Great Britain – 4th Sunday of Lent

Brits buck the general trend set by America, as our Mothering Sunday falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent. The Church of England deemed this particular Sunday a day for adults to make a pilgrimage back to their Mother Church in the 16th Century. And as a result, many a son and daughter released from work by their masters to visit said Mother Church would also end up reunited with their actual mothers on this day.

Churches still celebrate Mothering Sunday in the traditional sense, though in recent decades the day has taken a far more secular tack. The influence of America in general – as well as visiting American soldiers in World War II – has created a hybrid Mothering Sunday in the UK that merges old and new ideologies into one.

Serbia

Supernanny would have a field day in Serbia. Mother’s Day over here is part of an unusual family fiesta that dominates the three Sundays before Christmas and involves several lengths of ribbon. Mother’s Day falls between Children’s Day and Father’s Day, and on this day children will creep into their mothers’ bedroom in the morning to tie her feet with ribbons so that she can’t get up out of bed.

An enforced lie-in. So far, so good. But dear Mama is then held hostage until she caves in and agrees to give her little darlings treats, sweeties and presents. Father’s Day follows a similar theme, and on Children’s Day the little ones are bound up until they agree to behave themselves. Which may be a while…

Brazil – 2nd Sunday in May

Unsurprisingly, Brazilians go all out on Mother’s Day – it’s the second biggest commercial celebration to Christmas here.

And in a country which places the family at the very centre of life, throws the biggest community bash in history every February (Carnaval) and celebrates children as gifts from God, it’s no wonder that Dia das Mães is a multi-generational fiesta of food, song and dance.

Indonesia – 22 December

The Indonesian version of Mother’s Day is Women’s Day, celebrated on December 22nd to mark the anniversary of the First Indonesian Women’s Congress in 1928. This milestone in women’s political history – now marked annually with this national holiday – is used as a key date for launching campaigns, events and rallies to further raise the profile of women in Indonesia.

During the 33-year reign of President Suharto, however, the day was repackaged as a means to subordinate women and to impress upon women the importance of childbearing above all else.