The idea of Mother’s day dates back to ancient Greece. The greeks paid honor in this spring festival to the mother of the Greek gods and godessess,Rhea. In 1600’s England, it is noted that Mother’s day was called Mothering Sunday. The holiday now seen in the eyes of Christians was used as a day to celebrate the mother of Jesus, Mary. Children returned home on Mothering Sunday and brought gifts of sweetes and pasteries. in 1872 the woman who wrote the words to the “Battle Hymn of the republic” first suggested the celebration of Mother’s Day in the United States.
A woman named Anna Jarvis, however, got the ball rolling to get Mother’s Day officially observed. West Virginia was the first state to accept Mother’s day as a formal holiday. By the next year, almost all the other states followed suit. By 1914 Mother’s day was named a national holiday by President Woodrow Wilson. to which the second Sunday in May was chosen as the day.