I here-by cancel Mother’s Day in my house, and maybe after you see my reasons why, you might consider canceling it in your house. At the very least, if you cannot bring yourself to cancel it, you will view it from a different perspective.

The United States officially recognized Mother’s Day as an international holiday in 1914, as a result of a campaign by Anna Jarvis. Two years after her mother’s death she had memorial for her mother and at that time decided she would embark on the campaign to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday.

What I find ironic is that Anna Jarvis,the woman responsible for the official Mother’s Day holiday, became disenchanted with the holiday due to its over commercialization. She was quoted as saying:

A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother—and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment!

In the end, both she and her sister spent their inheritance campaigning against the holiday and died in poverty.

If Anna Jarvis got fed up with how Mother’s Day is treated, it is no wonder that I am. The four and five dollar Mother’s Day cards, all the little knick knack gifts devoted to Mother’s with cute sayings, the Mother’s Day breakfasts, lunches, and dinners at all the restaurants, adult children only showing appreciation to their Mothers on that day….the list could go on.

I believe all the commercialization of Mother’s Day has, in a way, puts pressure on our loved ones to make sure they get that “perfect” gift for us. Or take us out for that perfect meal. Or serve us the perfect breakfast in bed. (By the way I hate breakfast in bed, too many crumbs.) All of which, they feel compelled to do on that one “special day” There is also all of the adult children who do not grace their mothers with their presence most of the year, and then feel pressured to “show up” on Mother’s Day.

That same commercialization compels husbands and fathers to buy their mothers, mother-in-laws, wives and mother’s of their children diamonds and other jewels for Mother’s Day. Why not give them something glittery on the second Tuesday of a month? I would think that the jewelry would mean more on an unexpected day like that, than on Mother’s Day when every mother knows she is going to “get something”.

Personally, I appreciate the way my family shows me they appreciate me all through the year, much more than any grand Mother’s Day gesture. I love it when my husband is at the store without me and brings me home a new pair of pajamas. Or when out of the blue he comes up to me and gives me a hug or tells me he loves me. Or like what Anna did for me just the other night. She remembered how much I enjoyed looking through doll magazines, and how cute I found the little baby dolls with the funny/ugly faces. When she was out at the store with her father she found, what she thought, was the perfect little gift for me. A little baby doll with a funny face. She did it for no other reason than that she thought it would make me happy. Today Anna volunteered to help with doing the dishes.

I believe that the over commercialization of this holiday, starting close to the time it was created, turned what could have been a truly special time for mothers, into a time of stress for our families. The commercials on the TV and in newspaper ads make it seem like you are not a good person if you do not get your mother or wife a particular product or jewelry for Mother’s Day. It has made it so that Mother’s Day is a contest of sorts. “Hey! Look what I did for/got my mother.” While in our family member’s minds they are comparing their Mother’s Day gesture to what someone else did, with a secret hope that they out did the other person.

That is why I propose we cancel Mother’s Day. Rather than have an over commercialized holiday that pressures families to buy the perfect gift or go out for the perfect meal to celebrate the mothers in their lives, why not do away with the holiday altogether and celebrate the mothers in our lives all year long.

What do you think? Should Mother’s Day be canceled? Why? Why not?

Enjoy my rant, Neighbors!