I feel like I’m forgetting something important. I know it’s coming up soon…May 12th?
Hmm…May 12th…May 12th…
Oh, it’s Mother’s Day!
The holiday that makes children more obedient than they are on Christmas.
Sorry, Santa, get in line.
Mothers have been around forever, at least since the beginning of life on Earth. The modern-day holiday may not have been around for quite so long, but children have been celebrating their mothers for eons.
Smart kiddos.
To keep it short and sweet (like our cheesecakes): In 1907, a lady named Anna Jarvis in Philadelphia originated Mother’s Day. It was a tribute to her mom, a woman who organized women’s groups celebrating friendship and health.
When her mother passed, she held a memorial service in mid-May. This ceremony was recognized five years later by Woodrow Wilson and crowned – officially – Mother’s Day.
And BOOM. Now we have Mother’s Day the second Sunday of May every year.
But did you know the United States is not the only place to celebrate Mother’s Day?
Drum roll, please…
The countries celebrating on May 12th are:
Australia
Denmark
Finland
Italy
Switzerland
Turkey
Belgium
New Zealand
Malaysia
Canada
Brazil
China
Jamaica
Peru
Pretty hefty list right there.
“Wow, that’s so many countries,” you’re probably thinking, “they all must have such interesting, diverse traditions!”
Hate to break it to you.
All these countries do some variation of the regular old flowers, chocolates, and candles schtick.
Italy does flowers and handwritten poems, Belgium does a Mother’s Day breakfast, and Turkey treats their mothers to a nice, hot bath. Meanwhile, Jamaicans take their mothers to Sunday mass and Peruvians honor their deceased mothers by picnicking at the cemetery.
Interestingly, the country we get our origin from, Great Britain, celebrates Mother’s Day on a completely different day.
Let me set the scene.
Back in ye olde 1700s, in Great Britain, young house servants would travel home on the fourth Sunday of Lent to visit their mothers and attend their childhood parish.
Appropriately, this day was named Mothering Day. For the Brits, this day eventually merged with the modern Mother’s Day. Traditionally, children hand out daffodils to mothers in church, and, specifically, daughters bake fruitcakes to give to their mothers.
I think I’ll stick to my cheesecake sandwiches.
But Mother’s Day isn’t just pretty flowers and fruitcakes. In the United States alone, we spent 36 BILLION – yes, with a capital ‘B’ – dollars on Mother’s Day in 2023.
All this money is spent on chocolates, candles, pajamas, flowers, brunches, and spa days.
Why do we do it?
Why do we spend so much money on our mothers?
Now, I’m not going to tell you to stop buying gifts for your mom. In fact, please keep spoiling your mother.
What I am going to tell you is that your mother would much rather spend some quality time with you.
Or receive one of those cheesy massage coupon books.
…Probably.
We celebrate our mothers not just because they helped us finish our school projects at 1 am, or listened to us cry about our relationship problems, but also – most importantly – because they gave us life.
We literally owe our mothers the world.
You should feel so lucky you got your mom. You know, the best mom in the world, according to her coffee mug.
So, give her a phone call, get on that airplane to go see her, and spoil her with hugs and kisses instead of just showering her with pricy gifts.
From the bottom of our hearts, Grandma’s Cheesecake Sandwiches wishes everyone a Happy Mother’s Day!
Grandma’s Cheesecake Sandwiches are available on Goldbelly and UberEats