The Importance of Apostrophes

I was writing about the upcoming holiday the other day and I had a grammatical quandary.  

Mothers' Day.

Mother's Day.
Mothers Day.

Here's the breakdown:

With the apostrophe placed after the "s," as in "Mothers' Day," we are celebrating the Day of all the Mothers- it belongs to them.  It is their day.  

Placed before the "s," I am celebrating the Day of just my own mother.  It is my mom's Day.  

Without an apostrophe at all, the holiday is simply the day for mothers, it doesn't belong to anyone.  

Maybe it's the Socialist in me, but I felt that Mothers' Day made the most sense.  After all, all moms are celebrating their day together, and we are all celebrating all of them.  Right?

I looked it up.  I'm totally wrong.  You can stop singing Kumbaya.  After some scouring (which, thanks to the Internet, means about 45 seconds), I found an article that said the founder of Mother's Day, Ann Jarvis, "was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world."

So there you have it, you can rest easy now.

(Although, if you're into grammar, I found this totally unrelated concept that I highly recommend to you, because it is now going to be a standard part of my life.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

My own mother, Mama Peaches, is a pretty exceptional woman.  

In my twenty-six years, I have had some pretty... interesting... aspirations, and my mother has supported each and every one.  I have made some questionable decisions- if you can believe it- and she has stood by me through all of them.  I have often asked for her help and she never denied me.  She has always been proud of me and understanding of my conundrums.  

While I was shopping for a Mother's Day card, I came upon one I didn't buy, but that made it through to the second or third round.  It referred to a mother as The Best Frenemy.  That card made it past the first round because it resonated with me.  My relationship with Mama Peaches has been rocky (at best) at times, and on some occasions (this one included) downright hateful and mean- and we have shared responsibility in those moments.  Like a lot of mothers and adult daughters, we cannot spend too long a time sharing a confined space.  We don't agree on everything.

In the end, though, I couldn't ask for a better Mama Peaches.

And my personal favorite--

                        

Happy Mother's Day to your mother, Dear Reader; and a Happy Mother's Day to my own.  I wish I could spend it with you.