Mother’s Day

 

Do you know a Spanish-speaking mother who would like to learn English this Mothers Day? Our workbooks are great for busy mothers. Our workbooks are easy to use: the pace is reasonable, the print is large, directions are in Spanish, there are lots of pictures but the content is for adults. Plus there is an Answer Key at the end of each lesson. Our workbooks would be a great gift for a mother who would like to learn or improve her English!

 Mother’s Day is celebrated around the world; traditions vary depending on the country. In Thailand, Mother’s Day is celebrated in August on the birthday of the current queen. In Ethiopia, families gather each fall to sing songs and eat a large feast as part of a multi-day celebration honoring motherhood. In the United States, Mother’s Day is celebrated by presenting mothers and other women with gifts and flowers, and has become one of the biggest holidays for consumer spending. Families also celebrate by giving mothers a day off from activities like cooking or other household chores.

 In the United States, Anna Jarvis conceived of the idea for Mother’s Day after the death of her mother in 1905. She wanted to honor the sacrifices mothers made for their children. In 1908, after gaining financial backing from a Philadelphia department store owner, she organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia.

 Following the success of her first Mother’s Day, Jarvis who was unmarried and childless resolved to see her holiday added to the national calendar. Arguing that American holidays were biased toward male achievements, she started a massive letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians urging the adoption of a special day honoring motherhood. By 1912, many states, towns and churches had adopted Mother’s Day as an annual holiday and Jarvis had established the Mother’s Day International Association to help promote her cause. In 1914, her persistence paid off when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

 Anna Jarvis originally conceived of Mother’s Day as a day of personal celebration between mothers and families. Her vision of the day involved wearing a white carnation as a badge and visiting one’s mother or attending church services. But once Mother’s Day became a national holiday, it was not long before florists, card companies and other merchants capitalized on its popularity.

 Jarvis initially worked with the floral industry to help raise awareness of Mother’s Day’s, but by 1920 she became disgusted with how the holiday had become so commercialized. She outwardly denounced the transformation and urged people to stop buying Mother’s Day flowers, cards and candies. Jarvis eventually resorted to an open campaign against Mother’s Day profiteers, speaking out against confectioners, florists and even charities. She launched countless lawsuits against groups that had used the name “Mother’s Day,” eventually spending most of her personal wealth in legal fees. By the time of her death in 1948, Jarvis had disowned the holiday altogether, and actively lobbied the government to have it removed from the American calendar.

 Mother’s Day has also been a date for launching political or feminist causes. In 1968, Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, used Mother’s Day to host a march in support of underprivileged women and children. In the 1970s, women’s groups also used the holiday as a time to highlight the need for equal rights and access to childcare.

 

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