BY ARLENE MILLER, The Grammar Diva
Motherhood: All love begins and ends there – Robert Browning, English poet, 1812–1889
Whether it’s Mother’s Day, Mothers Day, or Mothers’ Day (it appears to be Mother’s Day), welcome to our annual Mother’s Day post. Some facts about Mother’s Day: 1 Mother’s Day is celebrated on various days and in many parts of the world—most commonly in the months of March or May. For example, in Egypt, Mother’s Day is celebrated on March 21, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. 2 In the United States, the celebration of Mother’s Day began in the early 20th century. 3 In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother’s Day an official holiday. 4 By the early 1920s, Hallmark Cards and other companies had started selling Mother’s Day cards. 5 By 1925, carnations had become associated with Mother’s Day, and the American War Mothers raised money by selling carnations. Wearing a colored carnation meant that a person’s mother was living. A white carnation indicated that a person’s mother was deceased. 6 In 2015, 26.4 was the average age in the United States for first-time mothers. 7 In its early days, people observed Mother’s Day by going to church and writing letters to their mothers. 8 More people purchase fresh flowers and plants for Mother’s Day than for any other holiday except Christmas and Chanukah. 9 In 2018, the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that U.S. consumers will spend $23.1 billion celebrating Mother’s Day. 10 Each shopper will spend an average of $180 on Mom. 11 Most consumers will give cards (77%) and flowers (69%) to their mothers or take her out to eat (55%) in 2018, but more money will be spent on jewelry ($4.6 billion) than any other category, according to the Retail Foundation. 12 According to the Insure.com 2017 Mother’s Day Index, the various tasks moms perform at home would be worth $67,619 (up from $65,523 in 2016) a year in the professional world.