I stumbled onto an old newspaper editorial about the creation of the Mother’s Day holiday. Which wasn’t the slam dunk you might have expected. There was a lot of argument around whether mothers deserved their own special holiday. One US senator was outraged at the idea. What’s next, he demanded. Let me guess: Cousin’s Day? Sister’s Day? Father’s Day? How ridiculous!
Just two years later, the man’s head probably exploded when Father’s Day did become a thing.
But the Buffalo Enquirer took Mother’s Day seriously – and went far beyond flowers and cards.
“It is not possible to honor the mothers of the world too much. Everybody knows that the world’s mothers have been shamefully neglected. There ought not to be any statue of a great man without a statue of his mother beside it, or at least some strong and earnest public recognition in bronze or marble of the world’s debt to that mother.’
Wow – but wait ‘cause it gets even better:
“It would be an excellent idea if the world that is so generous in pensioning old soldiers, old policemen, old fighters, and old men of many kinds WOULD ALSO PENSION THE OLD MOTHERS.”
Go Buffalo!
“There is no more shameful sight in our so-called ‘civilization’ than that of an old woman, the mother of workers, slaving in her old age for a mere pittance, often on her knees scrubbing.’
Preach.
I think of my grandmother, who raised her own children, two foster children, and four grandchildren. She stood in line for government cheese, turned anything that would hold still into soup, because it was cheap and filling. Almost every year, she struggled to keep her house from being sold on the courthouse steps for back taxes. She did all of it mostly alone – first because her husband was away serving his country, and then after, because he was killed in an accident. She had no credit in her own name – and couldn’t get it. No woman could back then. She worked when she could – but age and poor health eventually took that option off the table. She deserved more from life than she got, but isn’t that true for so many?
“The mothers of the world are the creators of the world, and the world owes more to them than to any other class…”
Buffalo was just getting warmed up.
“What the country really NEEDS is recognition on the part of taxpayers, executives, and lawmakers, of THE DEBT THAT IS DUE AND UNPAID TO THE MOTHERS OF THE WORLD.”
Yeah, good luck with that.
The writer was all for establishing a holiday for mothers – but was afraid that setting aside just one day was a little bit insulting, given that a mother’s labor and sacrifice was 24/7.
“It should be impossible for the mother of sons and daughters to want in her old age…when those children are unable to provide for their mothers adequately, THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO THAT…how quickly the country would die out but for the devotion of mothers. The human race would deteriorate without the struggle of every mother…”
The editorial wrapped up with a stern reminder that any nation that can spend millions on battleships and wars meant to kill the sons of mothers, can afford to provide for mothers in their old age.
That was published on May 13, 1908. 117 years ago. So far, we’ve managed to establish not just Mother’s Day, but also the much-mocked Cousin’s Day, Sister’s Day, and Father’s Day. Though, we never got around to making statues of moms, much less giving them special pensions in their old age. Instead, we’ve just ramped up the expectations and piled on the demands. And then, for one day, the second Sunday in May, we give mothers a little special attention.
One of my favorite Mother’s Day celebrations was the kind of thing you know you’ll laugh at someday – just not this day. A sobbing baby, a restless toddler, a full glass of ice water dumped in your lap, a diaper blow-out in the car, and one of those out-of-nowhere fevers that winds up as an ear infection needing urgent care on a Sunday night. It’s funny now – and funny how what I remember most from that day are those sticky little hands on my cheeks, those chubby little arms wrapped around my neck. The rest of it is just some stuff that happened – because being a mom means there’s always some stuff happening, and most of the time, that stuff is a big, old mess.
Here’s to all the moms and to all the women doing the work of a mother. Like they said 117 years ago:
“This country and every country needs to appreciate the fact that mother comes first EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR.”
Happy Mother’s Day!
