Mother's Day 2024: Why Do We Celebrate it on the second Sunday of May every year?

Every year, on the second Sunday in May, Mother's Day is celebrated globally to honour our mothers. This year, Mother's Day is observed on May 12th. On this day, children, partners, and other family members show their love and gratitude to their mothers by giving them gifts, cards, and other thoughtful gestures. It's a chance to appreciate the effort, sacrifices, and love that mothers put in every day. This day is observed in more than 50 countries around the world.


Why is Mother’s Day celebrated on the second Sunday in May?

Every second Sunday of May, we celebrate Mother's Day to honour our mothers. It's a special day dedicated to recognizing the often-overlooked contributions of mothers. It's a time to acknowledge the immeasurable and selfless role each mother plays in her children's lives and successes, and to express gratitude for it.


The first Mother's Day was celebrated in 1908 in the US. After her mother's passing in 1905, an American woman named Anna Jarvis wanted to establish a day to honour mothers' work and sacrifices. Consequently, she organized the first formal Mother's Day celebration in Grafton, West Virginia, in May 1908.
This initiative soon grew into a widespread movement, with Anna and her supporters advocating for the day to be recognized as a national holiday. By 1911, Mother's Day had spread to every state in the US.
Finally, in 1914, then US President Woodrow Wilson declared the second Sunday in May to be celebrated as Mother's Day. The celebrations quickly spread beyond national borders and into other countries. Today, Mother's Day is celebrated in over 50 countries across the globe.
 
Why is Mother's Day celebrated on different days around the world?​

Mother's Day is observed in more than 50 countries across the world but not on the same date. In India, Canada and the US, the day is marked on the second Sunday of May. Hence, Mother's Day falls on May 12 this year. People in the UK celebrate Mother's Day in the month of March. It falls three weeks before Easter or on the fourth Sunday of the Christian festival of Lent.

The origin of Mother's Day can be traced back to the early 1900s when the US dedicated a day to mothers. An American woman named Anna Jarvis wanted to honour her mother after she died in 1905 and decided to set aside a day for all mothers. Later, the woman formally celebrated the day for the first time in May 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia.
The day became popular after which Anna and her friends urged prominent personalities in the US to declare Mother's Day a national holiday. Within a few years, the day was celebrated in every state of the US. In 1914, then US President Woodrow Wilson announced that the second Sunday of May be celebrated as Mother's Day. Gradually, the idea spread to other countries.