An online ad just popped up on my email that pretty well defies the conundrum of Mother’s Day for me. It read “Show Mom some love: Spoil mom this Mother’s Day with a delightful brunch … enjoy a delicious spread, a stunning view and celebrate the amazing woman in your life.”
The Mother’s Day menu goes on to detail the joys of steak and eggs, a burger with caramelized onion, fish tacos and huevos rancheros — dishes that would very likely satisfy none of the mothers in my family.
If my mother were still with us, she’d prefer a corned beef sandwich on rye, heavy on the coleslaw. My mother-in-law would probably lean toward a nice brunch of branzino, preceded by a Lemon Drop cocktail, and followed by a Lemon Drop cocktail. My wife would find happiness with a nice big plate of mixed sushi rolls and sashimi.
The standard Father’s Day feed of a steak dropped in the Weber, and a 12 pack of beer, would win no points. (We men are such simple creatures.)
Mother’s Day may be the most difficult holiday of the year — even more difficult than Valentine’s Day, which is generally accepted as a scam for selling cards and boxes of candy. Mother’s Day is taken seriously by mothers. It’s a day to tread lightly.
Mother’s Day didn’t exist until 1914. Not because nobody had thought of it, but because the U.S. Congress was opposed to it. In 1908, Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother’s Day an official holiday. … You read that right; Congress voted against motherhood. They thought the notion was a joke, and argued more than a little absurdly that it would lead to more holidays, like Mother-in-Law’s Day. (You think we’ve got an obstructionist Congress now? Given the opportunity, they probably would have voted against the flag and apple pie as well!)
But thanks to the creator of Mother’s Day — peace activist Anna Jarvis — in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson got around Congress with a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as a national…
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