Moms are celebrated around the world

Everybody is convinced that the best mom in the world is theirs. That’s probably why Mother’s Day is celebrated in dozens of countries around the world, although not always on the same date.

There’s nothing new about honoring a mother’s unique role within the family and society as a whole. Ancient Greeks were known to celebrate Rhea, the mother of the Gods, and countless other religions have celebrated the fertility and nurturing qualities of women.

The perpetuation of this tradition in North America goes back to an American, Anna Jarvis, who lost her mother on the second Sunday of May, 1906. She convinced the authorities in her small Virginian town to mark Mother’s Day with a religious ceremony the following year. The idea was so popular that the entire state of Virginia began an official celebration for mothers in 1907.

A few years later, in 1914, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson officially designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Since then, many countries including Canada, Brazil, Italy, Japan, and Belgium have followed this lead and made the second Sunday in May a day of flowers and words of love for moms.

Strangely enough, Mother’s Day is celebrated on a wide range of dates around the world. It’s celebrated as early as February in Norway and as late as December in Panama and Indonesia.

Between these two extremes, hardly a month goes by without some country honoring their mothers with a special day. One thing is certain though, no matter the place or the date, mothers deserve to be celebrated!