If you live in Poland, the 26th of May is the date that comes to your mind when thinking about Mother’s Day. But did you know that despite its name, ‘International Mother’s Day’ is not quite international? Even though the cause for celebrating motherhood seems universal all over the world, different countries have a special date to pay tribute to maternal love.
Most countries honour this day as the first or second Saturday in May. In the UK this holiday is also known as ‘Mothering Sunday’. May, and spring in general, has been chosen as the celebration for Mother’s Day in Mexico (10th of May), Paraguay (15th of May) and Bolivia (27th of May). The most popular, however, is the 14th of May, with the most countries celebrating motherhood (Anguilla, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, The Czech Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Suriname, Switzerland, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, The United States, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zimbabwe). Now that’s a date, isn’t it?
Knowing when people celebrate it, let’s see how people honour Mother’s Day? Well, it is worth mentioning that in Brazil Mother’s day is one of the most commercial and popular holidays – almost like Christmas! In France, ‘Fete des Meres’ basically means a relaxing day for mothers with small gifts and cards. While in most countries mothers receive presents, in Japan such a tradition is not cultivated. Japanese children give their mothers flowers that are considered to be tokens of love. In South Africa children pray for good health for their moms and also share praise for their effort and care.
Almost the entire world is celebrating Mother’s Day, yet the concept of celebrating this day seems to be quite new in, for example, India (celebrated only for the last 10 years). Cultural research has found that this trend seems to be growing as the appreciation for women tends to grow amongst cultures where is has never been witnessed before. It may also be the reason for why Mother’s Day gains more popularity in countries such as Iran and Vietnam.
At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter where you live. You can express love and gratitude to you mother not only on this one day a year. We are strongly encouraging you to do so more often. 🙂
(MW)
