Mother's Day is a celebration admiring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, and the influence of mothers in union. It is celebrated on various days in many segment of the world, most frequently in the months of March or May.
It complements similar celebrations admiring family members, such as Father's Day.
In the United States, celebration of Mother's Day began in the premature 20th century. It is not related to the many celebrations of mothers that have materialize throughout the world over thousands of years, such as the Greek cult to Cybele, the Roman carnival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration originally a commemoration of Mother Church, not motherhood.However, in few countries, Mother's Day has become synonymous with these aged traditions.
In most countries, Mother's Day is an rite derived from the holiday as it has develop in the United States. As adopted by other countries and cultures, the holiday has different meanings, is associated with different events and is celebrated on various dates.
In some cases, countries already had existing celebrations admiring motherhood, and their celebrations then adopted various external characteristics from the US holiday, such as giving carnations and other accord to one's mother.
The extent of the observance varies greatly. In some countries, it is potentially hurtful to one's mother not to mark Mother's Day. In others, it is a small known carnival celebrated mainly by immigrants, or covered by the media as a taste of foreign culture.