Happy Mother's Day

Hello everybody!

As you may know, today is Mother's day in Belgium. As a daughter and as a mother, this day couldn't go by without me at least mentioning it! And as I always love to bring together education and entertainment, I thought: Why not tell you all about the tradition of Mother's Day in the UK and in the US?

In the UK

The origins of the celebration in the UK date back to the 1600s and it was the first country in the world to dedicate a day to mothers, and they called it "Mothering Sunday". At the time, poor people had to send their little children away to go work as servants to the rich, in order to survive. They were therefore separated all year long, except for one special day on which they could reunite: Mother's Day.

The origin of the name "Mothering Sunday" can be found in the fact that this day was associated to a religious period. Indeed, the exceptional "day off" was settled in the middle of the fasting period called "Lent". So, the children visited their "Mother Church" and then brought flowers and a special cake caled "Simnel Cake" to their mothers.

Today, "Mothering Sunday" has transformed into "Mother's Day" as in the US.

In the US

In the US, Mother's Day is a national holiday. This is the occasion to show the importance that mothers have in their life, and to thank them for everything they do and for their unconditional love. To the image of the US, it has of course become an extremely commecial celebration, almost at the same level as Christmas or Valentine's day. Children bring gifts, flowers, DIY projects, they sing songs, bring breakfast in bed for their mommies... Everything you can secretly dream of when you have the hardest job in the world...

What about you? How do you celebrate Mother's Day in your country? Please comment and share!