Tea for Two--a Simple Toast for Moms

It’s amazing how amoeba-like an idea can be. A single, simple notion lurches and surges, then breaks up, grabs onto impulses and other notions before regrouping and forming a larger, still fluid, mega-blob of an idea.

Conspiracy theories and most science projects probably start out as reasonably simple ideas. Then they morph.

That is what happened to Mother’s Day.

Once it was this nice little notion, generally credited to Anna M. Jarvis, who was looking for a way to honor her own mom, who died on May 9, 1905.

Jarvis actually launched a national campaign to get others to be as interested and attentive to their mothers as she had been to her own. But then things got out of hand. She didn’t like the commercialization of Mother’s Day, and spent much of the rest of her life trying to get everyone to pull themselves together and tone it down. Jarvis, it seems, never wanted herself and her mother to be the inspiration for an unprecedented number of phone calls, buffet lunches and floral arrangements. And before she knew it, even her own kids probably were having trouble getting dinner reservations or firm delivery commitments from florists.

As we approach another Mother’s Day, we should consider Jarvis’ determination to honor motherhood in a simpler, less overtly commercial way. How about a handmade gift or card? (Though mom probably still has the ones we made in the third grade and would consider it a gift if we just didn’t send any more.) Something in a nice doily, perhaps? What about a tea cozy?

Better yet, what about a tea party?

“Moms should know that we agonize over what to do with them each year. They would probably be happier if we relaxed a bit and didn’t get so stressed out,” said Jane Hulse, who wrote this week’s Jaunts column on two Mother’s Day events, the Victorian Tea at Olivas Adobe in Ventura and the quilt exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. (Page 7).

“Sometimes simple is better.”

Mrs. Jarvis and her mother would be so pleased.