The woman who first proposed Mother’s Day in 1870 was the same woman who wrote the lyrics to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

After the Civil War, writer Julia Ward Howe suggested a Mother’s Day to recognize peace and protest war. She organized annual events in Boston to honor mothers, but despite her work, nothing official came of her efforts.

Although Julia Ward Howe first suggested a day for mothers, Anna Jarvis (who had no children of her own) campaigned for a national day of observance for moms, in remembrance of her own mother, Ann Jarvis, who had spent years working to provide resources for poor mothers in West Virginia.

Mother’s Day became a designated holiday in 1914, but within a few years, Jarvis became disgusted with how commercial the day had become and started a petition to rescind the holiday. That clearly didn’t come to pass.

Carnations quickly became the symbol of Mother’s Day (supposedly representing the tears of Mary when Jesus was crucified) when it began in 1914, and soon the floral industry promoted the idea of wearing a red carnation to honor a person’s living mom or a white carnation to honor a mother who had passed. Although this tradition has faded, 76 percent of moms still hope to get flowers from their kids or loved ones on this special day.

Their odds are good — Mother’s Day is the No. 1 day for floral sales, and the NRF’s (National Retail Federation) survey revealed that a whopping 67 percent of people were planning to buy flowers.

If you plan to take your mom out to eat, you might want to consider which time of the day will have enough open tables. Mother’s Day is the busiest day of the year for restaurants, with some 80 million adults dining out (which tops even Valentine’s Day) in the United States. Nearly half of those people will be out for dinner, as opposed to lunch or brunch.

Many countries have a Mother’s Day, though they don’t always fall on the second Sunday in May like it does in the U.S., Australia, China, Japan and India.

Flowers and gifts are a worldwide tradition for the day, but in Thailand parades are held and jasmine is commonly given as a gift.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【废除】 fèichú rescind take away, remove

【惊人的】jīngrén de whopping extraordinary, incredible

1870年最先提议设立母亲节的女性就是为《共和国战歌》写词的人。在美国内战结束后，作家朱莉娅▪沃德▪豪伊建议设立母亲节来赞颂和平、抗议战争。她在波士顿组织了几场向母亲致敬的年度活动，但尽管她付出了努力，这些活动都没有被官方保留下来。

尽管朱莉娅▪沃德▪豪伊最先提议设立母亲节，但安娜▪贾维斯是倡议将母亲节作为一个全国性节日来庆祝的人。安娜▪贾维斯本人没有小孩，她的初衷是为了纪念她自己的母亲，她的母亲安▪贾维斯花了很多年时间为西弗吉尼亚州的贫困母亲争取资源。

1914年，母亲节成了国家指定的节日，但几年后，贾维斯开始厌恶这个节日变得商业化，于是她发起了一个废除母亲节的请愿活动。显然请愿没有被通过。

1914年设立母亲节后，康乃馨很快就成为母亲节的象征，据说康乃馨代表着耶稣被钉上十字架时圣母玛丽亚流下的泪水。不久鲜花产业就开始推广一个做法：佩戴红色康乃馨来纪念在世的母亲，佩戴白色康乃馨来纪念过世的母亲。

尽管这一传统已经消逝，76%的母亲仍希望在这个特别的日子从孩子或爱人那里收到鲜花。这个希望落空的可能性不大 —— 因为母亲节是鲜花销量最高的一天，美国零售联合会的调查揭示，多达67%的人计划购买鲜花送给母亲。

如果你想带母亲去下馆子，你可能要考虑预约哪个时间才能订到座位。母亲节是餐厅一年中最繁忙的日子，美国约有8000万成年人在外就餐（甚至超过了情人节）。其中近半数的人会出去吃晚餐，而不是午餐或早午餐。

许多国家都有母亲节，不过不一定和美国、澳大利亚、中国、日本、印度一样是五月的第二个星期日。在母亲节送鲜花和礼物是全球的传统，但是泰国人会举行游行，而且他们普遍送母亲茉莉花作为礼物。

(chinadaily.com.cn)