A MOTHER’S LOVE

What has become somewhat of a national holiday, the day has only been dubbed “Mother’s Day” in the past 100 years or so, after President Woodrow Wilson declared it a national day in 1914 in the U.S. Traditionally, the practice of honouring motherhood is rooted in antiquity, and past rites typically had strong symbolic and spiritual overtones; societies tended to celebrate goddesses and symbols rather than actual mothers. In fact, the personal, human touch to Mother’s Day is a relatively new phenomenon, since the maternal objects of adoration ranged from mythological female deities to the church itself.

Since then the holiday has become rather commercialised, but the concept of spoiling all mothers is still very much alive. We all know that without a doubt, being a mom is one of the most demanding and challenging jobs around and quite possibly one of the more thankless and taken for granted. 

The day comes once a year, but little gestures that say “I love you,” are an important lesson in gratitude, best learned early. In South Africa, we either take our moms out for lunch, or spoil them by not letting them do any dishes for the day, and wait on her hand-and-foot. No matter what we do, we make sure she feels loved and that we show our devotion and adoration for what she does to make our lives complete. It is but one day in a year to say thank you to the woman who dedicates every single one of hers to you.