Celebrating Mother’s Day in Mexico

Celebrating Mother’s Day in Mexico
May 8, 2011
By: Gina Roman
(Article originally written for the May 15, 2009 issue of “The Lake Chapala Review”)



This was an unusual Mother’s Day, but it is fit in my own family, traditions and life perfectly as I am Mexican American and most years it’s confusing, deciding which day to celebrate our mother. The U. S and Canada always celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May which coincided with May 10 – always Mother’s Day in Mexico, no matter what day of the week it falls on.

Mother’s Day was first celebrated in Mexico when Rafael Alducín, a jounalist for the newspaper El Excelsior gathered a large group of influential people back in 1922 to select the date for the recognition of Mothers and all the work they do.
While Mother’s Day is celebrated differently in various countries, all the traditions serve the same purpose; to honor Mathers as the core, strength and support of families.

On May 10, Mexicans shower their Mathers with gifts and tenderness, usually spending the entire day with them, giving them special attention, taking them to fancy restaurantes or other lovely places, presenting them with beautiful gifts, bouquets and cards.

We even gather early in the early morning to awaken our Mothers, grandmothers, wives, aunts, sisters, cousins with a serenade – with a trio of mariachis if we can – to open the celebration of the most important and admired person in the family. It’s most exciting when we can have mariachis – the musicians Dresde in charro suits – the tradicional costume of the horsemen and of our state. This impressive serenade of songs about Mathers and the romantic tunes about women given even more emphasis to this most Mexican of holidays, steeped in Mexico’s culture.

Even in the business world, women and moms, are remembered on Mother’s Day when some companies hire mariachis, gather all the Mathers into one room so they can enjoy the enchanting voices of the mariachis, along with the cake, flowers and balloons that celebrate their day.

When hiring mariachis is not within the Budget, groups of friends get together and make a circuit singing to one mother and then another until all the mom’s have been honored. They choose a starting point at 4 or 5 a. m. on May 10 – sometimes at 3 a. m., if the list of Mothers and grandmothers is long. At each house they begin y singing the traditional songo f the serenade, “Las Mañanitas” which goes like this:
“Estas son las mañanitas que cantaba el Rey David, a las muchachas bonitas, se las cantamos así despierta, mi bien despierta, mira que ya amanecío. Ya los pajaritos cantan, la luna ya se metío.”
(These are the little morning songs that were sung by King David, to those beautiful girls, we come to sing to like this, Wake up my dear, wake up, look here is the dawn already the little birds are singing and the moon is already gone).
For those who are not acquainted with this custom, it may seem strange to awaken our hard-working Mathers so early on their special day. Most Mathers are very flattered that their children made a big effort to get up at the crack of dawn to sing just for them an dto see that these traditins are still alive in such an accelerated world and that the children are willing to carry it on.

This day is given such high importance that schols throughout the country put together special programs with children presenting skits and traditional dances and Raffles for the Mathers. Many government employees are entitled to take the day off to be honored by their family or so they can be with and honor their own Mathers.
That’s why the Virgin of Guadalupe is called “Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.” She’s not only the mother of Jesus Christ, she told Juan Diego when she appeared in 1531 that she was his mother and the mother of Mexico as a Catholic country. Also known as “Patroness of the Americas.” She is the most popular religious and cultural image, the focus of an extensive pilgrimage and the force that holds Mexicans together.
On the December 12 Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe many people gather around her, bringing her roses, bowing to her feet and showing her love and respect in numerous ways – the same way we do with our family Mathers on their special day in May. Also like our Mothers, the Virgin of Guadalupe is known to be very miraculous; she’s the one to grant all her children’s wishes. As a woman and a mother, she’s very understanding and caring, overlookig all our sins and wrongdoings – just like Mamá.

Mother’s including the Virgin, are held in such high esteem that the fastest way to enrage a Mexican is to insult their mother – even as a joke. There is a whole section of Mexican Spanish that is reserved for times when Mexicans want to offend each other – sometimes in jest and sometimes seriously. They use profanity such as, “madrecita, (lessening the significance of the mother), “ni madres” (no way), “no tener madre” (don’t be so cruel), “estar hasta la madre” (to be totally fed up), etc. Of course there are also much more offensive expressions – ones that it’s best to find out on your own.