Phone calls, cards, chocolates, flowers, praises and surprise gifts – those gestures of admiration and love will be flowing all around today, between children and mothers, as the world celebrates Mother’s Day.
On this day, we call on all mothers to take a bow for bringing kindness into this world. Kindness is a virtue people first learned from a mother. It is a virtue that offered help to strangers who lost their jobs during the pandemic, or who lost their houses to natural disasters. It is a virtue that will keep our bayanihan culture alive.
Mothers who have brought up children who are kind are the reason for today’s celebration.
Every year, on the second Sunday of May, many countries around the world pause to make mothers feel special as a tribute to the significant roles they played in the lives of people from all walks of life.
The celebration is prompted by tradition or a special law. In the United States, it is an official holiday signed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914, officially establishing the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day. It was the result of efforts of a woman named Anna Jarvis who started the move in 1908 but would later become so disgusted at its commercialism that she worked hard to take it out of the holiday list.
In the Philippines, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May as declared in Proclamation No. 266 signed by President Corazon Aquino in 1988, although in 1998, President Joseph Estrada declared the first Monday of December of every year as Mother's Day and Father's Day.
The tributes that mothers will receive today are the natural result of how a woman has lived the definitions of the word “mother” – as a noun (a female parent); or as a verb (to bring up a child with care and affection; or give birth to).
In our culture, mother is called the “ilaw ng tahanan” (light of the home) – the one who brings cheer and comfort to our lives. We have another saying that describes a mother’s willingness to sacrifice: “Ang ina, isusubo na nga lang, ibibigay pa sa anak” (loosely translated as – even if a mother is hungry, she will give the food on her spoon to her child).
Motherhood is not a state of mind or a working condition; to many it is a vocation and it requires a lifetime of commitment. Long after a child has entered adulthood, a mother still hovers somewhere around, in case a mother (as a noun) will be needed. For being a mother is a role that never ends. Especially in the Filipino setting, motherhood extends to grandchildren too.
Today is the best time to find out what the word “mother” means to you. As the child, you will likely call, visit, or show your appreciation to your mother. The gestures will evoke an emotion that will bring a smile, or a tear, to her eyes, and to yours too.
As the mother, it is time to reap what you sowed. Sit back and enjoy the day!