Gifts for Mothers Day should be appropriate, but certainly do not have to be elaborate or expensive. After all, it’s really the intention and sentiment behind the gift that is important. What we do is simply acknowledge what she has done for us over the years, bearing us (giving birth is not a pleasant experience), raising us and teaching us.
From time immemorial, mothers have held a special place of honor in most cultures, particularly those of pre-Christian Europe. Some of the earliest figurines created by prehistoric peoples of France were of an idealized mother figure, and motherhood was often associated with the Earth itself. Of course, the bond between mothers and offspring is a strong one among all mammal species.
Interestingly, the modern Mother’s Day began in the 1870s as a protest against warfare and a form of political activism by women who had lost sons in the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. It is far less political today, but is still an appropriate occasion for offspring to honor the woman who gave them life.
Like all mammal species, the bond between mother and offspring is a powerful one; any mother will kill to defend her offspring. Unlike other mammals however, the bond between human mothers and their children usually lasts a lifetime. It is for this reason that simply material gifts are insufficient to show appreciation.
A material gift is just a symbol, a token of what we really want to tell our mothers. What we really want to tell them is that we are eternally grateful for the period of their lives that they have sacrificed in order for us to come into being. And also for us to grow and become the person that we have become today.
Mothers day comes only one time per year. It is a time that we can celebrate that special person and show them how much they mean to us. We can take them out for dinner and shower them with expensive gifts. But none of this means anything without showing them the love we still hold inside for them.
The best gift of all is really quality time with the family. Show them what a great person you have become because of her nurturing and guidance. Share this not only with the children, but with the grandchildren as well. This is a great time to throw off the patriarchal oppression of the past two thousand years and return to our true roots as children of the Goddess.
Gifts for Mothers Day need not be expensive nor flashy. They don’t have to cost anything at all, though that is good for commerce. The main thing is that we show our appreciation and honor the institution, which is as old as the Order Mammalia itself. These traditions keep us in touch with our mutual roots and ultimately may insure our survival as a species in the face of patriarchal onslaught.
For the best advice on Gifts for Mothers Day, read up on all the latest customs in gift giving in pieces by holiday gift-giving expert Anne Harvester.
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