Tikumu’s letter

Press, 6 May 1980, Page 22

Tikumu’s letter

Dear Readers, Next Sunday, May 11, is Mother’s Day. It is meant to be a day of happiness for mothers, and the child-' ren make it so by throughtful actions and simple loving gifts. The custom of having a special day to honour mothers began in Britain many centuries ago, in the days when young people left home at an early age to work as servants in the houses of the rich.

Mothering Sunday, as the day was called, was an occasion when young people returned home to visit their mothers. Gifts, if there were any, were simple posies of flowers, or perhaps some tea. The young people brought happiness to their mothers by being at home. Mothering Sunday occurred during Lent, the 40 days of fasting before Easter. The strict rules governing foods to be eaten in the Lenten season were relaxed a little to allow people to bake special simnel cakes to add a festive touch to an occasion of private family rejoicing and thanksgiving at being together.

The day is still observed in Britain during Lent. Early this century the custom of having a special day to honour mothers was introduced in the United States of America. It developed from the spontaneous act of Sunday school children who carried white carnations to a memorial service for their teacher.

The daughter of the Sunday school teacher, a woman named Anna Jarvis, was deeply touched bv the children’s gesture to the memory of her mother. It gave her the idea of observing a special day as Mother’s Day each year.

The idea seems to have had popular appeal in America. About 1907, the second Sunday in May was chosen as the day on which Mother’s Day would be observed. The custom was adopted in New Zealand a few years later. The Young Men’s Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.) was active in promoting the ideal of Mother’s Day in New Zealand when it was introduced first, and it

carried the message to overseas servicemen in World War I. On May 12, 1918, the Y.M.C.A. attached to the New Zealand Division in France, published a special booklet for Mother’s Day. Each soldier received a copy, together with a food parcel and a letter card on which he was asked to write a note to his mother.

The booklet “Mother’s Day” was intended to be a remembrance from the mothers of New Zealand to their soldier sons far away from home. Mothering Sunday or Mother’s Day has been ob« served for many centuries by children showing love and appreciation of their; mothers in simple meaningful ways. You do not need money to make a loving gesture to your mother. In the tvords of a children’s song, “Four fingers and a thumb, think of all the things they have done,’’ you can use your hands to make a gift; or by helpful actions make Mother’s Day the happiest day of the year for her. Tikumu