Mother's Day is a special day when people honor their mothers.

Writer Julia Ward Howe made the first known suggestion for a Mother's Day in the United States. That was in 1872. She said it should be a day to celebrate peace. For several years, she held a yearly Mother's Day meeting in June in Boston, Massachusetts.

Mother's Day as it is celebrated now began with a woman named Anna Jarvis. She started a campaign（运动，活动） for a national observance（遵守，仪式） in the early nineteen hundreds. She wrote thousands of letters to public officials. She urged that the second Sunday in May be declared Mother's Day.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson and the United States Congress finally agreed. After that, the second Sunday in May became a day to express love for mothers throughout the country.

On Mother's Day, children of all ages give their mothers special gifts. Popular gifts include flowers, jewelry（珠宝） or candy. Children also do nice things so their mother will not have to do any work on her special day. They might bring her breakfast in bed or clean the house.

Children who no longer live at home may travel to visit their mother on Mother's Day. The whole family may go to a restaurant for a holiday meal. Children who cannot be with their mother on the holiday send a special card with a message of love. They also call their mother on the telephone to wish her a happy day. Mother's Day is one of the busiest days of the year for telephone use in the United States.

So, you may ask, do people have a special day to honor their fathers? The answer is yes. Father's Day is in June, but that is a story for another time!