Fun Stuff > Legends and Oddities > Mother's Day Legends And Oddities

MOTHER'S DAY LEGENDS AND ODDITIES

Mother's Day
Mother's Day is a time of commemoration and celebration for Mom. It is a time of breakfast in bed, family gatherings, Mother's Day Cards and "I Love you's”.

Mother's Day will be celebrated on Sunday May 08, 2005 (in the U.S.). In the UK Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the 6th of March.

The Story of Mother's Day
Historians claim that the holiday of Mother's Day emerged from the ancient festivals dedicated to mother goddess in ancient Greece. These early Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations in honor of Rhea, the wife of Cronus and the Mother of the Gods.

In Rome too, Cymbal, a mother Goddesses, was worshipped, as early as 250 B.C. It was known as Filarial and it lasted three days.

However, neither the Greek or Roman festivals were meant for the honoring of our immediate mothers, as is done in our modern day Mother's Day celebrations.

Rather closely aligned to our Mother's Day, is the "Mothering Sunday". During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday" or the "Mid-Lent-Sunday". Observed on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter*), "Mothering Sunday" honored the mothers of England. During this time many of the England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake was often brought along to provide a festive touch.

As Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honor the " Mother Church" - the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration. People began honoring their mothers as well as the church.

While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother's Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

In the United States Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle hymn of the Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Mass ever year.

The First American Mother's Day
In the United States, Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948) is credited with bringing in the celebration of Mother's day and the first Mother's Day was May 10, 1908 in Philadelphia.

In 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother's Day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May. By the next year Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.

Ms. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessman, and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother's Day. It was successful as by 1911 Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.

Anna Jarvis:

• Swore at her mother's grave site in 1905 to dedicate her life to her mother's project, and establish a Mother's Day to honor mothers, living and dead
• A persistent rumor is that Anna's grief was intensified because she and her mother had quarreled and her mother died before they could reconcile
• In 1907 she passed out 500 white carnations at her mother's church, St. Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia -- one for each mother in the congregation
• May 10, 1908 : the first church -- St. Andrew's in Grafton, West Virginia -- responded to her request for a Sunday service honoring mothers
• 1908: John Wanamaker, a Philadelphia merchant, joined the campaign for Mother's Day
• Also in 1908: the first bill was presented in the U.S. Senate proposing establishment of Mother's Day, by Nebraska Senator Elmer Burkett, at the request of the Young Men's Christian Association. The proposal was killed by sending it back to committee, 33-14.
• 1909: Mother's Day services were held in 46 states plus Canada and Mexico.
• Anna Jarvis gave up her job -- sometimes reported as a teaching job, sometimes as a job clerking in an insurance office -- to work full-time writing letters to politicians, clergy members, business leaders, women's clubs and anyone else she thought might have some influence.
• Anna Jarvis was able to enlist the World's Sunday School Association in the lobbying campaign, a key success factor in convincing legislators in states and in the U.S. Congress to support the holiday.
• 1912: West Virginia became the first state to adopt an official Mother's Day.
• 1914 : The U.S. Congress passed a Joint Resolution, and President Woodrow Wilson signed it, establishing Mother's Day, emphasizing women's role in the family (not as activists in the public arena, as Howe's Mother's Day had been).

Click "Burping Baby" Cartoon to view Funny Mother's Day Cards!

A Mother's Day Poem
by Howard Johnson

M - O - T - H - E - R

"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,

Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER" A word that means the world to me.

Mother's Day is a Special Day
Absolutely no one is more special than mom. Sure, dad is really important and so are your grandparents. But moms, well they are just very special. Often taken for granted, they are always our strongest supporter. You can't do wrong in Mom's eyes. When you are hurt or not feeling well she is always there.

So go out and celebrate Mother's Day. First and foremost, spend time with her. If you absolutely can not be there, take time for a long phone call. Flowers, Mother's Day Card, candy and gifts are all part of the day. But, mom will some time with you far more than anything else.

Real Mothers (Unknown Author)

• Real Mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it.
• Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.
• Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.
• Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpet.
• Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.
• Real Mothers sometimes ask "why me?" and get their answer when little voices say, "because I love you best."
• Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade. It is marked by the progression of Mama to Mommy to Mom.

What Folks About Their Moms

• "America 's greatest asset is home-building, God-fearing mothers." - Theodore Roosevelt
• "All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother." - Abraham Lincoln
• "I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." - Abraham Lincoln
• "My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her." - George Washington
• "Mothers have as powerful an influence over the welfare of future generations as all other earthly causes combined." - John S. C. Abbott
• "There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness. The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made my way." - Andrew Jackson
• Campbell Morgan stated that his sermons were Bible stories heard from his mother. Dr. Morgan's four sons became preachers, their dedication no doubt stemmed from their godly heritage. Someone once asked the youngest son who was the greatest preacher in the Morgan family, and the son answered without hesitation, "My mother." - Ruth Starnes
• "A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." - Washington Irving
• "Even He that died for us upon the cross, in the last hour, in the unutterable agony of death, was mindful of His mother, as if to teach us that this holy love should be our last worldly thought - the last point of earth from which the soul should take its flight for heaven." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• "I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who was born of the promise to a virgin named Mary. I believe in the love Mary gave her Son, that caused her to follow Him in His ministry and stand by His cross when He died. I believe in the love of all mothers, and its importance in the lives of the children they bear. It is stronger than steel, softer than down, and more resilient than a green sapling on the hillside. It closes wounds, melts disappointments, and enables the weakest child to stand tall and straight in the fields of adversity. I believe that this love, even at its best, is only a shadow of the love of God, a dark reflection of all that we can expect of him, both in this life and the next. And I believe that one of the most beautiful sights in the world is a mother who lets this greater love flow through her to her child, blessing the world with the tenderness of her touch and the tears of her joy." - John Killinger, Lost in Wonder, Love, and Praise.
• "An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest." - Spanish proverb
• "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." – W. R. Wallace
• "The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom." - Henry Ward Beecher
• "In all my efforts to learn to read, my mother shared fully my ambition and sympathized with me and aided me in every way she could. If I have done anything in life worth attention, I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother." - Booker T. Washington
• "I cannot tell you how much I owe to the solemn word of my good mother."
  - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
• "Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within the hearing of little children tends towards the formation of character." - Hosea Ballou
• "Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws." - Barbara Kingsolver
• "The future destiny of a child is always the work of the mother." - Napoleon Bonaparte
• "To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power." - Maya Angelou
• "It seems to me that my mother was the most splendid woman I ever knew. I have met a lot of people knocking around the world since, but I have never met a more thoroughly refined woman than my mother. If I have amounted to anything, it will be due to her." - Charles Chaplin
• "The mother, more than any other, affects the moral and spiritual part of the children's character. She is their constant companion and teacher in formative years. The child is ever imitating and assimilating the mother's nature. It is only in after life that men gaze backward and behold how a mother's hand and heart of love molded their young lives and shaped their destiny." - E. W. Caswell
• "The noblest calling in the world is that of mother. True motherhood is the most beautiful of all arts, the greatest of all professions. She who can paint a masterpiece or who can write a book that will influence millions deserves the plaudits and admiration of mankind; but she who rears successfully a family of healthy, beautiful sons and daughters whose immortal souls will be exerting an influence throughout the ages long after painting shall have faded, and books and statues shall have been destroyed, deserves the highest honor that man can give." - David O. McKay
• "My mother had to send me to the movies with my birth certificate, so that I wouldn't have to pay the extra fifty cents the adults had to pay." - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• "There never was a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him asleep." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "No matter how old a mother is she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement." - Florida Scott-Maxwell
• Many scholars have concluded that you cannot really understand John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, unless you understand his mother Susanna Wesley. She was so instrumental in his life that she inevitably affected the movement and its direction. Americans know that Abraham Lincoln led this nation through perhaps its time of greatest crisis; but who was it that made Abraham Lincoln the man that he was? I know what Lincoln thought. He said it was his mother. I would submit to you this morning that there is not a person sitting here that in one, five, ten, a thousand different ways has not been forever influenced by their mother. I firmly believe that you cannot understand who a person is and what motivates them until you understand their past. And you cannot understand a person's past without understanding the source that co-created that person along with God—their parents. - Unknown
• "Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love."
  - Stevie Wonder
• "My mother never gave up one me. I messed up in school so much they were sending me home, but my mother sent me right back." - Denzel Washington
• "My mother said to me, "If you become a soldier you'll be a general; if you become a monk you'll end up as the pope." Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso." - Pablo Picasso

You Know You're Really A Mom When... (Unknown)

(1.) You count the number of sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they are equal.
(2.) You want to take out a contract on the kid who broke your child's favorite toy and made him/her cry.
(3.) You have time to shave only one leg at a time.
(4.) You hide in the bathroom to be alone.
(5.) Your child throws up and you catch it.
(6.) Someone else's kid throws up at a party and you keep eating.
(7.) You consider finger paint to be a controlled substance.
(8.) You mastered the art of placing food on a plate without anything touching.
(9.) Your child insists that you read "Once Upon a Potty" out loud in the lobby of the doctor's office and you do it.
(10.) You hire a baby sitter because you haven't been out with your husband in ages, then you spend half the night talking about and checking on the kids.
(11.) You hope ketchup is a vegetable because it's the only one your child eats.
(12.) You find yourself cutting your husband's sandwiches into unusual shapes.
(13.) You fast-forward through the scene when the hunter shoots Bambi's mother.
(14.) school, then you obsess when he skips in without looking back.
(15.) You can't bear to give away baby clothes--it's so final.
(16.) You hear your mother's voice coming out of your mouth when you say, "Not in your good clothes."
(17.) You stop criticizing the way your mother raised you.
(18.) You read that the average-five-year old asks 437 questions a day and feel proud that your kid is "above average."
(19.) You say at least once a day "I'm not cut out for this job," but you know you wouldn't trade it for anything.

Click "Little Baby" Cartoon to view Mother's Day Cards!

More Momma Humor

• No one deserves a special day all to herself more than today's Mom. A cartoon showed a psychologist talking to his patient: "Let's see," he said, "You spend 50 percent of your energy on your job, 50 percent on your husband and 50 percent on your children. I think I see your problem." - Unknown
• "The hand that rocks the cradle usually is attached to someone who isn't getting enough sleep." - John Fiebig
• "I'd like to be the ideal mother, but I'm too busy raising my kids." - Unknown
• "Motherhood is full of frustrations and challenges, but eventually they move out." - Unknown
• The mother of three notoriously unruly youngsters was asked whether or not she'd have children if she had it to do over again. "Yes," she replied. "But not the same ones." - David Finkelstein
• A little boy forgot his lines in a Sunday school presentation. His mother was in the front row to prompt him. She gestured and formed the words silently with her lips, but it did not help. Her son's memory was blank. Finally, she leaned forward and whispered the cue, "I am the light of the world." The child beamed and with great feeling and a loud clear voice said, "My mother is the light of the world." - Bits and Pieces, August, 1989
• A teacher gave her class of second graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The next day in a written test, she included this question: " My full name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I?" When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word Mother. - Unknown
• "Before becoming a mother I had a hundred theories on how to bring up children. Now I have seven children and only one theory: love them, especially when they least deserve to be loved." - Kate Samperi
• We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different than other kids had too. Mother insisted on knowing where we were at  all times. You would think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less. We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the child Labor Laws but making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lay awake at night thinking of more things for us to do. She always insisted on us telling the truth the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds, and life was really tough. She wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them. While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16. Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing others property, or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault. We never got drunk, took up smoking, stayed out all night, or a million other things other kids did. Sundays were reserved for church, and we never missed once. We knew better than to ask to spend the night with a friend on Saturdays. Now that we have left home, we are all God-fearing, educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like our mom was. The world just doesn't have enough mean moms anymore. - Steve Heese

My Mother Taught Me

(1.) My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."
(2.) My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You'd better pray that will come out of the carpet."
(3.) My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL .
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
(4.) My mother taught me LOGIC.
"Because I said so, that's why."
(5.) My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."
(6.) My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
(7.) My mother taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."
(8.) My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
(9.) My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM .
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
(10.) My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."
(11.) My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."
(12.) My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"
(13.) My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
(14.) My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father!"
(15.) My mother taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."
(16.) My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."
(17.) My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
"You are going to get it when you get home!"
(18.) My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way."
(19.) My mother taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
(20.) My mother taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawnmower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
(21.) My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
(22.) My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."
(23.) My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"
(24.) My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."
(25.) And my favorite: my mother taught me about JUSTICE.
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"

A Description of Mothers
Mothers come in all sizes, shapes and colors and are found everywhere: at kitchen sinks; hunting lost school books; kissing hurt places to make them well; patching seams and dreams; settling disputes; getting meals; supervising baths and morals. Mothers are the child's first and most important teacher. Eighty percent of what a child learns, he learns by the time he is five years old. A mother seems to have eyes in the back of her head, ears that can hear the cookie jar lid being stealthily lifted two rooms away. Her smiles are contagiously cheerful and light up a home, imparting hope and courage.

Scriptures About Motherhood

• Genesis 3:20 - And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
• Proverbs 31:26-28 - In her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household… Her children arise up, and call her blessed."
• Exodus 20:12 - Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
• Proverbs 1:8 - My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother.
• Proverbs 15:20 - A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish man despises his mother.
• Proverbs 31:28 - Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her.
• Isaiah 66:12 - For thus says the LORD: "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.
• Ephesians 6:1-3 - Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."

The Stages of Motherhood ( Author Unknown)

(1.) 4 Years Of Age - My Mommy can do anything;
(2.) 8 Years Of Age - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot
(3.) 12 Years Of Age - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.
(4.) 14 Years Of Age - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either
(5.) 16 Years Of Age - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned
(6.) 18 Years Of Age - That old woman? She's way out of date
(7.) 25 Years Of Age - Well, she might know a little bit about it
(8.) 35 Years Of Age - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion
(9.) 45 Years Of Age - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it
(10.) 65 Years Of Age - Wish I could talk it over with Mom

Click "Wet Baby" Cartoon to view Mother's Day Cards!

"Thank you to all who submitted Mother's Day facts, legends and funny stories. Keep sending us Mother's Day information and we'll keep putting 'em up on this Mother's Day Legends & Oddities page and give you all the credit!" -Says, Caddylak Maxy

Send Funny Mother's Day Cards to spread some Mother's Day Joy!

Be sure to visit our "Fan Mail" by viewing our Testimonials Page!

Mother's Day Legends And Oddities is constantly being updated.
Check back often for updated Mother's Day Legends And Oddities!
Last Updated: Tuesday June 18, 2007 1:47 P.M.

Visit Funny Mother's Day Cards!

Top of the Page