Why is Mother’s Day in the UK on a different day to the US, is it the same for Father’s Day?

Chances are if you are a mum, mum to be or a stepmum, you are either waking up to breakfast in bed, a lovely card or perhaps even flowers or chocolates? For those of you who have a mum, I very much hope that you are treating her to something special.

For the history of Mother’s Day or Mothering Sunday in the UK, one has to go back to the Middle Ages. It was back then that when people had moved away from where they grew up, the custom developed that they would return to their home and their mothers on the fourth Sunday of the Christian festival of Lent.

Mothering Sunday in the UK varies every year and the reason is because the festival of Lent varies too. When it comes to Mother’s Day in the US, it is always celebrated on the second Sunday of May.

The BBC reported that “The idea started in America when a woman called Anna Jarvis held a small memorial service for her own mother on 12 May 1907.

“Soon after, most places in America were observing the day and in 1914, the US president made it a national holiday, celebrated on the second Sunday of May.

“However, by 1920 Anna became angry at how companies were using the holiday as a way to make money off people by buying gifts, and even campaigned against the government to remove it from the calendar altogether.”

Is Father’s Day in the UK and US celebrated on the same day?

Father’s Day in the UK and US is celebrated on the same day, which is on the third Sunday in June. There are several stories when it comes to the origin of Father’s Day but one of the most popular is that it was started by a lady Sonora Louise Smart in Washington in the States.

Sonora Louise Smart was brought up by her father as her mother had passed away giving birth to her sixth child. When Sonora listened to a speech about Mother’s Day back in 1909, this reportedly gave her the idea that fathers should be celebrated too.

It is believed that the first official father’s day took place on June 19, 1910.