Mother’s Day is always a special event, yet with each passing year, it becomes harder and harder to find a gift with which to reward your mother for her invaluable role in your life.
Mother’s Day is observed in Australia and the Western world during the last week of Lent in the Christian calendar, typically falling on the first or second Sunday in May.
It is also the perfect time to get creative. If you’re having trouble finding the right gift, I’m here to help. In my article you will find the best ideas for every type of mum who loves to read. Enjoy your reading!
The history of Mothers’ Day
Mother’s Day as we know it originated in the early 1900s. A woman named Anna Jarvis started a campaign to establish an official holiday to honour mothers in 1905, the year her own mother died.
The first larger-scale celebration of the holiday took place in 1908, when Jarvis organised a public memorial to honour her mother in her hometown of Grafton, West Virginia. Over the next few years, Jarvis sought official recognition of the holiday and it began to be celebrated in more and more states in the US. Finally, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation making Mother’s Day an official holiday celebrated on the second Sunday in May.
Anna Jarvis put Mother’s Day on the calendar as a day dedicated to expressing love and gratitude to mothers, appreciating the sacrifices women make for their children. She was therefore determined that ‘Mother’s’ should remain in the singular, indicated by an apostrophe before the ‘s’. Every family should celebrate their mother, so that individual women across the country can feel the love, even as they celebrate motherhood in a broad way.
Mother’s Day around the globe
Mother’s Day is celebrated differently around the world, with traditions varying from country to country. In Thailand, for example, Mother’s Day coincides with the birthday of the current Queen Sirikit in August. In Ethiopia, families come together every autumn for Antrosht, a multi-day festival that honours motherhood through singing, feasting, and togetherness.
In the United States, Mother’s Day is celebrated by giving gifts and flowers to mothers and other important women in one’s life. It has become a major holiday, with significant consumer spending. Families often show appreciation by allowing mothers to take a break from daily activities, including cooking and household chores.
In addition to these common practices, Mother’s Day has also been used as a platform for political and feminist actions. Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King Jr., organised a march on Mother’s Day in 1968 to support underprivileged women and children. Women’s groups in the 1970s used the holiday to advocate for equal rights and improved access to childcare. Mother’s Day is rooted in expressions of love and gratitude, but it has also been a dynamic occasion for social and political initiatives.
Ideas for spending the day
Despite the creativity, it can sometimes be difficult to find the right gift, one that will make the mother feel happy. Of course, the greatest joy will come from her wishes from her beloved child, however, you can do much more to make this day stay in your mother’s memory for longer, even more so if she loves books. Here are a few ideas you can use.
Go for a walk in conjunction with an author meeting
In any other year, this might seem like the cheapest gift, but after the year that everyone has experienced, and to some extent is still experiencing, it would be a really nice gift. The pandemic has left families isolated, with some not seeing their mum for up to several months due to the risk of her being infected with coronavirus. Taking mum for a walk in conjunction with attending an author’s meeting on Mother’s Day not only costs nothing, but will keep mum smiling for another week.
It can be a simple walk to the park or even the woods, during which you will talk about current affairs or reminisce about what took place a few years ago. It is likely that the recollection of the most emotional moments will mean that there may be tears, but they will be tears of happiness that will make mum remember the day, perhaps for more than a week. And at the end of such a wonderful day, it’s worth inviting mum to an author’s evening held in your town. Libraries are hosting a lot of writers these days, so plan a day like this to give your mum a great surprise.
Teach mum something new
As mum is older than you, she may not be up to date with all the news. Offer to sit down together at the computer and introduce her to a world she had no idea about. Visit some online casinos, such as Richard Casino Review, pick up a welcome bonus and start the fun, giving your mum the opportunity to learn the rules whether it’s new online games with a book theme or computer use in general. Perhaps she’ll like the idea so much that she’ll even start visiting free gambling sites to play book-themed slots after a hard day at work.
You can also show your mum the world of ebooks, i.e. teach her how to use an e-book reader and therefore the platforms through which, for the purchase of a subscription, you can read hundreds of books a month.
Do something for your mum
Even though you may already be of legal age but still live with your mum, you surely realise that there are plenty of things you could do around the house to help out and at the same time make the day more enjoyable for your mum, who will then be able to immerse herself in reading a good book. In the event that you have already left the family nest, the help can be identical! It is likely that your mum is urging you to finally get the junk out of your room, as she could use it in other ways than keeping your old and unnecessary things in it, or maybe she even wants to make a pleasant reading corner for herself there. Other chores you can do for your mother so she can indulge in reading in peace are:
- washing the dishes;
- ironing the clothes;
- watering the flowers;
- vacuuming.
Helping your mum doesn’t cost you anything, apart from the gentle effort you have to put into, for example, moving a cardboard box of old toys to the cellar. In addition, you can take on the same activity as your mum to speed up the process. At the same time, you will be able to talk, which will certainly be appreciated by both parties.
Make a lunch
If, for some reason, you can’t go out to a restaurant because everything is closed, or you don’t have the money to pay the bill, you can prepare a tasty dinner yourself. There are plenty of recipes online and just as many cookbooks, so you can easily find something that’s within your reach. If you’re a daughter, it’s safe to assume that you won’t need the internet for anything, as you, like your mum, probably cook very well. Eating a meal prepared by another person always tastes better, so if you don’t have any other ideas, rethink preparing an author’s dinner where you’re sure to talk to your mum about the great books she’s read recently.
The perfect schedule for Mother’s Day
First and foremost, it’s important to establish that nothing can be perfect and everyone’s family situation is different. You may be reading this article as a 20-year-old, or maybe as a 50-year-old. Your mum may live with you, or maybe she is in a completely different country. However, assuming the scenario that you are able to be next to your mum within a few hours, then a sample Mother’s Day might look like the following:
- Breakfast in bed and a new book by a favourite writer – If you live with your mum or are spending the night with her, you really should start the day well. Prepare breakfast or bring doughnuts or breakfast sandwiches from a nearby coffee shop along with a new book by her favourite author that she doesn’t already have. She’ll love it, and your Mother’s Day breakfast might be such a hit that you can end the day on it. No, don’t finish the day just yet.
- Morning – This is a good time to create memories. You can go for a walk, bake something together or go through photo albums and arrange old books, bringing back fond memories of old times.
- Dinner – Well, you need to eat something, and if you are spending the day with your mum, this is the perfect time to go on a picnic or to a restaurant where you feel safe.
- Household chores – This might be a good time to put some effort into your mum’s day and pull weeds in the garden or tidy your room or wardrobe. If your mum wants to help, let her. The idea is to do something nice for your mum, but also to spend time with her.
- Author’s evening – Invite your mum to an author’s evening held at a nearby library. The opportunity to meet your favourite writer in person, exchange a few sentences with them and get an autographed book will provide your mum with lovely memories for years to come.
- Give your mum a goodbye hug – Assuming you don’t live with your mum, there will come a time when you will have to gather yourself to go home. Give your mum a hug and thank her that you have her! It will probably be an emotional moment, but that’s what makes life beautiful. If you live with your mum, do it too!
Summary
Mother’s Day is one day of the year that is celebrated lavishly all over the country and the world. Sons and daughters travel miles to meet their mothers, and those who, for some reason, can’t, purchase a flower mail service to make their mothers’ day more pleasant with flowers. If you are out of ideas, a few options have been presented above for you to use. Of course, treat this as a reserve list, as it may happen that you have a much better idea that should be implemented. However, one thing is for sure, make Mother’s Day special for your mother. Thank her for being there and for raising you to be that way. Just do everything you can to make her remember it for a long time!
