Mother’s Day – what else?

Mothers’ Day is not a big celebration here in New Zealand although all the shops have a great selection of Mothers’ Day cards.  The media play up the day but for many of us, it is just another Sunday.  But Mothering Sunday has been celebrated in England and the rest of the British Isles over many centuries.  For more information on this go to.

As a family, we have never made much of this day.  When I was growing up it was almost ignored.  Maybe because of its origins dating back to when it was considered important for churchgoers to visit their home or “mother” church once a year.  In a society where children often worked in other villages from a very young age, it quickly became a time for celebrations and family reunions.  This also became a day when children and other domestic servants were allowed a day off to visit their families.  Gifts obviously, were simple and today they run the gamut of flowers, candies, chocolates and other tokens of appreciation.  Often a Simnel cake would be made by young girls in service to take home to their mothers and this became synonymous with Easter and Mothering Sunday in the UK.  But I suggest/suspect it was a little more simple than this recipe from Waitrose in the UK. Where would simple servant girls get these ingredients?

But we had Simnel cake at Easter if not on Mothering Sunday.

Here in New Zealand I have had telephone calls from each of my children – thank you, Cate, and thank you, David.  And that is the sum total of how we celebrate Mothers Day in our family.

So Happy Mothers Day to all my friends out there in the blogosphere.  May your day be blessed with visits, calls and gifts from your children, or if this is not the way you celebrate this day as a family, may your day be blessed with calls and thoughts from and about your children.

I found this when looking around the internet.  I think it is quite lovely even if we remove the capital G and replace it with a lower case one:

A baby asked God, “They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?”  “Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you.”

The child further inquired, “But tell me, here in heaven I don’t have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.”  God said, “Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel’s love and be very happy.”

Again the child asked, “And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don’t know the language?”  God said, “Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.”

“And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?”  God said, “Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.”

“Who will protect me?”  God said, “Your angel will defend you even if it means risking it’s life.”

“But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.”

God said, “Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you.”

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, “God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel’s name.”

“You will simply call her, ‘Mom.'”  Anon

Roses for all you mothers

And one of my favorite quotes from Alice (because I do live on the other side of the world)

“What if I should fall right through the center of the earth… oh, and come out the other side, where people walk upside down.”

Related articles

• Hey Dad: Don’t Mess Up On Mother’s Day This Sunday! (wycd.radio.com)