A Special Mothers Day Basebal Game on May 8th

Mothers Day is a special day in the month of May when children will give their mother a card, flowers or a gift to show her their appreciation. In Willamette Valley Babe Ruth the children will often make this a special day by playing a baseball game for their mothers.

For mothers that have been celebrating Mothers Day since their children were tiny tots playing Cal Ripken – Babe Ruth T-ball or Rookie Minor baseball have you ever wondered what Mothers Day was all about besides baseball? Today those same tiny tots may be pre-teens playing Rookie Major, AAA, Major Minor, Major or even fuzzy faced teenagers playing prep 13 or 14 as those Mothers Day’s have passed by oh so fast.

Actually the origin of Mothers Day had its earliest origins in Britain and they were entwined with the church. Most Sundays in the year churchgoers would worship at their nearest Parish or ‘Daughter’ church and it became important that people returned to their ‘home’ or ‘Mother’ church once a year. This pilgrimage took place in the middle of Lent.

Historians believe that this annual return to the Mother church led to the tradition of children – particularly those in domestic service who could be as young as ten – being given the day off to visit their mother and family. Today our children are no longer in domestic service, instead mothers and fathers are taking them to baseball, basketball or soccer practice and if you can even get your child to clean their room that is a feat accomplished. You baseball and other young athletes know what I mean so listen up as I whisper into your ear, “CLEAN YOUR ROOM FOR MOTHERS DAY, OKAY!” Oh gosh I guess that wasn’t much of a whisper so what else can you expect from an old Marine?

In those early days when kids were placed in domestic service, those who walked home through the countryside picked posies or other flowers to give their mothers as a special gift. Yes, baseball players you don’t need to have money for Mothers Day, here in Oregon you can still pick wild flowers and just about every place else you might live, clean your room and do your chores and all of this is free!

Since those early days, most countries have declared a special day on which to honor mothers as we have here in the United States and as we have in Willamette Valley Babe Ruth.

Across the English Channel the French call their day Fête des Mères. It takes place in May and was inaugurated by Napoleon and made official in 1950.

In the United States, Mothers Day is also celebrated in May. It was originally organized by Julia Ward Howe, a women’s rights activist who also wrote the lyrics to the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

In China, Mothers Day is the only Western tradition which has official Government support. The Women’s Alliance of the People’s Republic of China uses the day to promote filial respect for parents countrywide. Carnations are the Chinese gift of choice.

Mothers Day in Ethiopia is called Antrosht. It has no fixed date because it occurs at the end of the rainy season – around the end of October. Children visit their parents bringing the necessary ingredients for a meal. Everyone sings songs in celebration of the family.

So kids in Pleasant Hill Babe Ruth, Willamette Valley Babe Ruth, Little League, T-ball and in fact all kids if you are a youth baseball players or other athlete or not, make Mothers Day a special day and if you play her a baseball game or not, pick her some flowers, tell her how much you love her and clean your room!

~Terry W~