Mother's Day 2026 Countdown

Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May in the United States and many other countries. It was first officially recognized in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating it as a national holiday. The tradition of honoring mothers dates back to ancient civilizations, including the Greek festival of Cybele and the Roman festival of Hilaria. Today, it is one of the most popular holidays for greeting cards, flowers, and family gatherings.

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While the idea of honoring mothers is ancient — the ancient Greeks held festivals for Rhea, the mother of the gods, and early Christians celebrated 'Mothering Sunday' on the fourth Sunday of Lent — the modern American Mother's Day was created by one woman's lifelong campaign. Anna Jarvis of West Virginia never had children herself, but she watched her own mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, work tirelessly to improve public health and help families during and after the Civil War.

Ann Jarvis had founded 'Mother's Day Work Clubs' to teach women how to care for their children and improve sanitation in their communities. During the Civil War, she organized neutral relief efforts, caring for soldiers from both the North and South. After her mother died in 1905, Anna Jarvis resolved to fulfill her mother's lifelong wish — creating a day to honor all mothers, living and dead, and to recognize the sacrifices women make for their families.

Jarvis organized the first official Mother's Day celebration in 1908 at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia. She campaigned tirelessly, writing thousands of letters to newspapers, politicians, and businessmen. By 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state. President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday in 1914, declaring the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day — exactly what Jarvis had wanted.

But here's the tragic twist: Jarvis spent the rest of her life fighting the holiday she had created. She hated how commercial it had become — the greeting cards, the candy, the flowers. She believed it should be a heartfelt, personal day, not a commercial opportunity. She picketed candy companies, boycotted florists, and even sued people who used 'Mother's Day' for profit. She died in 1948, having spent all her money fighting the commercialization of the holiday she gave the world.