Celebrating mothers through the ages

(NC)-Every day of the year, mothers are there to help us, nurture us, nudge us and care for us. Now, it's their turn.

Mother's Day is the one day of the year when we can all put mom in the spotlight and express how much we appreciate her.

"Celebrating mothers is actually an ancient ritual that dates back centuries," says Jennifer Kinnon of Hallmark Canada. "Of course, our traditions for celebrating mom have changed over the years to reflect the way our culture and family relationships have evolved."

Initially, Mother's Day was devoted to honouring goddesses that represented motherhood. The Greeks honoured Rhea, the mother of the gods. The Romans celebrated Cybele, a mother goddess. And in the British Isles and Celtic Europe, people celebrated the goddess Brigid - along with the first milk of the ewes in spring.

In the 1600s in England, the fourth Sunday of Lent was designated as Mothering Sunday. Servants were given the day off to spend time with their mothers. Across the Atlantic Julia Ward Howe was troubled by her Civil War experiences in the 19th century so she initiated the idea of creating a Mother's Day as a celebration of peace.

In 1907, Anna M. Jarvis established the first Mother's Day through her church on the second anniversary of her mother's death. The concept was widely accepted, and by 1911, Mother's Day was made official in the United States, followed by Canada in 1914.

The first Mother's Day card appeared in the 1920s. Over the years these cards have evolved to reflect the attitudes of the day, as well as changing technology. Today, a wide variety of cards are available including a song card that lets you record a personal message for mom as well as cards that address the various relationships that make up today's families - stepfamilies and ex-in-laws to dads-as-moms, dad's wife, and friends.