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screw mothers day. i hate my mom
{{pp-protected|expiry=2013-05-15T04:00:43Z|small=yes}}{{pp-move-indef|small=yes}}{{About|a holiday celebrating mothers and motherhood}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2012}}
{{Infobox holiday
|holiday_name = Mother's Day
|type = Commercial
|image = Mothers_Day_card.png
|caption = A Mother's Day card
|observedby = Many countries
|significance = Honors mothers and motherhood
|date = Second Sunday of May<br />Fourth Sunday of [[Lent]] (''[[Mothering Sunday]]'')
|celebrations =
|observances =
|relatedto = [[Children's Day]], [[Father's Day]], [[Parents' Day]]
}}
'''Mother's Day''' is a celebration honoring [[mother]]s and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March or May. It complements [[Father's Day]], a similar celebration honoring fathers.

The celebration of Mother's Day began in the [[United States]] in the early 20th century; it is not related to the many celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have occurred throughout the world over thousands of years, such as the Greek cult to [[Cybele]], the Roman festival of [[Hilaria]], or the Christian [[Mothering Sunday]] celebration.<ref name=grold>{{citation |title= Mother's Day |author=L. James Grold | journal=[[American Journal of Psychiatry]] |volume= 124 |date= April 1968 |pages= 1456–1458 |url= http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1968-12078-001 |quote= Mother's Day, conceived by Anna Jarvis to honor unselfish mothers (...) Although there is no direct lineal descent to our modern Mother's Day custom, secular and religious motherhood have existed for thousands of years 10 May 1908: the first church – St. Andrew's in Grafton, West Virginia – responded to her request for a Sunday service honoring mothers . Cybele (...) }}</ref><ref name=tuleja>{{citation |title= Curious Customs: The Stories Behind 296 Popular American Rituals |author=Tad Tuleja |publisher=Galahad Books |year= 1999 |isbn= 9781578660704 |page= 167 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=CJJracI4-JUC |quote= Although attempts have been made to link Mother's Day to ancient cults of the mother goddess, especially the worship of Cybele, the association is more conceptual than historic. Mother's Day is a modern, American invention. |authorlink= Tad Tuleja }}</ref><ref name=myers>{{citation |title= Celebrations; the complete book of American holidays |author=Robert J. Myers, [[Hallmark Cards]] |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |year= 1972 |page= 143 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=8jbgAAAAMAAJ |quote= Our observance of Mother's Day is little more than half a century old, yet the nature of the holiday makes it seem as if it had its roots in prehistoric times. Many antiquarians, holiday enthusiasts, and students of folklore have claimed to find the source Mother's Day in the ancient spring festivals dedicated to the mother goddess, particularly the worship of Cybele. }}</ref><ref>Helsloot, 2007, p.208 "The American origin of the Day, however, was duly acknowledged. 'The idea is imported,. America led the way.'"</ref> Despite this, in some countries Mother's Day has become synonymous with these older traditions.<ref name=bbc>{{citation |title= Mothering Sunday |work= [[BBC]] |accessdate=4 March 2010 |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/motheringsunday_1.shtml }}</ref>
{{TOC limit|3|date=March 2013}}

==Founding (USA)==
{{main|Mother's Day (U.S.)}}
The modern holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when [[Anna Jarvis]] held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia. She then began a campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the United States. Although she was successful in 1914, she was already disappointed with its commercialization by the 1920s. Jarvis' holiday was adopted by other countries and it is now celebrated all over the world. In this tradition, each person offers a gift, card, or remembrance toward their mothers, grandmothers, and/ or maternal figure on mother's day.

Various observances honoring mothers existed in America during the 1870s and the 1880s, but these never had resonance beyond the local level.<ref name=virginia/> Jarvis never mentioned [[Julia Ward Howe]]'s attempts in the 1870s to establish a "Mother's Day for Peace", nor any connection to the Protestant school celebrations that included "Children's Day" amongst others. Neither did she mention the traditional festival of [[Mothering Sunday]], but always said that the creation was hers alone.<ref>Leigh, p.253</ref> For more information on previous attempts, see the "[[#United States|United States]]" section in this article.

==Spelling==
In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day", and created the Mother's Day International Association.<ref>Larossa, 1997, page [http://books.google.com/books?id=rkkIKQVu26cC&pg=PA272&dq=%22Ann+Jarvis%22+OR+%22Anna+Jarvis%22+%22mother%27s+day%22 72(footnote 51)]</ref> She specifically noted that "Mother's" should "be a singular possessive, for each family to honor its mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers of the world."<ref name=vancouversun /> This is also the spelling used by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in the law making official the holiday in the United States, by the U.S. Congress in relevant bills,<ref name="vote274">[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2008-274 House Vote No. 274 (7 May 2008)] H. Res. 1113: Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day (Vote On Passage)</ref><ref name="vote275">[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2008-275 House Vote No. 275 (7 May 2008)] Table Motion to Reconsider: H RES 1113 Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day</ref> and by various U.S. presidents in their proclamations concerning Mother's Day.<ref>Presidential proclamations from The American Presidency Project:
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=14859 71 – Proclamation 2083 – Mother's Day Proclamation], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], 3 May 1934.
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=24097 Proclamation 3535 Mother's Day, 1963] [[John F. Kennedy]], 26 April 1963.
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=75197 Proclamation 3583 – Mother's Day, 1964] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], 23 April 1964
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=834 Proclamation 4437 – Mother's Day, 1976], [[Gerald Ford]], 5 May 1976.
* [http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1988/042688c.htm Proclamation 5801 – Mother's Day, 1988], [[Ronald Reagan]], 26 April 1988.
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=1845 Proclamation 6133 – Mother's Day, 1990], [[George H. W. Bush|George Bush]], 10 May 1990
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=62428 Proclamation 6559 – Mother's Day, 1993], [[Bill J. Clinton]], 7 May 1993.
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=77285 Proclamation 8253 – Mother's Day, 2008], [[George W. Bush]], 8 May 2008.</ref> However, "Mothers' Day" (plural possessive) or "Mothers Day" (plural non-possessive) are also sometimes seen.

==Dates around the world==
As the American holiday was adopted by other countries and cultures, the date was changed to fit already existing celebrations honoring motherhood, such as [[Mothering Sunday]] in the United Kingdom or, in Greece, the [[Orthodox Christianity|Orthodox]] celebration of the presentation of [[Jesus Christ]] to the temple (2 February). Mothering Sunday is often referred to as "Mother's Day" even though it is an unrelated celebration.<ref name=bbc>{{citation |title= Mothering Sunday |work= BBC |accessdate=4 March 2010 |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/motheringsunday_1.shtml }}</ref>

In some countries the date was changed to a date that was significant to the majority religion, such as [[Virgin Mary]] Day in Catholic countries. Other countries selected a date with historical significance. For example, Bolivia's Mother's Day is the date of a battle in which women participated.<ref name=bolivia /> See the "[[#International history and tradition|International history and tradition]]" section for the complete list.

Ex-communist countries usually celebrated the socialist [[International Women's Day]] instead of the more capitalist Mother's Day.<ref>{{citation |title= German Festivals and Traditions - Activities and Teaching Ideas for Ks3 |author= Nicolette Hannam, Michelle Williams |publisher= Brilliant Publications |year= 2011 |page= 45 |isbn= 9781905780815 |url= http://books.google.es/books?id=6eryIiaTWhYC&pg=PA45&dq=%22International+Women's+Day%22+%22mother's+day%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=L97dT9TsI4POhAfwwIWXCg&ved=0CGIQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22International%20Women's%20Day%22%20%22mother's%20day%22&f=false }}</ref> Some ex-communist countries, such as Russia, still follow this custom<ref name="saunders">{{citation |title= Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation |volume= 78 |series= Historical Dictionaries of Europe, Historical dictionaries of French history |author= Robert A. Saunders, Vlad Strukov |edition= illustrated |publisher= Scarecrow Press |year= 2010 |isbn= 9780810854758 |page= 246 |url= http://books.google.es/books?id=l_uAoNJiOMwC&pg=PA246&dq=%22International+Women's+Day%22+%22mother's+day%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=L97dT9TsI4POhAfwwIWXCg&ved=0CGkQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22International%20Women's%20Day%22%20%22mother's%20day%22&f=false}}</ref> or simply celebrate both holidays, which is the custom in Ukraine.

''Note: Countries that celebrate International Women's Day instead of Mother's Day are marked with a [[dagger (typography)|dagger]] (†).''
<br />
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="8" | [[Gregorian calendar]]
|-
! style="width:px;"| Occurrence
! style="width:100px;"| Dates
! colspan="6" | Country
|-
| valign="top" |
Second Sunday of February
| style="vertical-align:top; width:150px;"|
Feb {{weekday in month|Second|Sunday|February|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}<br />
Feb {{weekday in month|Second|Sunday|February|{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}<br />
Feb {{weekday in month|Second|Sunday|February|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}
| colspan="6" style="vertical-align:top;"|
{{flag|Norway}} <br />
|-
| valign="top" |
3 March
|
| colspan="6" style="vertical-align:top;"|
{{flag|Georgia}}
|-
| valign="top" |
8 March
|
| style="width:150px; vertical-align:top;"|
{{flag|Afghanistan}} <br />
{{flag|Albania}} <br />
{{flag|Kosovo}} <br />
{{flag|Armenia}}† <br />
| style="width:150px; vertical-align:top;"|
{{flag|Azerbaijan}}† <br />
{{flag|Belarus}}† <br />
{{flag|Bosnia and Herzegovina}}† <br />
| style="width:150px; vertical-align:top;"|
{{flag|Bulgaria}}† <br />
{{flag|Kazakhstan}}† <br />
{{flag|Laos}} <br />
| style="width:150px; vertical-align:top;"|
{{flag|Macedonia}}† <br />
{{flag|Republic of Moldova}}† <br />
{{flag|Montenegro}}† <br />
{{flag|Romania}}† <br />
| style="width:150px; vertical-align:top;" colspan="2"|
{{flag|Slovenia}}† <br />
{{flag|Serbia}}† <br />
{{flag|Tajikistan}}† <br />
{{flag|Vietnam}}†* <br />
|-
|valign="top" |
Fourth Sunday in [[Lent]]
| valign="top" |
{{#time:M j, Y|{{JULIANDAY.TIMESTAMP|{{#expr:{{JD|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}|3|7}}+{{Computus/g|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}}}}}}}}}<br />
{{#time:M j, Y|{{JULIANDAY.TIMESTAMP|{{#expr:{{JD|{{CURRENTYEAR}}|3|7}}+{{Computus/g|{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}}}}}}}<br />
{{#time:M j, Y|{{JULIANDAY.TIMESTAMP|{{#expr:{{JD|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}|3|7}}+{{Computus/g|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}}}}}}}}}
| valign="top" |
{{flag|Ireland}} <br />
{{flag|Nigeria}} <br />
| colspan="5" style="vertical-align:top;"|
{{flag|United Kingdom}} <br />
|-
| valign="top" |
21 March <br />
(vernal [[equinox]])
|
| valign="top"|
{{flag|Bahrain}} <br />
{{flag|Comoros}} <br />
{{flag|Djibouti}} <br />
{{flag|Egypt}} <br />
{{flag|Iraq}}<br />
{{flag|Jordan}} <br />
| valign="top"|
{{flag|Kuwait}} <br />
{{flag|Libya}} <br />
{{flag|Lebanon}}<ref>{{citation |title= The amazing mom book: real facts, tender tales, and thoughts from the heart about the most important person on Earth |author=John MacIntyre |page= 7 |year= 2005 |publisher=Sourcebooks |isbn= 9781402203558 |url= http://books.google.es/books?id=dgZknK0tJEkC |quote= Lebanon in the first day of Spring. }}</ref> <br />
{{flag|Mauritania}} <br />
{{flag|Oman}} <br />
|valign="top"|
{{flag|Palestine}} <br />
{{flag|Qatar}} <br />
{{flag|Saudi Arabia}} <br />
{{flag|Somalia}} <br />
{{flag|Sudan}} <br />
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="3"|
{{flag|Syria}} <br />
{{flag|United Arab Emirates}} <br />
{{flag|Yemen}}<br />
|-
| valign="top"|
25 March
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Slovenia}} <br />
|-
|valign="top"|
7 April
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Armenia}} <br />
|-
|valign="top"|
First Sunday in May
|valign="top"|
May {{weekday in month|First|Sunday|May|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}<br />
May {{weekday in month|First|Sunday|May|{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}<br />
May {{weekday in month|First|Sunday|May|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}
|valign="top"|
{{flag|Hungary}} <br />
{{flag|Lithuania}} <br />
|valign="top"|
{{flag|Mozambique}} <br />
{{flag|Portugal}} <br />
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="4"|
{{flag|Romania}} <br />
{{flag|Spain}} <br />
|-
| valign="top"|
8 May
|
| colspan="6" style="vertical-align:top; width:150px;"|
{{flag|South Korea}} ([[Parents' Day]]) <br />
|-
| valign="top"|
10 May
|
| valign="top"|
{{flag|El Salvador}} <br />
{{flag|Guatemala}} <br />
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="5"|
{{flag|Mexico}} <br />
|
|-
| valign="top"|
Second Sunday of May
|valign="top"|
May {{weekday in month|Second|Sunday|May|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}<br />
May {{weekday in month|Second|Sunday|May|{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}<br />
May {{weekday in month|Second|Sunday|May|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}<br />
| style="vertical-align:top; width:150px;"|
{{flag|Anguilla}} <br />
{{flag|Antigua and Barbuda}} <br />
{{flag|Aruba}} <br />
{{flag|Australia}} <br />
{{flag|Austria}} <br />
{{flag|Bahamas}} <br />
{{flag|Bangladesh}} <br />
{{flag|Barbados}} <br />
{{flag|Belgium}} <br />
{{flag|Belize}} <br />
{{flag|Bermuda}} <br />
{{flag|Bonaire}} <br />
{{flag|Botswana}} <br />
{{flag|Brazil}} <br />
{{flag|Brunei}} <br />
| style="vertical-align:top; width:150px;"|
{{flag|Canada}} <br />
{{flag|Cambodia}} <br />
{{flag|Chile}}<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.farah.cl/Feriados/DiasNacionales.html#DiaNacionalDeLaMadre | title=Días Nacionales en Chile | accessdate= 8 April 2013}}</ref> <br />
{{flag|People's Republic of China}}†<ref>{{cite web| title = It's Mother's Day | author=Xinhua from [[China Daily]] | publisher=SCUEC online | date = 16 May 2006 | url = http://news.scuec.edu.cn/english/viewtext1.php?id=556 }}</ref><br />
{{flag|Colombia}} <br />
{{flag|Croatia}} <br />
{{flag|Cuba}}<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.enlace.cu/efemeride/mayo.htm | title = Principales efemérides. Mes Mayo | publisher=Unión de Periodistas de Cuba | accessdate =7 June 2008 }}</ref><br />
{{flag|Curaçao}} <br />
{{flag|Cyprus}} <br />
{{flag|Czech Republic}}<ref name=eastern>{{citation |title= Mixed emotions on Women's Day in Eastern Europe |date= 9 March 2010| publisher=euractiv.com |url= http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/mixed-emotions-women-s-day-eastern-europe-news-309486 }}</ref> <br />
{{flag|Denmark}} <br />
| style="vertical-align:top; width:150px;"|
{{flag|Dominica}} <br />
{{flag|Ecuador}} <br />
{{flag|Estonia}} <br />
{{flag|Ethiopia}}<br />
{{flag|Fiji}} <br />
{{flag|Finland}} <br />
{{flag|Germany}} <br />
{{flag|Ghana}} <br />
{{flag|Greece}} <br />
{{flag|Grenada}} <br />
{{flag|Guyana}} <br />
{{flag|Honduras}} <br />
{{flag|Hong Kong}} <br />
{{flag|Iceland}} <br />
{{Flag|India}} <br />
| style="vertical-align:top; width:150px;"|
{{flag|Italy}} <br />
{{flag|Jamaica}} <br />
{{flag|Japan}} <br />
{{flag|Kurdistan}} <br />
{{flag|Kenya}} <br />
{{flag|Latvia}} <br />
{{flag|Liberia}} <br />
{{flag|Liechtenstein}} <br />
{{flag|Macao}} <br />
{{flag|Malaysia}} <br />
{{flag|Malta}} <br />
{{flag|Myanmar}} <br />
{{Flag|Netherlands}} <br />
{{flag|New Zealand}} <br />
{{Flag|Pakistan}} <br />
{{flag|Papua New Guinea}} <br />
{{flag|Peru}}<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.drelm.gob.pe/index.php?p=art&menu=49 | title = Calendario Cívico Escolar | publisher=Dirección Regional de Educación de Lima Metropolitana | accessdate =7 June 2008 }}</ref><br />
| style="vertical-align:top; width:150px;"|
{{flag|Philippines}} <br />
{{flag|Puerto Rico}} <br />
{{flag|Saint Kitts and Nevis}} <br />
{{flag|Saint Lucia}} <br />
{{flag|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}} <br />
{{flag|Samoa}} <br />
{{Flag|Singapore}} <br />
{{flag|Sint Maarten}} <br />
{{flag|Slovakia}}<ref name=eastern /> <br />
{{flag|South Africa}}{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}} <br />
{{flag|Sri Lanka}} <br />
{{Flag|Suriname}} <br />
| style="vertical-align:top; width:150px;"|
{{flag|Switzerland}} <br />
{{flag|Taiwan}} <br />
{{flag|Tanganyika}} <br />
{{flag|Tonga}} <br />
{{flag|Trinidad and Tobago}} <br />
{{flag|Turkey}} <br />
{{flag|Uganda}} <br />
{{flag|Ukraine}} <br />
{{flag|United States}} <br />
{{flag|Uruguay}} <br />
{{flag|Vietnam}} <br />
{{flag|Venezuela}} <br />
{{flag|Zambia}} <br />
{{flag|Zimbabwe}} <br />
|-
| valign="top"|
15 May
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Paraguay}} (same day as ''Día de la Patria'')<ref name=paraguay1>{{citation |title= Día de la Madre |author=Ministerio de Educación y Cultura de Paraguay |language= Spanish |url= http://www.mec.gov.py/cmsmec/?attachment_id=26430 }}</ref><br />
|-
| valign="top"|
26 May
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Poland}} "Dzień Matki" <br />
|-
| valign="top"|
27 May
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Bolivia}}<ref name=bolivia />
|-
| valign="top"|
Last Sunday of May (sometimes first Sunday of June if it's [[Pentecost]])
|valign="top"|
May {{weekday in month|last|Sunday|May|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}<br />
May {{weekday in month|last|Sunday|May|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}<br />
May {{weekday in month|last|Sunday|May|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}
| valign="top"|
{{flag|Algeria}} <br />
{{flag|Dominican Republic}} <br />
| valign="top"|
{{flag|France}} (First Sunday of June if [[Pentecost]] occurs on this day) <br />
{{flagicon|France}} [[French Antilles]] (First Sunday of June if [[Pentecost]] occurs on this day) <br />
{{flag|Morocco}} <br />
|valign="top"|
{{flag|Haiti}}<ref>Sources:
*{{cite web| url = http://www.discoverhaiti.com/history_holidays.htm | publisher=discoverhaiti.com | title = Haiti: Main Holidays | accessdate =8 July 2008 }}
* {{cite web| url = http://www.haiti-reference.com/histoire/calendrier-fetes.html | title = 6310.- Fêtes et Jours Fériés en Haiti | language = french | accessdate =8 July 2008 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080401102516/http://www.haiti-reference.com/histoire/calendrier-fetes.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 1 April 2008}} {{fr icon}}</ref>

{{flag|Mauritius}}
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="3"|
{{flag|Sweden}} <br />
{{flag|Tunisia}} <br />
|-
| valign="top"|
30 May
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Nicaragua}}<ref name=nicaragua /><br />
|-
| valign="top"|
1 June
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Mongolia}}† (Mothers' and Children's Day.) <br />
|-
| valign="top"|
Second Sunday of June
| valign="top"|
Jun {{weekday in month|Second|Sunday|June|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}<br />
Jun {{weekday in month|Second|Sunday|June|{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}<br />
Jun {{weekday in month|Second|Sunday|June|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Luxembourg}} <br />
|-
| valign="top"|


12 August
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Thailand}} (birthday of [[Queen Sirikit]])
|-
| valign="top"|
15 August ([[Assumption of Mary]])
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Costa Rica}}<br />
[[Antwerp]] (Belgium)
|-
| valign="top"|
Second Monday of October
| valign="top"|
Oct {{weekday in month|Second|Monday|October|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}<br />
Oct {{weekday in month|Second|Monday|October|{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}<br />
Oct {{weekday in month|Second|Monday|October|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{Flag|Malawi}} <br />
|-
| valign="top"|
14 October
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Belarus}} <br />
|-
| valign="top"|
Third Sunday of October
| valign="top"|
Oct {{weekday in month|Third|Sunday|October|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}<br />
Oct {{weekday in month|Third|Sunday|October|{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}<br />
Oct {{weekday in month|Third|Sunday|October|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Argentina}} (''Día de la Madre'')<ref name="argentina" /> <br />
|-
| valign="top"|
Last Sunday of November
| valign="top"|
Nov {{weekday in month|Last|Sunday|November|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}<br />
Nov {{weekday in month|Last|Sunday|November|{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}<br />
Nov {{weekday in month|Last|Sunday|November|{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}}}, {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}+1}}
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Russia}} <br />
|-
| valign="top"|
3 November
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Timor Leste}} <br />
|-
| valign="top"|
8 December ([[Feast of the Immaculate Conception]])
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Panama}}<ref name=panama>{{citation |work=Crítica |title= Bendita Madre |author=editorial |language= Spanish |date= 8 December 2001 |url= http://www.critica.com.pa/archivo/12082001/opinion.html }}</ref><br />
|-
| valign="top"|
22 December
|
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Indonesia}}<ref name="indonesia" /><br />
|-
! colspan="8" | Other calendars
|-
! Occurrence
! Equivalent [[Gregorian calendar|Gregorian dates]]
! colspan="6" | Country
|-
| valign="top" |
[[Shevat]] 30
|Between 30 January and 1 March
| colspan="6" style="vertical-align:top;"|
{{flag|Israel}}<ref name=israel />
|-
|valign="top"|
[[Baisakh]] [[Amavasya]] (Mata Tirtha Aunsi)
| Between 19 April and 19 May
| style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Nepal}}
|-
| valign="top"|
20 [[Jumada al-thani]]<ref group="n">Since the [[Islamic Calendar]] uses the [[lunar year]], which is shorter than the [[solar year]], the day migrates through the seasons. Each year it falls a different day in the Gregorian Calendar, so it is listed separately.</ref>
|24 May 2011<br />
12 May 2012<br />
1 May 2013
|style="vertical-align:top;" colspan="6"|
{{flag|Iran}}<ref name="debano"/>
|}

==International history and tradition==
[[File:Moederdag (1925).ogv|thumb|thumbtime=47|Mother's Day in the [[Netherlands]] in 1925]]
[[File:Northern Pacific Railway Mother's Day postcard 1916.JPG|thumb|[[Northern Pacific Railway]] postcard for Mother's Day 1916.]]
[[File:Mother's Day.jpg|thumb|Mother's Day [[gift]] in 2007]]
[[File:Mother's day card.jpg|thumb|Mother and daughter and Mother's Day card]]

In most countries, Mother's Day is a recent observance derived from the holiday as it has evolved in the United States. As adopted by other countries and cultures, the holiday has different meanings, is associated with different events (religious, historical or legendary), and is celebrated on different dates.

In some cases, countries already had existing celebrations honoring motherhood, and their celebrations then adopted several external characteristics from the American holiday, such as giving carnations and other presents to one's mother.

The extent of the celebrations varies greatly. In some countries, it is potentially offensive to one's mother not to mark Mother's Day. In others, it is a little-known festival celebrated mainly by immigrants, or covered by the media as a taste of foreign culture.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

===Religion===
In the [[Roman Catholic Church]], the holiday is strongly associated with revering the [[Virgin Mary]].<ref>{{Cite book| title = Encyclopedia of Latino popular culture | author=Cordelia Candelaria, Peter J. García | edition = illustrated | publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] | year = 2004 | isbn = 9780313332104 | page = 375 | url = http://books.google.es/books?id=STjcB_f7CVcC&pg=PA375&dq=mother%27s+day+virgin+mary }}</ref> In many Catholic homes, families have a special shrine devoted to the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]]. In many Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, a special prayer service is held in honor of the [[Theotokos]] Virgin Mary.

In [[Hindu]] tradition Mother's Day is called "Mata Tirtha Aunshi" or "Mother Pilgrimage fortnight", and is celebrated in countries with a Hindu population, especially in Nepal. The holiday is observed on the new moon day in the month of [[Baisakh]], i.e., April/May. This celebration is based on Hindu religion and it pre-dates the creation of the Western-inspired holiday by at least a few centuries.{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}

===By country (A&ndash;G)===

====Arab world====
Mother's Day in most Arab countries is celebrated on 21 March, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. It was introduced in Egypt by journalist [[Mustafa Amin]]<ref name=jehl>{{Cite news|title= Mustafa Amin, Liberal Editor Jailed by Nasser, Dies at 83 |author= Jehl, Douglas |date= 16 April 1997 |work= [[The New York Times]]| url= http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/16/world/mustafa-amin-liberal-editor-jailed-by-nasser-dies-at-83.html?pagewanted=1 | accessdate = 10 March 2013}}</ref> in his book ''Smiling America'' (1943). The idea was overlooked at the time. Later Amin heard the story of a widowed mother who devoted her whole life to raising her son until he became a doctor. The son then married and left without showing any gratitude to his mother. Hearing this, Amin became motivated to promote "Mother's Day". The idea was first ridiculed by president [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] but he eventually accepted it and Mother's Day was first celebrated on 21 March 1956. The practice has since been copied by other Arab countries.

When Mustafa Amin was arrested and imprisoned, there were attempts to change the name of the holiday from "Mother's Day" to "Family Day" as the government wished to prevent the occasion from reminding people of its founder. These attempts were unsuccessful and celebrations continued to be held on that day; classic songs celebrating mothers remain famous to this day.

====Afghanistan====
In [[Afghanistan]], Mother's Day was celebrated on 12 June 2010, on the second Saturday in June.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}

====Argentina====
In [[Argentina]], Mother's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of October. The holiday was originally celebrated on 11 October, the old liturgical date for the celebration of the Virgin Mary. (After the [[Second Vatican Council]] the Virgin Mary festivity was moved to 1 January.)<ref name="argentina">{{cite news | author = Staff | title= Arzobispo advierte que "cultura del feminismo extremo" denigra sentido de maternidad |date= 18 October 2006 |publisher= [[Catholic News Agency]] |language= [[Spanish language|Spanish]] |url= http://www.aciprensa.com/noticia.php?n=14514 | accessdate = 10 March 2013 | quote= La celebración del Día de la Madre que se realiza en octubre en Argentina, está ligada a la antigua fecha establecida en la liturgia, que destinaba el 11 de octubre a la fiesta de la Divina Maternidad de María o la fiesta de Santa María, Madre de Dios, que actualmente se celebra el 1 de enero de cada año.}}</ref> Around 1982, national merchants asked that Mother's Day be moved to the third Sunday of October to stimulate sales in the second half of that month.<ref>{{citation |title= Sólo las madres argentinas recibirán regalos mañana |date= 20 October 2007 |language= [[Spanish language|Spanish]] |url= http://www.noticiasnet.com.ar/?se=33&id=8577 |quote= (...) después de Malvinas [after 1982], la Argentina mudó el Día de la Madre, del 11 de octubre al tercer domingo, a pedido de los comerciantes de artículos del hogar, perfumería y cosméticos, que necesitaban reactivar la segunda quincena con una fecha poderosa. }}</ref>

====Australia====
In [[Australia]], Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May.

The tradition of giving gifts to mothers on Mother's Day in Australia was started by Mrs Janet Heyden,<ref name=Heyden>Sources for Janet Heyden:
*{{Cite web |title= Near and Far |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date= 2 May 1927 |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/16379771?searchTerm=%22Mrs%20J.%20Heyden%22&searchLimits= }}
*{{Cite web |title= A Gift for Mother | work=[[The Sun Herald]] |date= 9 May 1954 |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/12639737?searchTerm=%22Mrs%20J.%20Heyden%22&searchLimits= }}</ref> a resident of [[Leichhardt, New South Wales|Leichhardt]], [[Sydney]], in 1924. She began the tradition during a visit to a patient at the Newington State Home for Women, where she met many lonely and forgotten mothers. To cheer them up, she rounded up support from local school children and businesses to donate and bring gifts to the women. Every year thereafter, Mrs Heyden raised increasing support for the project from local businesses and even the local Mayor. The day has since become commercialised. Traditionally, the [[chrysanthemum]] is given to mothers for Mother's Day as the flower is naturally in season during May (autumn in Australia) and ends in "mum", a common affectionate shortening of "mother" in Australia. Men will often wear a chrysanthemum in their lapels in honour of mothers.

====Bangladesh====
In [[Bangladesh]], Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of the month of May. In observance of the day discussion programs are organized by government and non-governmental organizations. Reception programs and cultural programs are organized to mark the day in the capital city. Television channels air special programs, and newspapers publish special features and columns to mark the day. Greeting cards, flowers and gifts featuring mothers are in high demand at the shops and markets.

====Belgium====
In [[Belgium]], Mother's Day (''Moederdag'' or ''Moederkesdag'' in [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and ''Fête des Mères'' in [[French language|French]]) is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. In the week before this holiday children make little presents at primary school, which they give to their mothers in the early morning of Mother's Day. Typically, the father will buy [[croissant]]s and other sweet breads and pastries and bring these to the mother while she is still in bed – the beginning of a day of pampering for the mother. There are also many people who celebrate Mother's Day on 15 August instead; these are mostly people around [[Antwerp]], who consider that day ([[Assumption of Mary|Assumption]]) the classical Mother's Day and the observance in May an invention for commercial reasons.

====Bolivia====
In [[Bolivia]], Mother's Day is celebrated on 27 May. El ''Dia de la Madre Boliviana'' was passed into law on 8 November 1927, during the presidency of [[Hernando Siles Reyes]]. The date commemorates the [[Battle of La Coronilla]], which took place on 27 May 1812, during the [[Bolivian War of Independence]], in what is now the city of [[Cochabamba]]. In this battle, women fighting for the country's independence were slaughtered by the Spanish army. It is not a festive day, but all schools hold activities and festivities throughout the day.{{contradiction-inline | reason = if it is not a festive day, how can there be festivities?|date=November 2012}}<ref name=bolivia>Sources for Bolivia:
*{{Cite web |title= 27 de mayo: madres que inspiran valentía |work=Los Tiempos |language= [[Spanish language|Spanish]] |date= 27 May 2009 |url= http://www.lostiempos.com/diario/actualidad/vida-y-futuro/20090527/27-de-mayo-madres-que-inspiran-valentia_10890_17707.html }}
*{{Citation |title= El Día de la Madre se nutre con la Virgen |work=La Razón (La Paz) |language= Spanish |date= 27 May 2006 |url= http://www.la-razon.com/versiones/20060527_005554/nota_250_291138.htm }}</ref>

====Brazil====
In [[Brazil]], Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May.

The first Mother's Day in Brazil was promoted by Associação Cristã de Moços de [[Porto Alegre]] ([[Young Men's Christian Association]] of Porto Alegre) on 12 May 1918. In 1932, then President [[Getúlio Vargas]] made the second Sunday of May the official date for Mother's Day. In 1947, Archbishop [[Jaime de Barros Câmara]], Cardinal-Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, decided that this holiday would also be included in the official calendar of the Catholic Church.

Mother's Day is not an official holiday (see [[Public holidays in Brazil]]), but it is widely observed and typically involves spending time with and giving gifts to one's mother. Because of this, it is considered one of the celebrations most related to [[consumerism]] in the country, second only to [[Christmas Day]] as the most commercially lucrative holiday.<ref name="brazil shopping">{{cite web|title= Dia das Mães: shoppings têm promoções especiais |url=http://www.visaooeste.com.br/cidades/439_dia_das_maes_shoppings_tem_promocoes_especiais.html|accessdate=11 May 2012|accessdate=13 May 2012}}</ref>

====Bulgaria====
In [[Bulgaria]], 8 March is associated with International Women's Day. The holiday honours women as human beings and equal partners.

Another Bulgarian holiday related to maternity and the family is ''Babinden'' (Bulgarian [[:bg:Бабинден|Бабинден]]), celebrated on 8 January.

====Canada====
:''See also [[Public holidays in Canada#Other observances|Other observances]] in Canada''
[[File:Mother's Day cake.jpg|thumb|Mother's Day cake]]
Mother's Day in Canada is celebrated on the second Sunday in May (it is not, however, a public holiday or bank holiday), and typically involves small celebrations and gift-giving to one's mother, grandmother, or other important female figures in one's family. Celebratory practices are very similar to those of other western nations, such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Many people in Canada express their gratitude towards mothers and mother figures on Mother's Day. A Québécois tradition is for Québécois men to offer roses or other flowers to the women.

====China====
Mother's Day is becoming more popular in [[China]]. Carnations are a very popular Mother's Day gift and the most sold flowers in relation to the day.<ref name="china_popular" /> In 1997 Mother's Day was set as the day to help poor mothers and to remind people of the poor mothers in rural areas such as China's western region.<ref name="china_popular">{{Cite news| title = Mother's Day Popular in China |work=People's Daily | date = 14 May 2001 | url = http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200105/14/eng20010514_69871.html }}</ref> In the [[People's Daily]], the Chinese government's official newspaper, an article explained that "despite originating in the United States, people in China accept the holiday without hesitation because it is in line with the country's traditional ethics – respect for the elderly and filial piety towards parents."<ref name="china_popular" />

In recent years, the Communist Party member Li Hanqiu began to advocate for the official adoption of Mother's Day in memory of Meng Mu, the mother of [[Mencius|Mèng Zǐ]]. He formed a non-governmental organization called ''Chinese Mothers' Festival Promotion Society'', with the support of 100 Confucian scholars and lecturers of ethics.<ref name="allchina">{{cite web| title = Researchers and Experts Propose a Chinese Mother's Day | author=people.com.cn, sina.com.cn | date = 17 June 2008 | publisher=[[All-China Women's Federation]] | url = http://www.womenofchina.cn/Issues/OPINION/204586.jsp }}</ref><ref name="china">{{Cite news| title = Do we need our own Mother's Day? |work=China Daily | date = 16 May 2007 | url = http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/ezine/2007-05/16/content_873529.htm}}</ref> Li and the Society want to replace the Western-style gift of carnations with [[lilium|lilies]], which, in ancient times, were planted by Chinese mothers when children left home.<ref name="china" /> Mother's Day remains an unofficial festival, except in a small number of cities.

====Cyprus====
Mother's Day in [[Cyprus]] is celebrated on the second Sunday of May.

====Czech Republic====
In the [[Czech Republic]], Mother's Day is celebrated every second Sunday in May. It started in former Czechoslovakia in 1923.<ref name="eastern"/> Promoter of this celebration was [[Alice Masaryková]].<ref name="eastern"/> After World War II communists replaced Mother's Day by International Woman's Day, celebrated on 8 March.<ref name="eastern"/> The former Czechoslovakia celebrated Women's Day until the [[Velvet Revolution]] in 1989.<ref name="eastern"/> After the split of the country in 1993, the [[Czech Republic]] started celebrating Mother's Day again.<ref name="eastern"/>

====Estonia====
In [[Estonia]], Mother's Day (''emadepäev'' in [[Estonian language|Estonian]]) is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. It is recognized nationally, but is not a public holiday.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pühade ja tähtpäevade seadus|url=https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/898484|accessdate=3 March 2012}}</ref>

====France====
In [[France]], amidst alarm at the low birth rate, there were attempts in 1896 and 1904 to create a national celebration honoring the mothers of large families.<ref name="UFE">{{citation |title= Histoire de la fête des mères et celle de "l'Union fraternelle des pères de familles méritants d'Artas" |publisher=Union des Familles en Europe |url= http://www.uniondesfamilles.org/fete-des-meres.htm }}</ref> In 1906 ten mothers who had nine children each were given an award recognising "High Maternal Merit" ("Haut mérite maternel").{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} American World War I soldiers fighting in France popularized the US Mother's Day holiday created by Anna Jarvis. They sent so much mail back to their country for Mother's Day that the [[Union Franco-Américaine]] created a postal card for that purpose.<ref name="UFE" /> In 1918, also inspired by Jarvis, the town of Lyon wanted to celebrate a "journée des Mères", but instead decided to celebrate a "Journée Nationale des Mères de familles nombreuses." The holiday was more inspired by anti-depopulation efforts than by the US holiday, with medals awarded to the mothers of large families.<ref name="UFE"/> The French government made the day official in 1920 as a day for mothers of large families.<ref name="capdevila">[[Luc Capdevila]] (CRHISCO – [[University of Rennes 2]]), Fabrice Virgili ([[Institut d'histoire du temps présent|IHTP]] – [[Centre national de la recherche scientifique|CNRS]]), "[http://irice.cnrs.fr/IMG/doc/Guerre_femmes_nation.doc Guerre, femmes et nation en France (1939–1945)]", in IRICE.</ref> Since then the French government awards the [[Médaille de la Famille française]] to mothers of large families.

In 1941, by initiative of [[Philippe Pétain]], the wartime [[Vichy France|Vichy]] government used the celebration in support of their policy to encourage larger families, but all mothers were now honored, even mothers with smaller families.<ref name="capdevila" />

In 1950, after the war, the celebration was reinstated. The law of 24 May 1950 required that the Republic pay official homage to French Mothers on the last Sunday in May as the "Fête des Mères" (except when Pentecost fell on that day, in which case it was moved to the first Sunday in June).{{citation needed|date=December 2012}}

During the 1950s, the celebration lost all its patriotic and natalist ideologies, and became heavily commercialized.<ref name="UFE" />

In 1956, the celebration was given a budget and integrated into the new [[Code de l'action sociale et des familles]].{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} In 2004 responsibility for the holiday was transferred to the Minister responsible for families.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}}

====Germany====
[[File:Herztorte zum Muttertag.jpg|thumb|Mother's Day cake in Germany]]
In the 1920s, [[Germany]] had the lowest birthrate in Europe, and the declining trend was continuing. This was attributed to women's participation in the labor market. At the same time, influential groups in society (politicians of left and right, churchwomen, and feminists) believed that mothers should be honored but could not agree on how to do so. However, all groups strongly agreed on the promotion of the values of motherhood. In 1923, this resulted in the unanimous adoption of ''Muttertag'', the Mother's Day holiday as imported from America{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} and Norway. The head of the Association of German Florists cited "the inner conflict of our ''[[Volk]]'' and the loosening of the family" as his reason for introducing the holiday. He expected that the holiday would unite the divided country. In 1925, the Mother's Day Committee joined the task force for the recovery of the ''volk'', and the holiday stopped depending on commercial interests and began emphasizing the need to increase the population in Germany by promoting motherhood.<ref name=mouton/>

The holiday was then seen as a means to encourage women to bear more children, which nationalists saw as a way to rejuvenate the nation. The holiday did not celebrate individual women, but an idealized standard of motherhood. The progressive forces resisted the implementation of the holiday because it was backed by so many conservatives, and because they saw it as a way to eliminate the rights of working women. ''[[Die Frau]]'', the newspaper of the Federation of German Women's Associations, refused to recognize the holiday. Many local authorities adopted their own interpretation of the holiday: it would be a day to support economically larger families or single-mother families. The guidelines for the subsidies had [[eugenics]] criteria, but there is no indication that social workers ever implemented them in practice, and subsidies were given preferentially to families in economic need rather than to families with more children or "healthier" children.<ref name=mouton />

With the Nazi party in power during 1933–1945, the situation changed radically. The promotion of Mother's Day increased in many European countries, including the UK and France. From the position of the German Nazi government, the role of mothers was to give healthy children to the German nation. The Nazi party's intention was to create a pure "Aryan race" according to [[nazi eugenics]]. Among other Mother's Day ideas, the government promoted the death of a mother's sons in battle as the highest embodiment of patriotic motherhood.<ref name=mouton /><ref name=taylor />

The Nazis quickly declared Mother's Day an official holiday and put it under the control of the NSV ([[National Socialist People's Welfare Association]]) and the NSF ([[National Socialist Women Organization]]). This created conflicts with other organizations that resented Nazi control of the holiday, including Catholic and Protestant churches and local women's organizations. Local authorities resisted the guidelines from the Nazi government and continued assigning resources to families who were in economic need, much to the dismay of the Nazi officials.<ref name=mouton>{{citation |title= From nurturing the nation to purifying the Volk: Weimar and Nazi family policy, 1918–1945 |chapter= From Mother's Day to Forced Sterilization |pages=107–152 |series= Publications of the German Historical Institute |author=Michelle Mouton |edition= illustrated |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year= 2007 |isbn= 0-521-86184-5 |url= http://books.google.es/books?id=YAwuIKyMvSEC |authorlink= Michelle Mouton (historian) }}</ref>

[[File:Muttertagsfeier im Unrralager.jpg|thumb|Mother's Day in [[United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration|UNRRA]] camp Germany in 1946]]
<!-- I find the following paragraph on "Mother's Cross" much too elaborate to fit into this article about "Mother's Day". If you agree, please shorten. -->
In 1938 the government began issuing an award called [[Cross of Honor of the German Mother|Mother's Cross]] (''Mutterkreuz''), according to categories that depended on the number of children a mother had. The medal was awarded on Mother's Day and also on other holidays due to the large number of recipients. The Cross was an effort to encourage women to have more children, and recipients were required to have at least four. For example, a gold cross recipient (level one) was obliged to have eight children or more. Because having fewer children was a recent development, the gold cross was awarded mainly to elderly mothers with adult children. The Cross promoted loyalty among German women and was a popular award even though it had little material reward and was mostly empty praise. The recipients of honors were compelled to be examined by doctors and social workers according to genetic and racial values that were considered beneficial. The mother's friends and family were also examined for possible flaws that could disqualify the mother, and they also had to be "racially and morally fit." They had to be "German-blooded," "genetically healthy," "worthy," "politically reliable," and could not have vices like drinking. Criteria that weighed against honors were, for example, "family history contains inferior blood", "unfeminine" behavior including smoking or doing poor housekeeping, not being "politically reliable", or having family members who had been "indicted and imprisoned". There were instances where a family was disqualified because a doctor saw signs of "feeblemindedness". Even contact with a Jew could disqualify a potential recipient. Some social workers had become disillusioned from the [[Weimar Republic]] and supported Nazi ideas personally as a means to "cure" the problems of the country. The application of policies was uneven, as doctors promoted medical criteria over racial criteria, and local authorities promoted economic need over any other criteria.<ref name=mouton /><ref name=taylor>{{citation | author=Ann Taylor Allen | title= Reviewed work(s): Muttertag und Mutterkreuz: Der Kult um die "Deutsche Mutter" im Nationalsozialismus, by Irmgard Weyrather |location= Frankfurt A.m |journal=[[American Historical Review]] |volume= 100 |issue= 1 |year= February 1995 |pages= 186–187 |url= http://www.jstor.org/pss/2168063 }}</ref>

The holiday is now celebrated on the second Sunday of May, in a manner similar to other nearby European countries.

====Greece====
Mother's Day in [[Greece]] is celebrated on the second Sunday of May.

===By country (H&ndash;M)===

====Hungary====
In [[Hungary]], Mother's Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of May. It was first celebrated in 1925 by the Hungarian [[Red Cross Youth]].

==== India ====
The modern Mother's Day has been assimilated into [[India]]n culture,<ref>{{cite web |title= Social change in India discussed |work= Times of India |author= TTN |date= 13 March 2004 |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-03-13/lucknow/28330092_1_globalisation-tribals-discussion |quote= Prof Bradley Hartel from Virginia, USA, reiterated that cultural and artistic exchanges have led to a confluence of ideas and traditions between India and USA. He said that India is unique in it's &#91;sic&#93; adaptability of new cultures as is exemplified by integrating Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, etc, into it's &#91;sic&#93; list of numerous festivals despite the many protests. He stressed that many traditions are being universalised in a global world. }}</ref> and it is celebrated every year on the second Sunday of May.<ref>{{citation |title= Kyunki saas bhi toh maa hai! |author= Charu Amar |work= The Times of India |date= 1 May 2009 |url= http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/specialcoverage/articleshowpics/4471483.cms |quote= Mention Mother's Day and everyone goes on a thinking spree to find the most innovative way to pamper their mommy dearest. }}</ref>
<br/>
In India, mothers are considered as god to their children.<ref>{{cite web|title=Motherhood|url=http://www.hinduism.co.za/motherho.htm|work=http://www.hinduism.co.za/|accessdate=8 May 2013}}</ref> Indians do not celebrate the occasion as a religious one, but do their best to thank their mothers for care and love.

Traditionally, mothers are given great importance in Indian culture. The day is celebrated mostly in urban centers, by performing special acts to honour them and their contribution to the family. It is called मातृ दिनम् (''matṛ dinam'') (from [[Sanskrit]]).
As per Hindu tradition, mothers are paid homage to on Saraswati pooja day during Devi Navratri, with "Maatri Pooja" (worship of mother).

====Indonesia====
[[Indonesia]]n Mother's Day ({{lang-id|'''Hari Ibu'''}}) is celebrated nationally on 22 December. The date was made an official holiday by President [[Soekarno]] under Presidential Decree ({{lang-id|Dekrit Presiden}}) no. 316 in 1953, on the 25th anniversary of the 1928 Indonesian Women Congress. The day originally sought to celebrate the spirit of Indonesian women and to improve the condition of the nation. Today, the meaning of Mother's Day has changed, and it is celebrated by expressing love and gratitude to mothers. People present gifts to mothers (such as flowers) and hold surprise parties and competitions, which include cooking and [[kebaya]] wearing. People also allow mothers a day off from domestic chores.<ref name="wardhani">{{cite web |title= In observance of Mother's Day |author= Wardhani, Lynda K. |work= [[The Jakarta Post]] |date= 22 December 2010 |url= http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/12/22/in-observance-mother’s-day.html}}</ref>

The holiday is celebrated on the anniversary of the opening day of the first Indonesian Women Congress ({{lang-id|Kongres Perempuan Indonesia}}), which was held from 22 to 25 December 1928.<ref name="indonesia"/><ref name="bulbeck"/> The Congress took place in a building called Dalem Jayadipuran,<ref>[http://www.javanologi.info/main/index.php?page=agenda&id=102 Dalem Jayadipuran], Balai Pelestarian Sejarah dan Nilai Tradisional Yogyakarta</ref> which now serves as the office of the Center of History and Traditional Values Preservation ({{lang-id|Balai Pelestarian Sejarah dan Nilai Tradisional}}) in Brigjen Katamso Street, [[Yogyakarta]]. The Congress was attended by 30 feminist organizations from 12 cities in [[Java]] and [[Sumatra]]. In Indonesia, feminist organizations have existed since 1912, inspired by Indonesian heroines of the 19th century, e.g., [[Kartini]], [[Martha Christina Tiahahu]], [[Cut Nyak Meutia]], [[Maria Walanda Maramis]], [[Dewi Sartika]], [[Nyai Ahmad Dahlan]], [[Rasuna Said]], etc.<ref name="indonesia">{{citation |title= Sejarah Perayaan Nasional Hari Ibu 22 Desembe |author=seenthing |date= 21 December 2010 |url= http://www.shvoong.com/writing-and-speaking/ezines-and-newsletters/2089852-sejarah-perayaan-nasional-hari-ibu/ }}</ref> The Congress intended to improve women's rights in education and marriage.<ref name="robinson"/>

Indonesia also celebrates the Kartini Day ({{lang-id|'''Hari Kartini'''}}) on 21 April, in memory of activist [[Raden Ayu Kartini]]. This is a celebration of the emancipation of women.<ref name="bulbeck">{{citation |title= Sex, Love and Feminism in the Asia Pacific: A Cross-cultural Study of Young People's Attitudes |series= ASAA women in Asia |author= Chilla Bulbeck |publisher= Routledge |year= 2009 |isbn= 9781134104697 |url= http://books.google.es/books?id=chqofjVED54C&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=mother's+day+indonesia&source=bl&ots=luKvRo2DKd&sig=o1E7OBDaKYB_Yabpr-QNAJo_YnU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1CccUKKnAqb80QWzmIC4AQ&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=mother's%20day%20indonesia&f=false }}</ref> The observance was instituted at the 1938 Indonesian Women Congress.<ref name="robinson">{{citation |title= Gender, Islam and Democracy in Indonesia |series= ASAA women in Asia |author= Kathryn Robinson |publisher= Routledge |year= 2009 |pages= 3, 36, 44, 72 |isbn= 9781134118830 |url= http://books.google.es/books?id=V9OBgXw7m1kC&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=mother's+day+indonesia&source=bl&ots=F3SIjMrLsn&sig=-Nd2jHMaE9FaqRYovpIPLCQALZs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1CccUKKnAqb80QWzmIC4AQ&ved=0CEkQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=mother's%20day%20indonesia&f=false }}</ref>

During President [[Suharto]]'s [[New Order (Indonesia)|New Order]] (1965-1998), government propaganda used Mother's Day and Kartini Day to inculcate into women the idea that they should be docile and stay at home.<ref name="robinson"/>

====Iran====
In [[Iran]], Mother's Day is celebrated on 20 [[Jumada al-thani]]. This is the sixth month in the Islamic calendar (a lunar calendar) and every year the holiday falls on a different day of the Gregorian calendar. This is the birthday anniversary of [[Fatimah]],<ref name="debano">{{citation |chapter= Singing against Silence: Celebrating Women and Music and the Fourth Jasmine Festival |author= Wendy S. DeBano |title= Music and the Play of Power in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia |series= Soas Musicology Series |editor= Laudan Nooshin |edition= illustrated |publisher= [[Ashgate Publishing]] |year= 2009 |isbn= 9780754634577 |page= 234 (footnote 18) |url= http://books.google.es/books?id=gAR15vJcC6wC&pg=PA234&dq=%22mother's+day%22+iran&hl=es&sa=X&ei=HGjHUKHvA5GI9ASMv4CgBQ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22mother's%20day%22%20iran&f=false |quote= In 2002, Fatemeh's birthday celebration (observed according to the ''hejri'' calendar) fell on Thursday 29 August (20 Jamādi 1423) (...) Fatemeh's birth date is also currently used to mark Mother's Day in Iran, ritually recollecting, emphasising and reinscribing her role as a loyal mother, wife and daughter. Prior to the revolution, Mother's Day was used to promote the gender ideologies of the Pahlavi regime. }}</ref><ref name="iranpresident">{{cite web| url = http://www.president.ir/en/print.php?ArtID=10405 | title = Ahmadinejad highlights women's significant role in society | date = 24 June 2008 | publisher=Presidency of The Islamic Republic of Iran News Service | accessdate =19 July 2008 | quote = (...) the occasion of the Mother's Day marking the birthday anniversary of [[Fatimah|Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra]] (SA), the beloved daughter of Prophet [[Mohammad]]. The day fell on 23 June [2008] |archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090516000919/http://www.president.ir/en/print.php?ArtID=10405 |archivedate= 16 May 2009 }}</ref> [[Muhammad]]'s only daughter according to [[Shia Islam]] orthodoxy. Mother's Day was originally observed on 16 December but the date was changed after the [[Iranian Revolution]] in 1979. The Islamic regime used the holiday as a propaganda tool to undercut feminist movements and to promote role models for the traditional concept of family. Fatimah was the chosen model of a submissive woman who was completely dedicated to traditional female roles.<ref name="debano"/><ref name="haeri1">{{Cite book| chapter= Obedience versus Autonomy: Women and Fundamentalism in Iran and Pakistan |author= Shahla Haeri |title = Fundamentalisms and Society: Reclaiming the Sciences, the Family, and Education |series= The Fundamentalism Project |volume= 2 |editor= Martin E. Marty, R. Scott Appleby, Helen Hardacre, Everett Mendelsohn |edition= 2 |publisher= University of Chicago Press |year= 1993 |isbn= 9780226508801 | page= 197 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=FoF5jCEepGkC&pg=PA197&dq=%22mother%27s+day%22+iran+fatimah&lr=&client=opera&hl=es&sig=ACfU3U3yD--Xrd6MwGwScS_OHNvSf5a2Kg |quote= The more women try to engage the fundamentalists in their own discourse, negotiating and bargaining over their rights (Islamic or otherwise), the more frequently has the Islamic regime emphasized the ideal, the Fatimah model, the quintessential obedient woman. The fundamentalist regime in iran has yet to resolve its central dilemma regarding the role of women and male-female relationships: should women emulate a Zainab-autonomus and assertive-or a Fatimah-obedient and submissive? Given the logic of an Islamic marriage and the worldview it implies, the fundamentalist regime has shown a marked preference for the latter. Thus Woman's Day and Mother's Day in Iran are celebrated on the occasion of Fatimah's birth. }}</ref><ref name="haeri1"/><ref>{{Cite book| url = http://www.owu.edu/~aamahdi/globalization-final.doc | title = Iran Encountering Globalization: Problems and Prospects | chapter = Iranian Women: Between Islamization and Globalization | author= Mahdi, Ali Akbar | publisher=Ali Mohammadi. London and New York: Routledge/Curzon | year = 2003 | isbn = 0-415-30827-5 | quote = This Shia vision of family is based on a nostalgic and idealistic notion of Imam Ali's family in which Fatima Zahra (the Prophet Mohammad's daughter) dedicated herself to both her husband and Islamic cause. Other role models for women often cited by the officials and ideologues of the IRI are Khadijah, the prophet Mohammad's wife, and Zaynab, daughter of the first Shi'i Imam Ali. In fact, the IRI [Islamic Republic of Iran] replaced the universal Mother's Day with Fatima Zahar's birthday. |format=DOC |archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110720024641/http://www.owu.edu/~aamahdi/globalization-final.doc |archivedate= 20 July 2011}}</ref><ref name="haeri2">{{citation |chapter= Women, Religion, and Political Agency in Iran |author= Shahla Haeri |title= Contemporary Iran:Economy, Society |editor= Ali Gheissari |edition= illustrated |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 2009 |isbn= 9780195378481 |page= 137 |url= http://books.google.es/books?id=KTou9VwtQfkC&pg=PA137&dq=%22mother's+day%22+iran&hl=es&sa=X&ei=HGjHUKHvA5GI9ASMv4CgBQ&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22mother's%20day%22%20iran&f=false |quote= Such [feminist] gatherings would not have been so remarkable had they not happened against the backdrop of the regime's ceaseless effort to discourage, even harass, women activists and their supporters. Within the narrative of Islamization, the state's argument has been, all along, that such gatherings are representative of the culture of imperialism, and hence are subversive and againt the public good and the moral order. Above all, the Islamic state has tried hard to co-opt women by appropriating the terminology and language: "protecting women," "respect for women," "gender complementarity." Accordingly, in order to accommodate, and yet control and channel women's movements and activitites, the state commemorates the birthday of Fatemeh, the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, as a national woman's/mother's day. }}</ref> The celebration is both Women's Day (replacing International Women's Day) and Mother's Day.<ref name=debano/><ref name="haeri1"/>

In 1960, the Institute for Women Protection adopted the Western holiday and established it on 25 [[Solar Hijri calendar|Azar]] (16 December) of the Iranian official calendar, the date the Institute was founded. The Institute's action had the support of Queen [[Farah Pahlavi]], the wife of the last Shah of Persia, who promoted the construction of maternity clinics in remote parts of the country to commemorate the day. The government used the holiday to promote its maternalist view of women. The government honored and gave awards to women who represented the idealized view of the regime, including mothers who had many healthy children.<ref>{{citation |title= Conceiving Citizens: Women and the Politics of Motherhood in Iran |author= Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet |edition= illustrated |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 2011 |isbn=9780195308860 |pages= 201–206 |url= http://books.google.es/books?id=xbbT0Rsc6EMC&pg=PA202&dq=%22mother's+day%22+iran&hl=es&sa=X&ei=HGjHUKHvA5GI9ASMv4CgBQ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22mother's%20day%22%20iran&f=false }}</ref>

====Israel====
The Jewish population celebrates Mother's Day on [[Shevat]] 30 of the Jewish calendar, which falls between 30 January and 1 March. The celebration was set as the same date that [[Henrietta Szold]] died. Henrietta had no biological children, but her organization [[Youth Aliyah]] rescued many Jewish children from Nazi Germany and provided for them. She also championed children's rights. Szold is considered the "mother" of all those children, and that is why her annual remembrance day (יום השנה) was set as Mother's Day (יוֹם הָאֵם, yom ha'em). The holiday has evolved over time, becoming a celebration of mutual love inside the family, called Family Day (יוֹם הַמִשְּפָּחָה, yom hamishpacha). Mother's Day is mainly celebrated by children at kindergartens. There are no longer mutual gifts among members of the family, and there is no longer any commercialization of the celebration. It is not an official holiday either.<ref name=israel>Sources for Israel:
*{{Citation |title= Knesset, Emunah Mark International Women's Day |author=Gil Ronen |publisher=[[Arutz Sheva]] |date= 9 March 2010 |url= http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/136427 }}
*{{Cite web |title= No Mother's Day in Israel, but mothers have real clout |author=Nechemia Meyers | work = [[j.]] |date=7 May 2004 |url= http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/22523/no-mother-s-day-in-israel-but-mothers-have-real-clout/ }}</ref>

====Ireland====
{{main|Mothering Sunday}}
In [[Ireland]], Mother's Day is celebrated on Mothering Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent.

====Italy====
Mother's Day in [[Italy]] was celebrated for the first time on 12 May 1957, in the city of [[Assisi]], thanks to the initiative of Rev. Otello Migliosi, parish priest of the [[Tordibetto]] church.<ref>{{citation |title= La Festa DeLLa Mamma |work= Italian America |author= Anonymous |date= 1 April 2010 |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2043375061.html }} (registration required)</ref> This celebration was so successful that the following year Mother's Day was adopted throughout Italy. In 18 December 1958 a proposal was presented to the [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Italian Senate]] to make official the holiday.<ref>Raul Zaccari - together with Senators Bellisario, Baldini, Restagno, Piasenti, Benedetti and Zannini. Senato della Repubblica, [http://www.senato.it/service/PDF/PDFServer/BGT/434379.pdf 78ª Seduta Pubblica], 18 dicembre 1958. "Istituzione de la festa della Mamma." (Annunzio di presentazione di disegni di legge)</ref> It is celebrated on the second Sunday in May.

====Japan====
In [[Japan]], {{nihongo|Mother's Day|母の日|Haha no Hi}} was initially commemorated during the [[Shōwa period]] as the birthday of [[Empress Kōjun]] (mother of [[Emperor Akihito]]) on 6 March. This was established in 1931 when the Imperial Women's Union was organized. In 1937, the first meeting of "Praise Mothers" was held on 8 May, and in 1949 Japanese society adopted the second Sunday of May as the official date for Mother's Day in Japan. Currently Mother's Day in Japan is a rather commercial holiday, and people typically give their mothers gifts of flowers such as red carnations and roses.

====Latvia====
Mother's Day in [[Latvia]] was celebrated for the first time in 1922. Since 1938, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. It is recognized nationally, and is a public holiday.<ref>{{cite web |title= Šodien sveicam Māmiņas! |author= Apollo.lv |work= Apollo.lv India |date= 13 May 2012 |url= http://www.apollo.lv/portal/life/articles/274302 |quote= Mātes dienu Latvijā sāka svinēt 1922. gadā, bet ar 1934. gadu tika noteikts, ka šī diena svinama katra maija otrajā svētdienā līdzīgi kā citās Eiropas valstīs. 1938. gadā pēc prezidenta Kārļa Ulmaņa ierosinājuma Mātes dienu sāka dēvēt par Ģimenes dienu, uzsverot mātes lielo lomu ģimenes pavarda veidošanā un uzturēšanā.}}</ref>

====Malta====
The first mention of Mother's Day in [[Malta]] occurred during the Radio Children's Programmes run by Frans H. Said in May 1961. Within a few years, Mother's Day became one of the most popular dates in the Maltese calendar. In Malta, this day is commemorated on the second Sunday in May. Mothers are invariably given gifts and invited for lunch, usually at a good quality restaurant.

====Mexico====
{{See also|Public holidays in Mexico#Festivities}}
In [[Mexico]], the government of [[Álvaro Obregón]] imported the Mother's Day holiday from the US in 1922, and the newspaper ''[[Excélsior]]'' held a massive promotional campaign for the holiday that year.<ref name="newcomer 133">Newcomer, page 133</ref> The conservative government tried to use the holiday to promote a more conservative role for mothers in families, but that perspective was criticized by the socialists as promoting an unrealistic image of a woman who was not good for much more than breeding.<ref name="newcomer 133"/>

In the mid-1930s the leftist government of [[Lázaro Cárdenas]] promoted the holiday as a "patriotic festival". The Cárdenas government tried to use the holiday as a vehicle for various efforts: to stress the importance of families as the basis for national development; to benefit from the loyalty that Mexicans felt towards their mothers; to introduce new morals to Mexican women; and to reduce the influence that the church and the Catholic right exerted over women.<ref name="sherman"/> The government sponsored the holiday in the schools.<ref name="sherman"/> However, ignoring the strict guidelines from the government, theatre plays were filled with religious icons and themes. Consequently, the "national celebrations" became "religious fiestas" despite the efforts of the government.<ref name="sherman">Sherman, page 44</ref>

Soledad Orozco García, the wife of President [[Manuel Ávila Camacho]], promoted the holiday during the 1940s, resulting in an important state-sponsored celebration.<ref name="newcomer 133–134"/> The 1942 celebration lasted a full week and included an announcement that all women could reclaim their pawned sewing machines from the [[Nacional Monte de Piedad|Monte de Piedad]] at no cost.<ref name="newcomer 133–134">Newcomer, pages 133–134</ref>

Due to Orozco's promotion, the catholic [[National Synarchist Union]] (UNS) took heed of the holiday around 1941.<ref name="newcomer 134">Newcomer, page 134</ref> Shop-owner members of the Party of the Mexican Revolution (now the [[Institutional Revolutionary Party]]) observed a custom allowing women from humble classes to pick a free Mother's Day gift from a shop to bring home to their families. The Synarchists worried that this promoted both materialism and the idleness of lower classes, and in turn, reinforced the systemic social problems of the country.<ref name="newcomer 134–135">Newcomer, 134–135</ref> Currently this holiday practice is viewed as very conservative, but the 1940s' UNS saw Mother's Day as part of the larger debate on the modernization that was happening at the time.<ref name="newcomer 135–136"/> This economic modernization was inspired by US models and was sponsored by the state. The fact that the holiday was originally imported from the US was seen as evidence of an attempt at imposing capitalism and materialism in Mexican society.<ref name="newcomer 135–136">Newcomer, 135–136</ref>

The UNS and the clergy of the city of [[León, Guanajuato|León]] interpreted the government's actions as an effort to secularize the holiday and to promote a more active role for women in society. They concluded that the government's long term goal was to cause women to abandon their traditional roles at home in order to spiritually weaken men.<ref name="newcomer 135–136"/> They also saw the holiday as an attempt to secularize the cult to the Virgin Mary, inside a larger effort to dechristianize several holidays. The government sought to counter these claims by organizing widespread masses and asking religious women to assist with the state-sponsored events in order to "depaganize" them.<ref name="newcomer 136–139"/> The clergy preferred to promote the 2nd July celebration of the Santísima [[Virgen de la Luz]], the patron of [[León, Guanajuato]], in replacement of Mother's Day.<ref name="newcomer 134"/> In 1942, at the same time as Soledad's greatest celebration of Mother's Day, the clergy organized the 210th celebration of the Virgin Mary with a large parade in León.<ref name="newcomer 136–139">Newcomer, 136–139</ref>

There is a consensus among scholars that the Mexican government abandoned its revolutionary initiatives during the 1940s, including its efforts to influence Mother's Day.<ref name="newcomer 134">Newcomer, page 134</ref>

Today the "Día de las Madres" is an unofficial holiday in Mexico held each year on 10 May,<ref name="legacy">[http://legacyproject.org/guides/mdhistory.html The History of Mother's Day] from The Legacy Project, a Legacy Center (Canada) website</ref> because it's the date when it was first celebrated in Mexico.

===By country (N&ndash;S)===

====Netherlands====
[[File:Homemade Mother's Day Gift Cookie Bouquet.jpg|thumb|150px|Homemade "Mom's the Word" cookie bouquet features cookie-k-bobs made of sugar cookie butterflies, flower]]
[[File:Clara's Card.jpg|thumb|150px|Mother and a handmade Mother's Day card]]
In the [[Netherlands]], Mother's Day was introduced as early as 1910 by the Dutch branch of the [[Salvation Army]].<ref>Helsloot, 2007, p. 206</ref> The Royal Dutch Society for Horticulture and Botany, a group protecting the interest of Dutch florists, worked to promote the holiday; they hoped to emulate the commercial success achieved by American florists.<ref name="helsloot 208">Helsloot, 2007, p. 208</ref> They were imitating the campaign already underway by florists in Germany and Austria, but they were aware that the traditions had originated in the US.<ref name="helsloot 208"/>

Florists launched a major promotional effort in 1925. This included the publication of a book of articles written by famous intellectuals, radio broadcasts, newspapers ads, and the collaboration of priests and teachers who wanted to promote the celebration for their own reasons.<ref name="helsloot 208"/> In 1931 the second Sunday of May was adopted as the official celebration date. In the mid-1930s the slogan ''Moederdag - Bloemendag'' (Mother's Day - Flower's Day) was coined, and the phrase was popular for many years.<ref name="helsloot 209">Helsloot, 2007, p. 209</ref> In the 1930s and 1940's "Mother's Day cakes" were given as gifts in hospitals and to the [[Monarchy of the Netherlands|Dutch Queen]], who is known as the "mother of the country".<ref name="helsloot 209"/> Other trade groups tried to cash in on the holiday and to give new meaning to the holiday in order to promote their own wares as gifts.<ref name="helsloot 209"/>

Roman Catholic priests complained that the holiday interfered with the honouring of the Virgin Mary, the divine mother, which took place during the whole month of May. In 1926 Mother's Day was celebrated on 7 July in order to address these complaints.<ref name="helsloot 210">Helsloot, 2007, p. 210</ref> Catholic organizations and priests tried to Christianize the holiday, but those attempts were rendered futile around the 1960s when the church lost influence and the holiday was completely secularized.<ref name="helsloot 210"/>

In later years the initial resistance disappeared, and even leftist newspapers stopped their criticism and endorsed Mother's Day.<ref name="helsloot 213">Helsloot, 2007, p. 213</ref>

In the 1980s, the American origin of the holiday was still not widely known, so feminist groups who opposed the perpetuation of gender roles sometimes claimed that Mother's Day was invented by Nazis and celebrated on the birthday of Hitler's mother.<ref name="helsloot 211">Helsloot, 2007, p. 211</ref>

====Nepal====
In [[Nepal]], there is a festival equivalent to Mother's Day, called Mata Tirtha Aunsi ("Mother Pilgrimage New Moon"), or Mata Tirtha [[Puja (Buddhism)|Puja]] ("Mother Pilgrimage Worship"). It is celebrated according to the lunar calendar. It falls on the last day of the dark fortnight in the month of [[Baishakh (Nepali calendar)|Baishakh]] which falls in April-May (in 2013, it occurred on May 9). The dark fortnight lasts for 15 days from the full moon to the new moon. This festival is observed to commemorate and honor mothers, and it is celebrated by giving gifts to mothers and remembering mothers who are no more.

To honor mothers who have died, it is the tradition to go on a pilgrimage to the Mata Tirtha ponds, located 6 km to the southwest of downtown [[Kathmandu]]. The nearby [[Mata Tirtha]] village is named after these ponds. Previously, the tradition was observed primarily by the [[Newar]] community and other people living in the [[Kathmandu Valley]]. Now this festival is widely celebrated across the country.

Many tragic [[folklore]] legends have been created, suggesting different reasons why this pond became a pilgrimage site. The most popular version says that, in ancient times, the mother of a shepherd died, and he made offerings to a nearby pond. There he saw the face of his mother in the water, with her hand taking the offerings. Since then, many people visited the pond, hoping to see their deceased mother's face. Pilgrims believe that they will bring peace to their mother's souls by visiting the sacred place. There are two ponds. The larger one is for ritual bathing. The smaller one is used to "look upon mother's face", and it's fenced by iron bars to prevent people from bathing on it.<ref>{{cite book |title= Gorkhas: The Warrior Race |author= Bandana Rai |publisher= Gyan Publishing House |year= 2009 |isbn= 9788178357768 |page= 126 |url= http://books.google.es/books?id=5uolnfX_iQMC&pg=PA126&dq=Mata+Tirtha&hl=es&sa=X&ei=b2iZUJGPIIa40QX-roHgAQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Mata%20Tirtha&f=false }}</ref>

Traditionally, in the Katmandu valley the South-Western corner is reserved for women and women-related rituals, and the North-Eastern is for men and men-related rituals. The worship place for Mata Tirtha Aunsi is located in Mata Tirtha in the South-Western half of the valley, while the worship place for [[Gokarna Aunsi]], the equivalent celebration for deceased fathers, is located in [[Gokarna, Nepal]], in the North-Eastern half. This division is reflected in many aspects of the life in Katmandu valley.<ref name="HeestermanHoek1992">{{cite book|author1=J. C. Heesterman|author2=Albert W. Van den Hoek|author3=Dirk H. A. Kolff|coauthors=Marianne S. Oort|title=Ritual, State, and History in South Asia: Essays in Honour of J.C. Heesterman|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EtwtSZwyWpgC&pg=PA786|accessdate=12 May 2013|year=1992|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-09467-3|pages=786}}</ref>

Mother's Day is known as Aama ko Mukh Herne Din in [[Nepali language|Nepali]], which literally means "day to see mother's face". In [[Nepal Bhasa]], the festival is known as Mām yā Khwā Swayegu, which can be translated as "to look upon mother's face".

====New Zealand====
In [[New Zealand]], Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. Mother's Day is not a public holiday. The New Zealand tradition is to give cards and gifts and to serve mothers breakfast in bed.

====Nicaragua====
In [[Nicaragua]], the ''Día de la Madre'' has been celebrated on 30 May since the early 1940s. The date was chosen by President [[Anastasio Somoza García]] because it was the birthday of Casimira Sacasa, his wife's mother.<ref name=nicaragua>{{citation |title= El origen del Día de la Madre |author=Lic. Pedro Rafael Díaz Figueroa |work=[[El Nuevo Diario]] |date= 27 May 1999| url= http://archivo.elnuevodiario.com.ni/1999/mayo/27-mayo-1999/opinion/opinion6.html }}</ref>

====Maldives====
In [[Maldives]], Mother's Day is celebrated on 13 May. The day is celebrated in different ways. Children give gifts and spend time with their mothers. Daughters give their mothers cards and handmade gifts and son's give their mothers gifts and flowers. Maldivians love to celebrate Mother's day, and they have it specially written on their calendar.

====Pakistan====
In [[Pakistan]], Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. Media channels celebrate with special shows. Individuals honor their mothers by giving gifts and commemorative articles. Individuals who have lost their mothers pray and pay their respects to their loved ones lost.

====Panama====
In [[Panama]], Mother's Day is celebrated on 8 December, the same day as the [[Feast of the Immaculate Conception]]. This date was suggested in 1930 by the wife of Panama's President [[Florencio Harmodio Arosemena]]. 8 December was adopted as Mother's Day under Law 69, which was passed the same year.<ref name=panama>{{citation |work=[[Crítica]] |title= Bendita Madre |author=editorial |language= [[Spanish language|Spanish]] |date= 8 December 2001 |url= http://www.critica.com.pa/archivo/12082001/opinion.html }}</ref>

According to another account, in 1924 the [[Rotary Club]] of Panama asked that Mother's Day be celebrated on 11 May. However, politician Aníbal D. Ríos changed the proposal, so that the celebration would be held on 8 December. He then established Mother's Day as a national holiday on that date.<ref>{{citation |title= Origins. La celebración del Día de la Madre | author=Penny de Henríquez |date= 9 December 2005 |language= [[Spanish languages|Spanish]] |work=[[La Prensa (Panama City)|La Prensa]] |url= http://mensual.prensa.com/mensual/contenido/2005/12/09/hoy/opinion/427577.html }}</ref>

====Palestine====
[[Palestinians]] celebrate Mother's Day on 21 March, similar to other Arab countries

====Paraguay====
In [[Paraguay]], Mother's Day is celebrated on 15 May, the same day as the ''Dia de la Patria'', which celebrates the [[History of Paraguay#Independence|independence of Paraguay]].<ref name=paraguay1 /> This date was chosen to honor the role played by Juana María de Lara in the events of 14 May 1811 that led to Paraguay's independence.<ref>{{citation |title= Session of the Honorable Cámara de Senadores. Señor Senador Diego Abente Brun |page= 25| url= http://www.congreso.gov.py/senadores/archivos/diarios/341S-13.doc}}</ref>

In 2008, the Paraguayan Minister of Culture, [[Bruno Barrios]], lamented this coincidence because, in Paraguay, Mother's Day is much more popular than independence day and the independence celebration goes unnoticed. As a result, Barrios asked that the celebration be moved to the end of the month.<ref name=paraguay2 /> A group of young people attempted to gather 20,000 signatures to ask the Parliament to move Mother's Day.<ref name=paraguay2>{{citation |title= Buscan que se cambie fecha del día de la madre |date= 14 May 2008 |work=Radio Viva 90.1 FM Paraguay |url= http://www.radioviva.com.py/articulo.php?ID=2478 }}</ref> In 2008 the ''Comisión de festejos'' (Celebration Committee) of the city of [[Asunción]] asked that Mother's Day be moved to the second Sunday of May.<ref>{{citation |date= 27 July 2008 |title= Hoy miércoles 27 de agosto se inician las acciones de la Comisión de Festejos por el Bicentenario, con una retreta en la Plaza de los Héroes |author=Municipality of [[Asuncion]] |url= http://www.mca.gov.py/noticias/270808_2.htm }}</ref>

====Philippines====
Mother's day in the [[Philippines]] is celebrated every second Sunday of May. A [[Filipino people|Filipino]] mother is called the "light of the household" around which all activities revolve. Families treat mothers to movies or lunch or dinner out, spend time with their mothers in a park or shopping at the mall, or give their mothers time to pamper themselves. Most families celebrate at home. Children perform most chores that the mother routinely handles, prepare food or give their mothers small handcrafted tokens such as cards.

Although in its current form Mother's Day is not a traditional Filipino holiday, this and [[Father's Day]] owe their popularity to American influence.

====Poland====
In [[Poland]], "Dzień Matki" ("Mother's Day") is celebrated on 26 May.

====Portugal====
In [[Portugal]], the "Dia da Mãe" ("Mother's Day", literally) is an unofficial holiday held each year on the first Sunday of May (sometimes coinciding with [[May Day#Portugal|Labour Day]]).

====Romania====
In [[Romania]], since 2010, Mother's Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of May.<ref name=romania/> Law 319/2009 made both Mother's Day and Father's Day official holidays in Romania. The measure was passed thanks to campaign efforts from the Alliance Fighting Discrimination Against Fathers (TATA).<ref name=romania>{{cite web|title= Romania Celebrates Fathers' Day On Second Sunday Of May |publisher=mediafax.ro |location= Bucharest |date= 4 May 2010 |url= http://www.mediafax.ro/english/romania-celebrates-fathers-day-on-second-sunday-of-may-6088334 }}</ref> Previously, Mother's Day was celebrated on 8 March, as part of [[International Women's Day]] (a tradition from the days when Romania was part of the [[communist block]]). Now Mother's Day and Women's Day are two separate holidays, with Women's Day keeping its original date of 8 March.

====Russia====
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2013}}
In Russia, the Mother's Day holiday was established in 1998 by law initiated by "Committee on Women, Family and Youth" of the [[State Duma]]. The initiative belongs to [[:ru:%D0%90%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0, %D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0 %D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0|Alevtina Viktorovna Aparina]], State Duma deputy and a member of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party]]. Since 1998, Mother's Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of November.

Traditionally [[Russia]] had celebrated International Women's Day and Mother's Day on 8 March, an inheritance from the [[Soviet Union]], and a public holiday.<ref>{{cite news
| author = Постановление ЦК ВКП(б).
| title = К советским женщинам, обращение ЦК КПСС в связи с Международным днём 8 Марта.
| newspaper = Советское искусство
| date = 8 March 1966г.
| pages =4
| url = http://www.oldgazette.ru/siskusstvo/08031945/index1.html
| accessdate = 22 March 2013
| format = DjVu
| language = Russian
}}</ref>

Women's Day was first celebrated in 1913 and in 1914 was proclaimed as the "day of struggle" for working women.

In 1917, demonstrations marking International Women's Day in [[Saint Petersburg]] on the last Sunday in February (which fell on 8 March on the [[Gregorian calendar]]) initiated the [[February Revolution]]. Following the [[October Revolution]] later that year, the [[Bolshevik]] [[Alexandra Kollontai]] persuaded [[Vladimir Lenin]] to make it an official holiday in the Soviet Union, and it was established, but was a working day until 1965.

On 8 May 1965, by the decree of the [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]], International Women's Day was declared a non-working day in the Soviet Union "in commemoration of the outstanding merits of Soviet women in communistic construction, in the defense of their [[Fatherland]] during the [[Great Patriotic War (term)|Great Patriotic War]], in their heroism and selflessness at the front and in the rear, and also marking the great contribution of women to strengthening friendship between peoples, and the struggle for peace. But still, women's day must be celebrated as are other holidays."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
| last = Балаховская
| first = Л. Г.
| authorlink = Л. Г. Балаховская.
| editor-last = Введенский
| editor-first = Борис
| title = Международный женский день 8 марта.
| encyclopedia = «Большая советская энциклопедия» (БСЭ)
| publisher = «Советская энциклопедия»
| location = Москва
| year = 1969-1978
| url = http://slovari.yandex.ru/8%20%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B0/%D0%91%D0%A1%D0%AD/%D0%9C%D0%B5%D0%B6%D0%B4%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9%20%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8C%208%20%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B0/
| format =
| language = Russian
}}</ref>

====Singapore====
In Singapore, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. The day is celebrated by individuals but not recognized as a holiday by the government. However, many companies offer special products and services for the day.

====Slovakia====
[[Czechoslovakia]] celebrated only Women's Day until the [[Velvet Revolution]] in 1989. After the country split in 1993, [[Slovakia]] started celebrating both Women's Day and Mother's Day. The politicization of Women's Day has affected the official status of Mother's Day. Center-right parties want Mother's Day to replace Women's Day, and social-democrats want to make Women's Day an official holiday. Currently, both days are festive, but they are not "state holidays". In the Slovak Republic, Mother's Day is celebrated every second Sunday in May.<ref name="eastern"/>

====Spain====

In Spain, Mother's Day or Día de la Madre is celebrated on the first Sunday of May. The weeks leading up to this Sunday, school children spend a few hours a day to prepare a gift for their mothers, aided by their school teachers. In general, mothers receive gifts by their family members & this day is meant to be celebrated with the whole family. It is also said to be celebrated in May, as May is the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus) according to Catholicism.

====Sri Lanka====
In [[Sri Lanka]], Mother's Day is celebrated every year on the second Sunday of May. Although relatively new to Sri Lanka, this occasion is now becoming more popular, and more people now honor their mothers on this day. Mother's Day is celebrated by individuals but is not yet recognized as a holiday on the government calendar. However, the day has a commercial importance with many companies that offer special products and services for the day.

====Sweden====
In [[Sweden]], Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1919, by initiative of the author Cecilia Bååth-Holmberg. It took several decades for the day to be widely recognized. Swedes born in the early nineteen hundreds typically did not celebrate the day because of the common belief that the holiday was invented strictly for commercial purposes. This was in contrast to Father's Day, which has been widely celebrated in Sweden since the late 1970s. Mother's Day in Sweden is celebrated on the last Sunday in May. A later date was chosen to allow everyone to go outside and pick flowers.

====Switzerland====
In [[Switzerland]], the "règle de Pentecôte" law allows Mother's Day to be celebrated a week late if the holiday falls on the same day as Pentecost. However, in 2008, merchants declined to move the date.<ref>{{citation |title= La Fête des Mères 2008 ne sera pas reportée |language= [[French language|French]] |author= Fleurop-Interflora (Suisse) |date= 22 April 2008 |url= http://www.presseportal.ch/fr/print.htx?nr=100559568 }}</ref>

===By country (T&ndash;Z)===

====Taiwan====
In [[Taiwan]], Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of the month of May, coinciding with [[Buddha's birthday]] and the traditional ceremony of "washing the Buddha". In 1999 the Taiwanese government established the second Sunday of May as Buddha's birthday, so they would be celebrated in the same day.<ref>{{citation |title= Thousands of believers mark Buddha's birthday |author= Camaron Kao |date= 14 May 2012 |work= [[China Post]] |url= http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2012/05/14/341025/Thousands-of.htm }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Sakyamuni Buddha birthday celebrated |author= Ko Shu-Ling |date= 9 May 2011 |work= [[Taipei Times]] |url= http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2011/05/09/2003502765 |quote= The legislature approved a proposal in 1999 to designate the birthday of Sakyamuni Buddha{{spaced ndash}}which falls on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar{{spaced ndash}} a national holiday and to celebrate the special occasion concurrently with International Mother's Day, which is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. }}</ref>

Since 2006,<ref>{{cite web |title= 300,000 Attend Buddha Day Ceremonies in 34 Countries |publisher= [[Tzu Chi]] |date= 15 May 2012 |url= http://www.tzuchi.org.sg/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1340:300000-attend-buddha-day-ceremonies-in-34-countries&catid=120:2012-news&Itemid=595 }}</ref> the [[Tzu Chi]], the largest charity organization in Taiwan, celebrates the Tzu Chin Day, Mother's Day and Buddha's birthday all together, as part of a unified celebration and religious observance.<ref>{{citation |title= Tzu Chi Foundation to stage Mother's Day event |work= [[Taipei Times]] |author= Staff |date= 4 May 2008 |url= http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/05/04/2003411015 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |title= Cultural center performs `bathing Buddha' ceremony |author= Caroline Hong |work= Taipei Times |date= 23 May 2004 |url= http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2004/05/23/2003156619 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |title= Taiwan Quick Take: Tzu Chi celebrates birthday |date= 15 May 2006 |page= 3 |author= unsigned |work= Taipei Times |url= http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2006/05/15/2003308272 }}</ref>

====Thailand====
Mother's day in [[Thailand]] is celebrated on the birthday of the Queen of Thailand, [[Queen Sirikit]] (12 August).<ref>{{Cite news|title= Police chief returns earlier for Mother's Day |work=[[MCOT]] news |author=Thai News Agency |date= 10 August 2012 |url= http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=11235 |quote= (...) an audience with Her Majesty Queen Sirikit on Tuesday on the occasion of her birthday, which is also observed as National Mother's Day. |authorlink= Thai News Agency }}</ref> The holiday was first celebrated around the 1980s as part of the campaign by the Prime Minister of Thailand [[Prem Tinsulanonda]] to promote Thailand's Royal family.<ref name=handley /> Father's Day is celebrated on the King's birthday.<ref name=handley>{{Cite book|title= [[The King Never Smiles]]: a biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej |author=Paul M. Handley |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year= 2006 |isbn= 9780300106824 |page= 288 }} ([http://books.google.com/books?id=d75WYMdp8-0C&pg=PA288&dq=Sirikit+mother%27s+day#v=onepage&q=Sirikit%20mother's%20day&f=false online version])</ref>

====Trinidad and Tobago====
[[Trinidad and Tobago]] celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

====Tunisia====
[[Tunisia]] celebrates Mother's Day ("عيد الام") on the last Sunday of May.

====Turkey====
[[Turkey]] celebrates Mother's Day ("Anneler günü", literally "Mothers' Day") on the second Sunday of May.

====Ukraine====
[[Ukraine]] celebrates Mother's Day ({{lang-uk|День Матері}}) on the second Sunday of May. In Ukraine, Mother's Day officially became a holiday only in 1999<ref>http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/489/99 Verkhovna Rada Official Website. Украз Президента України. Про День Матері.{{ref-uk}}</ref> and is celebrated since 2000. Since then Ukrainian society struggles to transition the main holiday that recognizes woman from the [[International Women's Day]] (a holiday embraced in the USSR and that remained as a legacy in Ukraine after its collapse) to Mother's Day.

==== United Kingdom ====
{{main|Mothering Sunday}}
[[File:Happy Mother's Day - geograph.org.uk - 709934.jpg|thumb|150px|Balloons outside, in the week before Mothering Sunday 2008]]
The [[United Kingdom]] celebrates Mothering Sunday, which falls on the fourth Sunday of [[Lent]] (10 March in 2013). This holiday has its roots in the church and was originally unrelated to the American holiday.<ref name="bbc"/><ref name="myers mothering">{{citation |title= Celebrations; the complete book of American holidays |author=Robert J. Myers, [[Hallmark Cards]] |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |year= 1972 |pages= 144–146}}</ref> Most historians believe that Mothering Sunday evolved from the 16th-century Christian practice of visiting one's mother church annually on [[Laetare Sunday]].<ref name="bbc">{{Cite news
|url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/tools/calendar/faith.shtml?christian
|title = BBC – Religion: Interfaith holy days by faith |work=Religion & Ethics |publisher=BBC |accessdate =20 February 2010
}}</ref> As a result of this tradition, most mothers were reunited with their children on this day when young apprentices and young women in service were released by their masters for that weekend.
As a result of the influence of the American Mother's Day, Mothering Day transformed into the tradition of showing appreciation to one's mother. Commercialization and [[secularization]] further eroded the concept, and most people now see the holiday only as a day to make a gift to their mothers.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} The holiday is still recognized in the original historical sense by many [[church body|churches]], with attention paid to [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] the mother of [[Jesus Christ]] and the concept of the [[Mother Church]].

The custom was still popular by the start of the 19th century, but with the [[Industrial Revolution]], traditions changed and the Mothering Day customs declined.<ref name="myers mothering"/> By 1935, Mothering Sunday was less celebrated in Europe.{{citation needed|date=April 2013}} [[Constance Penswick-Smith]] worked unsuccessfully to revive the festival in the 1910s–1920s. However, US World War II soldiers brought the US Mother's Day celebration to the UK,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.owenspencer-thomas.com/articles/general-interest/mothering-sunday |title=How Mothering Sunday became Mother's Day |publisher=Owenspencer-thomas.com |accessdate=16 July 2011}}</ref> and the holiday was merged with the Mothering Sunday traditions still celebrated in the [[Church of England]].<ref name=hutton /> By the 1950s, the celebration became popular again in the whole of the UK, thanks to the efforts of UK merchants, who saw in the festival a great commercial opportunity.<ref name=hutton>{{citation |title= The stations of the sun: a history of the ritual year in Britain |author=Ronald Hutton |edition= illustrated, reprinted |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 2001 |isbn= 9780192854483 |pages= 174–177 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=0WhvTFmRDCQC }}</ref> People from UK started celebrating Mother's Day on the fourth Sunday of Lent, the same day on which Mothering Sunday had been celebrated for centuries. Some Mothering Sunday traditions were revived, such as the tradition of eating cake on that day, although celebrants now eat [[simnel cake]] instead of the cakes that were traditionally prepared at that time.{{citation needed|date= May 2011}} The traditions of the two holidays are now mixed together and celebrated on the same day, although many people are not aware that the festivities have quite separate origins.<ref name=self>{{citation |title= One hundred readings for assembly |series= Heinemann Assembly Resources |author=David Self |publisher=[[Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]] |year= 1993 |pages= 27–29 |isbn= 9780435800413 |url= http://books.google.es/books?id=kr8IyXOmhyAC }}</ref>

Mothering Sunday can fall at the earliest on 1 March (in years when Easter Day falls on 22 March) and at the latest on 4 April (when Easter Day falls on 25 April).

For many people in the United Kingdom, Mother's Day is now the time of year to celebrate and buy gifts of chocolate or flowers for their mothers as a way to thank them for all they do throughout the year.

====United States====
{{Main|Mother's Day (U.S.)}}
[[File:Mother's day gifts.jpg|thumb|Handmade Mother's Day gifts]]
The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In 1872 [[Julia Ward Howe]] called for women to join in support of disarmament and asked for 2 June 1872, to be established as a "Mother's Day for Peace".<ref name=virginia /> Her 1870 "Appeal to womanhood throughout the world" is sometimes referred to as [[Mother's Day Proclamation]]. But Howe's day was not for honoring mothers but for organizing pacifist mothers against war. In the 1880s and 1890s there were several further attempts to establish an American "Mother's Day", but these did not succeed beyond the local level.<ref name=virginia>{{Cite book|title=The family in America: an encyclopedia|chapter=Mother's Day|first=Virginia|last=Bernhard|editor=Joseph M. Hawes, Elizabeth F. Shores|edition=3, illustrated|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|year=2002|isbn= 9781576072325|page=714|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=z55xx8_P08UC&pg=PT714&dq=%22mother%27s+day%22+origin&lr=&as_brr=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref> The current [[Secular holiday|holiday]] was created by [[Anna Jarvis]] in [[Grafton, West Virginia]] in 1908 as a day to honor one's mother.<ref name=vancouversun /> Jarvis wanted to accomplish her mother's dream of making a celebration for all mothers, although the idea did not take off until she enlisted the services of wealthy Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker, who celebrated it on May 8th, 1910 in Bethany Temple Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA of which he was the founder. In a letter to the pastor, she said it was, "our first Mother's Day".<ref name=rouvalis>Cristina Rouvalis, [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08132/880876-85.stm For the mother of Mother's Day, it's just never been right], Cristina Rouvalis, ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', 11 May 2008.</ref> Jarvis kept promoting the holiday until President [[Woodrow Wilson]] made the day an official national holiday in 1914.<ref name=virginia />
The holiday eventually became so highly commercialized that many, including its founder, Anna Jarvis, considered it a "[[Hallmark holiday]]," ''i.e.'' one with an overwhelming commercial purpose. Jarvis eventually ended up opposing the holiday she had helped to create.<ref name=vancouversun /><ref name="newcomer 135–136"/> This economic modernization was inspired by US models and was sponsored by the state. The fact that the holiday was originally imported from the US was seen as evidence of an attempt at imposing capitalism and materialism in Mexican society. She died in 1948, regretting what had become of her holiday.<ref name=rouvalis /> In the United States, Mother's Day remains one of the biggest days for sales of flowers, greeting cards, and the like; Mother's Day is also the biggest holiday for long-distance telephone calls.<ref>Barbara Mikkelson, "[http://www.snopes.com/holidays/fathersday/collect.asp We love you – call collect]". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2010.03.08.</ref> Moreover, [[Church service|churchgoing]] is also popular on Mother's Day, yielding the highest [[church attendance]] after Christmas Eve and Easter.<ref name="Churchgoing">{{cite book |author=J. Ellsworth Kalas |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QQpXwIt3ihAC&pg=PA76&ots=mlIDxskAwl&dq=%22third+only+to+Christmas+Eve+and+Easter%22&sig=GcM51tchhsueaID7zb2bsDpuAwo#v=onepage&q=%22third%20only%20to%20Christmas%20Eve%20and%20Easter%22&f=false |title=Preaching the Calendar: Celebrating Holidays and Holy Days |publisher=[[Westminster John Knox Press]]|quote=Church attendance on this day is likely to be third only to Christmas Eve and Easter. Some worshipers still celebrate with carnations, colored if the mother is living and white if she is deceased.|date=19 October 2009}}</ref> Many worshipers celebrate the day with [[carnations]], colored if the mother is living and white if she is dead.<ref name="Churchgoing"/>
{{-}}

=====Commercialization=====
Nine years after the first official United States Mother's Day, commercialization of the holiday became so rampant that [[Anna Jarvis]] herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become and spent all her inheritance and the rest of her life fighting what she saw as an abuse of the celebration.<ref name=vancouversun />

Later commercialization and other exploitations of Mother's Day infuriated Jarvis and she made her criticisms explicitly known the rest of her life.<ref name=vancouversun>{{Cite news| url = http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=c942370c-cdbb-43b2-af59-71ad4b546854 | title = Mother's Day creator likely 'spinning in her grave' | author=Louisa Taylor, Canwest News Service |work=Vancouver Sun |location=Canada | date = 11 May 2008 | accessdate =7 July 2008 }}</ref><ref name="msnbc">{{Cite news| url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24556903/ | title = Mother's Day reaches 100th anniversary, The woman who lobbied for this day would berate you for buying a card |publisher = [[Associated Press]] (via [[MSNBC]]) | date = 11 May 2008 | accessdate =7 July 2008 }}</ref> She criticized the practice of purchasing greeting cards, which she saw as a sign of being too lazy to write a personal letter. She was arrested in 1948 for disturbing the peace while protesting against the commercialization of Mother's Day, and she finally said that she regretted having started it.<ref name="msnbc" />

Mother's Day continues to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions.<!-- see the article for US Mother's Day -->

It is possible that the holiday would have withered over time without the support and continuous promotion of the florist industries and other commercial industries. Other Protestant holidays from the same time, such as [[Children's Day]] and [[Temperance Sunday]], do not have the same level of popularity.<ref>Leigh, page [http://books.google.com/books?id=maF8mTPsJqsC&pg=PA256&vq=mother%27s+day&hl=ca&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0#PPA256,M1 256]</ref> Mother's Day is also prominent in the Sunday [[comic strip]]s in the newspapers of the United States, expressing emotions ranging from sentimental to wry to caustic.

==See also==
{{Portal|Holidays}}
* [[Father's Day]]
* [[International Mother's Day Shrine]]
* [[International Women's Day]]
* [[May crowning]]
* [[National Grandparents Day]]

==Notes==

=== Footnotes ===
{{reflist|group="n"}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

== References ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{Cite book| title = Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays | author= Schmidt, Leigh Eric | edition = reprint, illustrated | editor = Princeton University Press | year = 1997 | pages = 256–275 | isbn = 0-691-01721-2 |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=maF8mTPsJqsC | editor-link = Princeton University Press }}
* {{Cite book| title = The Modernization of Fatherhood: A Social and Political History | author=Larossa, Ralph | edition = illustrated | editor = University of Chicago Press | year = 1997 | isbn = 0-226-46904-2 | pages = 90,170–192 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=rkkIKQVu26cC&pg=PA90-IA3&vq=mother's+day&dq=%22Ann+Jarvis%22+OR+%22Anna+Jarvis%22+%22mother's+day%22 | editor-link = University of Chicago Press }}
*{{citation |title= Reframing Dutch Culture: Between Otherness and Authenticity |series= Progress in European Ethnology |first=John |last=Helsloot |chapter= 10. Vernacular Authenticity: Negotiating Mother's Day and Father's Day in the Netherlands |editor= Margry, Peter Jan; Roodenburg, Herman |edition= illustrated |publisher= [[Ashgate Publishing]] |year= 2007 |pages= 6–7, 203–224 |isbn= 978-0-7546-4705-8 }}
*{{Cite book| title = Reconciling Modernity: Urban State Formation in 1940s León, Mexico | first = Daniel | last = Newcomer | edition = illustrated | publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] | year = 2004 | isbn = 9780803233492 | pages = 132–139 | url = http://books.google.es/books?id=sQlmr7IkvJcC&pg=PA132&dq=%22mother%27s+day%22+virgin+mary+UNS+Soledad }}
*{{Cite book| title = The Mexican Right: The End of Revolutionary Reform, 1929–1940 | first = John W. | last = Sherman | edition = illustrated | publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] | year = 1997 | isbn = 9780275957360 | page = 44 | url = http://books.google.es/books?id=h29VKMtmzzcC&pg=PA44&dq=mother%27s+day+virgin+mary1 }}
{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Mother's Day}}

[[Category:Holidays for the celebration of family members]]
[[Category:Public holidays in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:May observances]]
[[Category:Motherhood]]
[[Category:Sunday]]
[[Category:Secularism|Holidays]]

Revision as of 18:33, 13 May 2013

screw mothers day. i hate my mom

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