Mother's Day

According to Wikipedia, Mother's Day "was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.

When Jarvis died in 1907, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on 10 May 1908, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Originally the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, this building is now the International Mother's Day Shrine (a National Historic Landmark). From there, the custom caught on -- spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.

Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States."

It's time to move away from the commercilaization that so upset Ann Jarvis and move Mother's Day back to its activists roots. Here's a few suggestions:

- Join True Majority and Greenpeace in a day of Mommy Meetups and stroller marches this Mother's Day weekend, either as an attendee or as a host. At these gatherings on May 10th or 11th, families will use cells phones to record short voicemail messages calling for climate action. Those voicemail messages will be featured as an audio collage on the True Majority website, along with group photos, so that Congress, the press, and the public can see and hear from families across the country about climate change.

- Host a party to support people in need.   A dear friend lost her beautiful 16 year old daughter to cancer just over a year ago. She started an organization to help families with critically ill children, Normal Moments. She is suggesting that people host their own fundraisers on Mother's Day to help support the organization which sends volunteers to do things like mow the lawn and walk the dog so that parents can spend more time with their ill children without having to worry about household chores. Hosting a party/fundraiser is a way to spend time with the people you love while helping others, and isn't that what mothers do best? You can register your event here.

- Gather the family and organize your own beach or park clean up. All you need are some rubber gloves, some trash bags and determination. If every family celebrated Mother's Day this way, think of how much trash we could keep out of our waterways and environment.

- Volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen on Mother's Day weekend. Being a mother is about nurturing, so why not spread some of that nurturing spirit to those that may need it most. In a way, this is more pampering for yourself than a spa day, because it feeds your soul and teaches your children how good it feels to give back. Try Volunteer Match or Network for Good to find an opportunity near you.

Whatever you decide to do, let's give a gift to Mother Earth by making a commitment to reduce, reuse and recycle this Mother's Day.