Mother's Day got its start as a war protest when Julia Ward Howe established a "Mother's Day for Peace" on June 2, 1872. Her intent was to celebrate the peaceful contributions of mothers and to draw attention to the cause of suffragists. Her proclamation defined the holiday until early in the 20th century - about the same time that the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote.

An additional female who contributed substantively to our nation by rallying other women to the cause of improving their neighborhoods was Ann Reeves Jarvis. Once she had died, her child Anna started lobbying for establishment of a countrywide celebration in honor of mothers. This was agreed to by President Wilson in the year 1914. Ever since that time, we have had an annual celebration on the 2nd Sunday in the month of May.

By 1923 Jarvis had begun to protest the manner in which Mothers Day was being celebrated. The result of to her desire to sentimentalize motherhood was the start of the gift giving that is now associated with Mothers Day. People started to send flowers and cards to their mothers. Jarvis spent the rest of her life fighting against the commercialization of the holiday. Ironically, she never had any children and she spent the end of her life in a sanitarium, surrounded each year by Mothers Day gifts, flowers, and cards.

In this diverse world of today, many people live too far away to easily visit Mom. Numerous people celebrate Mother's Day by honoring Mom with cards, flowers or plants. Buying flowers with special meaning is a common reason for selections along with choosing the blooms mom loves best.

Finding Mother's Day gifts is an enjoyable activity for children. Fathers can enjoy it too, as it provides an opportunity to spend more time with their children. Common gifts are clothing, flowers, jewelry, books and collectibles.

Jarvis didn't intend to create the commercial holiday she originally set in motion. Unfortunately she failed to see that even though more presents and gifts were purchased at this time of year, Mother's Day is still a very special holiday and honors motherhood just as she wanted it to do.

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