Mother's Day Facts

Have you ever wondered when the tradition of Mother’s Day began and why? Are you keen on freakish and fun mother-related facts? If so, read on. If not, read on anyway, as there's lot to learn.

Mother’s Day in Britain always falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent while in many other countries, most notably the USA, it is celebrated on the second Sunday in May.

The modern festival of Mother’s Day has its roots in the old church calendar date of Mothering Sunday, which goes back to the 16th century when families would traditionally gather at their mother’s church, thus reuniting for at least one day a year. Later it became accepted practice for the rich to allow their servants to visit their families on the day.

However, springtime celebration of the matriarch goes back much further than that. From as far back as 250BC, the Romans chose the Ides of March to make offerings in the temple of Cybele, the Mother of the Gods. But even before that the ancient Greeks celebrated their equivalent, Rhea, in the spring.

They couldn’t have known what they were starting. Nowadays, according to the British Retail Consortium, approximately £45 million is spent on 30 million Mother’s Day cards in the UK every year, added to the £55 million that around four million people spend on chocolates for their mums.

And it’s not just cards and chocolates. Mother's Day is the biggest event in the UK’s cut flower and indoor plant industry, according to the Flowers & Plants Association. In the run-up to Mother’s Day, sales of flowers and indoor plants increase by an average of 40 per cent on an ordinary day's trading. 

Visit DotComGiftShop's Mother's Day department for a range of unique gift ideas!