Mother's Day 2024: Here's Why It Is Celebrated On Second Sunday Of May Every Year

Mother's Day 2024: Every year on the second Sunday in May, Mother's Day is celebrated globally to honour our mothers. This year, Mother's Day will be observed on May 12. On this day, children, partners and other family members show their love and gratitude to their mother by giving them gifts, cards and other nice things. 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 Mother's Day is celebrated on second Sunday in May?

Every second Sunday of May, we celebrate Mother's Day to honour our mothers. It is a special day for all mothers, whose contributions are often overlooked. It's a day to acknowledge the unquantifiable and selfless contributions of every mother in her children's success. It is also a day to thank her for that.

Notably, the first Mother's Day was celebrated in 1908 in the US. After her mother died in 1905, an American woman called Anna Jarvis wanted to set aside a day to honour the work and sacrifices made by mothers. As a result, she held the first formal Mother's Day celebration in Grafton, West Virginia, in May 1908.

Soon after, it grew into a full-fledged movement, with Anna and her friends writing to prominent personalities in the US to demand that the day be declared a national holiday. By 1911, it had spread to every state in the country.

Also read | Celebrating Mother's Day: Honouring The Most Important Person In Out Lives

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.

How to celebrate Mother's Day? 

On Mother's Day, family members try to make sure that their mother is happy and enjoys her life. They surprise her with gifts or take her out for dinner or even cook for her at home. Mother's Day has also become a commercial phenomenon, with retailers offering gifts and experiences to help people express their appreciation for their mothers.