A special Mother's Day gift

Mother's Day was first heard of in 1870, in the United States, when Julia Ward Howe proposed the establishment of Mother's Day for Peace, but without much success. The first Mother's Day was instead celebrated in 1908 by Anna Jarvis, in honour of her mother, a pro-peace activist. This celebration was so popular and successful that it was made official in 1914 by President Wilson. That year, Congress resolved that the second Sunday in May would be the date dedicated to the celebration of mothers. In the wake of US influence, this holiday was introduced in 1917 in Switzerland, in 1918 in Finland, in 1919 in Norway and Sweden, in 1923 in Germany and in 1924 in Austria. Source

Although with different connotations than today, in 1933 Italy celebrated the National Day of the Mother and Child, framed in the family policy set by the fascist regime to reward Italy's most prolific mothers. Only in the 1950s, however, did Mother's Day begin to take shape as we know it today. In 1956, Raul Zaccari, senator and mayor of Bordighera, together with Giacomo Pallanca celebrated Mother's Day in Bordighera. In 1957, on the other hand, it was Don Otello Migliosi, parish priest of Tordibetto, who promoted this anniversary to recall the religious value of the figure of the mother and to create a ground for meeting and dialogue even between different cultures. In 1958, it was made official at state level and 8 May officially became Mother's Day. Subsequently, it was moved to the second Sunday in May.

This year Mother's Day falls on 8 May, the second Sunday in May. As is tradition, the race to find the perfect gift to celebrate our mother (or mothers) already begins. When we were kids, this was the time when at school or kindergarten we would start preparing a little gift for our mother, perhaps a drawing or a handmade craft. Who among us does not remember papier-mâché flower bouquets or photo frames or even decorated pots for small decorative seedlings? As we have grown up, gifts have become more and more sophisticated and 'challenging', though not necessarily more expensive or more valuable: jewellery, patio plants, bouquets, bags, books, outings, gourmet dinners... Every mother has her own taste and it is not always easy to get it right, just as it is not easy not to repeat yourself every year...

Environmental issues are becoming more and more topical and heartfelt, and this year you can combine your concern for nature with an amazing and totally unexpected gift. Gift your mum a Polly, a house for wild pollinators to be installed in the garden or on the balcony of your house. The little house, built thanks to the work of a cooperative of differently abled young people, can be purchased on its own or already equipped with Osmia Rufa cocoons. Once hatched, they will give birth to solitary bees that will pollinate plants and flowers in gardens, balconies and lawns. The little house will be their refuge, where they will lay eggs that will become new bees next year. By creating a safe haven for these often ignored pollinators you will be helping them and biodiversity. If you want, you can also add to your gift a sachet of bee-saving seeds that your mum can use to decorate her own green spaces!

You can also give your mum the gift of adopting a 3Bee hive. With distance adoption, you will be able to monitor the health and development of your hive from your smartphone, viewing not only the data collected by 3Bee devices, but also all the multimedia material created by your beekeeper. At the end of the beekeeping season, your mum will receive your chosen honey directly to her home for you to enjoy together. Adopt a 3Bee hive is an environmentally friendly gift, which allows you to support virtuous Italian beekeeping realities and their bees, surprising and lasting. You can choose between an adoption in which you will be the one to choose honey and beekeeper or you can give your mum a gift coupon that will allow her to choose her own beehive.