Mother’s Day is fast approaching. Oh wait, it has already passed!

 

In the UAE and the neighboring GCC countries, Mother’s Day falls on 21st March but having been raised in New Zealand (where my mother resides!), my calendar always alerts me to the second Sunday of May.

This year, Mother’s Day in the West falls on 10th May (the second Sunday of May), and I thought it would be apt to dedicate a post to this special date.

Mother’s Day is about honoring our own mothers and the mother figures in our lives. It is also about celebrating motherhood; a treasured title I have been blessed with four years ago that helps me appreciate my own mother even more.

 

Mother’s Day has historic origins. The ancient Egyptians are believed to have set aside a special date to honor the mother of Pharaohs, Isis. This date fell somewhere around the end of March, hence the Arab region has taken to celebrating Mother’s Day on 21st March.

In the West, the idea of celebrating Mother’s Day on a Sunday is linked to ‘Mothering Sunday’, a Christian celebration on the fourth Sunday of Lent. This celebration was more in honor of the church, and not mothers.

Anna Jarvis is the founder of Mother’s Day in the West. It all started in 1908  when she held a memorial for her own mother Ann Jarvis, a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers during the civil war and had created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues.

 

Anna’s mission was to honor her own mother by continuing her work  and to set aside a day to honor mothers, “the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world”.

Apart from celebrating my mother and my own brief stint at motherhood so far, Mother’s Day in May has almost always coincided with my own birthday (its on 9th of May, in case you want to send me pressies!). Given the time difference with New Zealand, my mother and I will be exchanging greetings in one phone call: “Happy Mother’s Day Mama!” “Happy Birthday Tehzeeb!”

When I was around the same age as my 4 year-old daughter Farasha, my mother (who has a special talent with the needle) loved to dress me up in mini versions of her own dresses. After my sister was born, it was a sibling matching-matching game.

I therefore found it very endearing to see Mango’s Mini Me Collection.

I’ve been eyeing this boho print summer maxi, and now that they have it in a mini-me size, I will be heading to my local Mango store real soon! Perhaps I should get one for my Mama too?!

And how gorgeous is this boho-style kimono? As it is comfortably free-sized, I am hopeful Farasha will not outgrow it too soon.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful mummies out there!