Mother's Day is a popular holiday in the United States that is celebrated on the second Sunday in May to show appreciation to moms everywhere. While most people believe that Mother's Day was invented by a card company who wanted some extra revenue, it was actually created by the Greeks, who use to hold festivals for Rhea, the mother of many deities, back in ancient times. As the years progressed, Catholics adopted the tradition of honoring mothers by celebrating Mother's Day on the fourth Sunday of Lent. They were upholding their honor to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Eventually, England took the holiday and expanded it to include all mothers. They called the holiday Mothering Day.

150 years ago, Mother's Day travelled to America when a woman named Anna Jarvis created a day to raise awareness of the poverty in her community. She called all mothers to advocate her cause, and declared the day Mother's Work Day. When Anna Jarvis passed away, her daughter began a campaign to create a memorial day for all mothers. Anna began including prominent politicians like Presidents Taft and Roosevelt in her campaign. Later, the House of Representatives declared that all officials of the federal government wear white carnations on the day commonly known as Mother's Day. The date was created as an official holiday in 1914, when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill declaring it a national holiday.

Sadly, Anna Jarvis eventually tried to reverse her special day. She had originally intended Mother's Day as a day of memorial, a day to go to church and honor mothers, and a day to let them know that they are appreciated. When the holiday turned into a commercial ploy, she was enraged. Despite the fact that Anna Jarvis may have not created the holiday she'd hoped for, Mother's Day has become a popular holiday in May. It is the busiest restaurant day of the year, and telephone lines normally have the highest traffic patterns.

Mothers have the right to their own day and they also have many rights to their own children. One of the most common rights that mothers fight to uphold in court is the permission to have family leave from work, Mothers should never be discriminated against for having children, or need to choose between a job and a family. With the many options for child care in the United States, it is easy enough for a mother to return to work after having children. Yet there will definitely be some time that she will need to recover and be with her child in the first weeks of his or her life. Therefore, most companies are supposed to abide by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

This Act declares that all mothers should be allowed up to twelve weeks of unpaid family leave from a job. Places of employment are supposed to respect a woman's need for maternity leave and allow for the mother to spend time with her baby before returning to work if she chooses to do so. Mothers also have a right over their child in that they have the right to put that child up for adoption, or the right to keep the child (except in the case of a surrogate mother.) Mothers are almost always the established parent for the child unless adoption arrangements have been made. Even if there is no discernible father, the mother can be easily identified because she gave birth to child in question.

In a divorce, mothers do not have more rights than the fathers because of their sex, but there are many situations where the mother will be granted custody over the father. Much of this determines on who filed the divorce, who the children have a deeper attachment to, and who can best care for the children. Whenever a mother's rights are in question, you should contact a family lawyer to clear up the issue. That way you will be able to find the best solution to your disagreement with a professional who knows the law. Contact a family attorney about your concerns today.