Half the Gift

Who do we have to thank for Mother’s Day as we know it in the United States? Well, first: moms and mother figures, obviously. But the holiday was largely the work of Anna Jarvis, who established it because her own late mother had expressed interest in seeing a holiday devoted to motherhood. So, that’s cool, right? That Mother’s Day itself was essentially a Mother’s Day gift?

It wasn’t easy. In 1908, Congress rejected making Mother’s Day an official holiday, saying that if they recognized it as such, then there’d have to be another holiday: Mother-in-law’s Day! Yuk yuk yuk! Nice one, fellas! But Anna wasn’t deterred by their lame-ass jokes and kept pushing. By 1911, all states observed the holiday, and in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation establishing the second Sunday in May as a day to honor mothers.

Couldn’t put it on a Tuesday and give us a day off, could you Woodrow?

Still, you’d think Anna Jarvis would be pretty proud of this. And she was… briefly. By the 1920s, though, she was already frustrated with the way the holiday was trending towards commercialization, with Hallmark selling Mother’s Day Cards and what not. As a result, she turned on her own holiday, organizing boycotts, threatening lawsuits, and eventually protesting: first at a candy makers’ convention in Philadelphia in 1923, and then at a meeting of American War Mothers in 1925, because she was angry that they were selling Mother’s Day Carnations to raise money. That one got her arrested.

And personally, I agree with Anna. Mother’s Day should be about genuinely celebrating motherhood, not about buying stuff. But also–and maybe this is just the result of growing up in a materialistic, consumerist culture–it’s kinda nice to get a thing too.

It’s like when you run an organized race: you’re paying for the road closures and permits and to be a part of something communal, but the moisture-wicking shirt and the pair of socks isn’t so bad either.

So, when we say, this Diamond Flower Linear Pendant Necklace in Sterling Silver is a great Mother’s Day gift, what we mean is, it’s a great thing to hand to mom before giving her the real Mother’s Day gift: some good conversation, companionship, and appreciation over the course of a nice dinner or lunch or whatever you can manage.

In other words, it’s the gear in the 5k that is family! Or… something…

(Oh, and for the record, I used the Wikipedia article for all the history here, so if you’ve got better info, be sure to correct me in the comments.)