work.

Like so many of our best loved traditions the origins of Mothering Sunday are a little hazy.

Its earliest origins in Britain seem to be entwined with the church. Most Sundays in the year churchgoers worship at their nearest Parish or ‘Daughter’ church.

Centuries ago it was deemed important that people returned to their ‘home’ or ‘Mother’ church once a year. This pilgrimage took place in the middle of Lent.

Historians believe that this annual return to the Mother church led to the tradition of children, particularly those in domestic service who could be as young as ten, being given the day off to visit their mother and family.

Those who walked home through the countryside picked posies of flowers to present as small gifts.

Most countries have declared a special day on which to honor mothers.

Across the English Channel the French call their day Fête des Mères. It takes place in May, was inaugurated by Napoleon and made official in 1950.

In the United States, Mothers Day is also celebrated in May. It was originally organized by Julia Ward Howe, a women’s rights activist who also wrote the lyrics to the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

In China, Mothers Day is the only Western tradition which has official Government support. The Women’s Alliance of the People’s Republic of China uses the day to promote filial respect for parents countrywide. Carnations are the Chinese gift of choice.

Mothers Day in Ethiopia is called Antrosht. It has no fixed date because it occurs at the end of the rainy season - around the end of October. Children visit their parents bringing the necessary ingredients for a meal. Everyone sings songs in celebration of the family.

How will you say thanks to your mum this year? According to the Royal Mail Consumer Panel we’ll be doing the following …

• More than 12.5 million cards will be sent this year
• Over 90% will send a card and 30% of those will be hand made
• 84% will buy flowers
• 50% of us will take mum out for a drink or a meal
• Women send four times as many Mothers Day cards as men

Finding the right gifts Mothers Day can be difficult, especially if you have a mom like mine. Most Mothers Day gifts, you see, are pretty sentimental and stereotypical. People get Mothers Day bears or mugs, T-shirts with hearts on them or boxes of chocolates. My mother, however, hates all of that stuff. She views it with scorn, and she wants nothing to do with it. Finding her the perfect Mothers Day gift, needless to say, is something that takes a little bit of planning.

The past few years, we have taken her out for an extremely nice dinner as a Mothers Day present. You see, if there is one thing that my mom likes, it is being taken out for dinner. If one us got her diamond earrings for Mothers Day and the one got her a 20 dollars steak, I know which child she would favor!

Unfortunately, my mother is not one of those people who believes in giving hints. I think that she secretly enjoys watching us squirm a little bit, stressing out over what present to get for her. I know that she likes books, and I can usually find something that she has not read but would like to, but this year nothing comes to mind. She is such an avid reader, you see, that I think that she has read everything that is current and worth reading. I don’t want to take a chance and buy books that she might have read as Mothers Day gifts, but I don’t know how to find out without sounding like I am dropping hints.

Sometimes I wish I lived in one of those families  where Mothers Day gifts are something routine. I do not mind working to find the perfect gift for my mom, but the perception that she is subtly laughing at us as we wrack our  brains trying to find the perfect Mothers Day gifts Is a little bit disconcerting. One way or another, I am sure that we will all find something for her before the big day comes, but in the meantime it’s going to be quite stressful.