Mother's Day (United States)

Mother's Day in the United States is an annual holiday celebrated on the second Sunday in May. Mother's Day recognizes mothers, motherhood and maternal bonds in general, as well as the positive contributions that they make to society. Although many Mother's Day celebrations world-wide have quite different origins and traditions, most have now been influenced by the more recent American tradition established by Anna Jarvis, who campaigned for the holiday. Organized by Jarvis, the first official Mother's Day was celebrated at St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, which now holds the International Mother's Day Shrine. Previous attempts at establishing Mother's Day in the United States sought to promote peace by means of honoring mothers who had lost or were at risk of losing their sons to war.

History

First attempts to establish a holiday

During the 19th century, women's peace groups in USA tried to establish holidays and regular activities in favor of peace and against war. A common early activity was the meeting of groups of mothers whose sons had fought or died on opposite sides of the American Civil War.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a modern celebration honoring one's mother, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May. It complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Father's Day and Siblings Day.

The celebration of Mother's Day began in the United States in the early 20th century; it is not related to the many celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have occurred throughout the world over thousands of years, such as the Greek cult to Cybele, the Roman festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration (originally a celebration of the mother church, not motherhood). Despite this, in some countries, Mother's Day has become synonymous with these older traditions.

Founding (United States)

The modern American holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, which now holds the International Mother's Day Shrine. Her campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her beloved mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Anna's mission was to honor her own mother by continuing work she started and to set aside a day to honor mothers, "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world". Anna's mother, Ann Jarvis, was a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues.

Mother's Day (1980 film)

Mother's Day is a 1980 American horror-thriller film, directed, co-written and produced by Charles Kaufman, brother of Troma Entertainment co-founder Lloyd Kaufman, who served as an associate producer for the film.

A particular scene in the film is soundtracked by "I Think We're Alone Now" by 1960s bubblegum pop band Tommy James & the Shondells.

Plot

The plot begins with the long-time friendship of three women, Abbey (Nancy Hendrickson), Jackie (Deborah Luce), and Trina (Tiana Pierce), who reunite every year to take a camping trip. Once while setting up their vacation in the woods, they find their trip turns into their worst nightmare when they are captured by a group of two partially insane punk/"hillbilly" hybrids: Ike (Holden McGuire) and Addley (Billy Ray McQuade). The punks lead a comfortable life, living along with their mentally abnormal mother (Rose Ross) in an occult hovel situated amidst the wood. All through the movie, their mother goads her sons into acts of rape, violence, and murder. Eventually one of the women is severely brutalized by Ike and Addley, and the remaining two escape before the first dies from her sustained injuries. They soon regroup, arm themselves, and set out for bloody revenge against Ike, Addley, and Mother. After the girls take their revenge at the end of the film, as they are about to leave the woods they are attacked by the mother's deformed sister, Queenie.

Mother's Day (Modern Family)

"Mother's Day" is the 21st episode of the American comedy television series, Modern Family's second season and the 45th episode overall of the series. It originally aired on the American Broadcast Company (ABC) on May 4, 2011. The episode was written by Dan O'Shannon & Ilana Wernick and was directed by Michael Spiller.

In the episode, Claire and Gloria's Mother's Day excursion outdoors with the kids turns into the mother of all disasters. Meanwhile, Phil and Jay share an awkward moment after Jay finds a letter he wrote to his mom on a past Mother's Day when they stay home to prepare dinner for everyone; and Mitchell attempts to show his appreciation for Cameron by bringing him breakfast in bed on Mother's Day, causing Cameron to worry about the gender roles in his relationship with Mitchell.

"Mother's Day" received positive reviews from critics with Alan Sepinwall, who is usually critical of the series, calling Ed O'Neill's performance "terrific". The episode also marked a rise in the ratings from the previous episode, "Someone to Watch Over Lily". The episode also ranked as the highest-rated scripted program on Wednesday.