Mother’s Day is a day to remember one’s mother. Sadly, like most memorial days in the year, it has become commercialized and consumer oriented. If you take a few minutes with me, we will look at it with fresh eyes and I’ll tell you about a gift that keeps on giving. Let’s go!
Table of Contents
Mother’s Day History
Mother’s day is a day that has existed for hundreds of years. A woman called Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia is commonly attributed to being the founder of the day in May 12, 1907. However, the day to celebrate one’s mother is much older and has it’s link to the oldest religion in the world. During the Middle Ages, the societal custom we call Mother’s day, was actually developed. The purpose of the day was to allow those who had moved away from their home parishes and their mothers, to return back to the parish to be with their mothers.
The day was held on the fourth Sunday of of Lent known as ‘Laetare Sunday’. Lent is a Catholic tradition and Laetare Sunday also belongs to this Lent. Later on in England, the day become known as ‘Mothering Day’. You can now impress your friends with this bit of trivia. When Lent ended Easter celebrations begin so the timing of Laetare Sunday was well placed to facilitate big gatherings.
Even older than that are ancient festivals going back to ancient times that honour mothers, mother goddesses, mother nature, and priestesses of those ancient religions.
From Memorial to Making Money Mother’s Day
Mother’s day is a commercial event now. All retailers start preparing for the day weeks or months in advance. If you’re doing any training on selling, you’re advised to ensure you get marketing done on mother’s day. It is a time tested and proven money maker. In 2012 Americans spent $18.6 billion on mother’s day gifts. By 2020, this amount of spending had risen to $26.7 billion. That is a lot on money being spent. That is a lot of money leaving the pockets of working people and going into the accounts of businesses.
That is the official spending but if you count all the spending leading up to the mother’s day, it could be double or more than the official numbers. All the product design, the marketing campaign development costs, the advertising costs, and more. All this spending is attributed to the day set aside for spending on mothers. The 2022 Mother’s Day spending is estimated at a whopping $31.7 billion or $246 per person.
By buying into the ritual, you are actually buying with your cash into the ritual.
Don’t Follow The Crowd on Mother’s Day
I don’t follow the crowd. You should also think about not following the crowd. According the data, the top two purchase gift categories are greeting cards and flowers. The least two gift purchase categories for mothers are books and CDs, and electronics. Those mega greeting card company must be delighted each and every mother’s day.
I don’t spend any money for the day and have not spent any for many years.
Suppose you want to get your mother something. Should you buy her something that is a novelty item, or more clothes to the closet full she already owns, or some other unnecessary gift? In these tough economic times, that just does not make sense. Does it make sense to collectively waste more than $20 billion dollars? No way!
A Real Gift for Mother’s Day
What is the mysterious real gift for your mother? In case you have not guessed by now. It is a delicious herb garden. You read that correct: a herb garden. Mother all over the world use herbs and spices in their cooking.
In the past, I have read about people giving their mothers earrings shaped like toiletpaper, cakes with funky messages about bladders, or other frivolous and inconsequential stuff. It’s just junk and clutter that a kindly mother would smile at and act so overjoyed to received. You know those gifts are relegated to the top drawer of the dresser until the next family visit. What a waste of money, time, and opportunity.
A herb garden for mom is the number one way to go when it comes to mothers day gifts or any day of the year for that matter. You can think of using herbs like sage, thyme, basic, mint, rosemary, oregano, and more.
Benefits of This Gift
Let’s consider some of the numerous benefits of giving your mom her very own living herb garden.
Saves Her Money
Every mom loves to save money where she can. With a well designed herb garden she will be spending less money buying herb in the supermarket and will save a lot of money over the years that this gift keeps giving.
Makes Her Food Taste Better
Every mom knows that she is the queen of her kitchen. Her culinary skills are unmatched and by adding fresh herbs into her collection of resources to draw upon, her dishes will be the talk of the town. Mom loves it when her dishes please everyone.
She Can Save Time
Mom is normally busy with so many tasks on the brain. She deserves anything help to save her time and make her life easier. Having her fresh living herb garden next to her kitchen will help her save time which she can use to relax.
She’s A Climate Helper
Every mom likes to be part of the trend and not left behind. Now mom can be a trendy eco-helper by letting her friends know she’s got a living herb garden growing her yard. She’s doing her part to help the climate. I can imagine the other jealous moms now.
It Smells Amazing
If mom likes the smell of lavender, sage, thyme, or other herbs, she will love being able to just brush her hands on them and smell the rich aroma wafting off the leaves. Moms love a place that is clean, neat, and smells nice.
Conclusion
Having a living herb garden is having an amazing resource that will make you think, “how did I ever get along without it all these years?” It is a life-changer. With that said, you should start looking into some designs that might fit your space and budget. Check out our article on raised beds and you’ll see one of the images include a nice herb garden. Until next time continue to learn and grow.
References
https://medium.com/the-lollipop-guild/the-history-of-mothers-day-346a6c90a0f2
https://www.petalrepublic.com/mothers-day-statistics
https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/mothers-day-spending-total-281-billion
