For those of us who are lucky to be with our Mother’s Today, for those who can only have a phone call, for those who have nothing but good memories; I still thought it best to remind everyone why today is so important. This one is dedicated to my mother, Tracy, who is simply irreplaceable.

Mother’s Day should be the most celebrated day on earth as I truly cannot think of a more thankless job or one with so many roles combined. Most mothers are alarm clocks, cooks, drivers, nurses, counsellors, teachers and basically whatever else is needed. I don’t even like to call it a job as there is no pay or vacation time.

Mothers have been caring from literally the start of our lives in the womb, providing us with a safe, comfortable and nourishing environment. Since then, mothers give us the strength to look beyond ourselves and into the world around us, allowing us to question how and where to leave our mark.

Mothers are also self-sacrificing and genuinely do take most responsibility in the family. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve seen a child misbehave and heard others or said it myself “where is that child’s mother?” I’ve rarely, if ever, heard of anyone calling for the father. Moms also have the innate ability to just make everything alright and they are often called the glue that holds the family together. Seriously, every day should be Mother’s Day.

If you are an active dad today, it is your job to lead by example and show/ help your children to celebrate their mothers, to show her how cared for, respected and appreciated she is.
There are many stories of how Mother’s Day originated, from ancient Roman and Greek tales to different religious ones. So, in this case, I’m choosing to tell my favourite one, one which, of course, tells a tale and exactly embodies the unparalleled bond that a mother and child has.

The origins of Mother’s Day in the United States date back to the 19th century to a single woman and her daughter. Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia created “Mother’s Day Work Clubs” to teach local women how to properly care for their children, an initiative well before its time.

In 1968, Ann organised “Mother’s Day Friendship Day”, at which mothers gathered with former union and confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation after the civil war. Ann had a daughter of her own. Anna continued her mother’s legacy when her mother passed away in 1905.

In 1908, with a lot of support, Ann organised the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a church in West Virginia. Thousands of people attended and following this success. Ann spent years fighting for it to be added to the national calendar. She spent years writing to politicians, parliament and newspapers, accurately claiming that at that time, all American holidays were biased toward male achievements and there should be a special day honouring motherhood and its personal and professional sacrifices. Obviously, she succeeded as it became an official US holiday in 1914.

Just a few years after, Anna despised the commercialisation of a holiday that meant so much to her. She had no family or children of her own as she spent the rest of her life launching campaigns and lawsuits against companies that used Mother’s Day as a way of making money- flowers, chocolates, cards etc. Her version and vision of the day were children and husbands were to wear white carnations and visit their mother and take them to whatever religious entity they believed in. By the time of her death in 1948, Anna had disowned the holiday altogether and even actively lobbied the government to see it removed from the American calendar.

She died wanting real sentiment and believing that Mother’s Day was not about giving gifts, the point was that the mother is the gift.
Now, I’m not saying that we should not gift and spoil our mothers today; we’ve all been doing it our whole lives. But, in respect for Anna’s wishes, I’m going to make some suggestions of things we can do for our mothers today to show true appreciation and gratitude.

It should start from the very moment she wakes up to your kiss goodnight. Genuine and thoughtful things to do would involve making her day as easy as possible. Start her day by offering to make breakfast, especially if she does it for the family every day. Serve it to her in bed if possible. Make her favourite foods throughout the day, don’t stop at just breakfast.

Give her personally written coupons which aid in making her everyday life easier. These can be things like specific chores she usually does like “clean the house” or “wash the clothes” to which she can choose to cash in at any time. These are specific to your own situations and habits.

Write her a gratitude list and tell her everything you are grateful for – what she does for you, the way she makes you feel, and any sacrifices that she has made. It feels great to have these noticed.
Make plans to do things with her that she may have mentioned that she has always wanted to do- this could be with you or her friends or both.

Rather than buy her flowers, buy her seeds so she can plant her own garden. Give her raw materials that may contribute to hobbies that currently bring her joy or ones where she can start new hobbies as her own stress management and methods.

Give her items that promote her genuine self-care likes, wants and needs. Again, you know your mothers and these would be specific to her.

Basically, encourage her to sit back and relax and for the first time in a long time, give her the day off. Rest and relaxation would be great for both her mental and physical health.

Thank you for reading and please continue to send suggested column topics to caitlinvieira@gmail.com.