May 10 - Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Friday, May 10.  Feliz Dia de las Madres! Happy Mother’s Day!  Wait, you say, Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday.  It is always the second Sunday in May.  That is true in the U.S. but in Mexico Mother’s Day is always May 10—regardless of the day of the week.

Mexicans began celebrating Mother’s Day in the early 1900’s as a result of U.S. infuence and the celebration of Mother’s Day.  However it wasn’t until 1922 that Mexico had the first official celebration of Mother’s Day .   This was a time when women were beginning to realize that they had political and professional rights and many were concerned that women were being swayed from what was traditionally seen as their primary role—childbearing.  In an attempt to reinforce this primary role, a Mexican women’s magazine, the Association of Catholic Ladies and a Mexico City newspaper joined forces to organize the first official Mother’s Day in Mexico on May 10, 1922. 

Mother’s Day in Mexico is celebrated much like it is in the U.S.  Children give gifts to their mothers, there are special programs in schools, families take their mother out to eat,  grown children living far away call their mothers, etc. 

In some Mexican towns, the day begins with the singing of “las mañanitas”.  Mariachi bands sometimes wake the mother up by singing this traditional song.  Other times, the children in the family wake the mother up by singing this song.  There are special church services followed by tamales and atole for breakfast. 

Some interesting facts about Mother’s Day in Mexico:

While the father is usually perceived as the dominant figure in a Mexican family, it is actually the mother who is the backbone of the family.  

Mothers in 1942 got a very special gift.  The Mexican government ordered the National Pawnshop to return all the pawned sewing machines it held without requiring the loans to be repaid.  The estimated loss to the National Pawnshop at the time was abut $160,000. 

So...wherever you are, in Mexico or the United States...Feliz Dia de las Madres - Happy Mother's Day to you!