Día de las Madres: How Mother's Day is Celebrated in Mexico

If you are ever in Mexico before or during this day, you will see the streets filled with vendors of flowers, candies, and other gifts and will most likely witness busy streets and restaurants with all trying to get to their Mamá and celebrate this special day. This day and the immense celebrations that can be witnessed in all states of the country reflects the role that Mothers have in Mexican culture and the enthusiasm of celebrating Mother’s Day, or Día de las Madres.

Mercado de Flores. www.mercadodeflores.mx

Shortly after the establishment of Mother's Day in the United States (after Anna Jarvis started to promote this as a day to celebrate working mothers) at the beginning of the 20th century, Mexico followed along and established that the 10th of May would be established as Día de las madres, or Mother's Day, in Mexico. The same as in the US, Mother’s Day in Mexico is a special day that allows for the celebration of all mothers. However, besides the date, there are other differences in the way this day is celebrated in Mexico, compared to the US.

When and how is Mother’s Day in Mexico?

Although in the United States Mother’s Day is celebrated the second Sunday of May, Día de las Madres in Mexico is always celebrated May 10^th no matter what day of the week it falls on. As with all important celebrations, this day is one centered around food, family, and music and is a day that will last several hours, if not all day. For starters, it is expected that all family will gather to celebrate La Jefa de la Casa, mamá, mami, or ma’ and spend the entire day filling them with apapachos (pampering).

Some workplaces also tend to give this day off as a holiday, or only work half a day to allow those who want to celebrate or be celebrated to spend time with their mothers. There are shows of appreciation everywhere around Mexico. For example, in schools it is very common that children host a special event filled with dancing, singing, plays, or special entertainment for their mothers.

As mentioned above, this is a family-wide event filled with all sorts of traditional food delicacies such as mole, pozole, sopes, enchiladas, and more. However, as it is usually the mother who takes on the cooking, some decide to take them out to eat to a restaurant instead. On this day to go out to a restaurant you will need to have a reservation days ahead because they will be fully booked. For restaurants, this may easily be one of the busiest days of the year! Although this year will be a different one due to the pandemic and we will most likely (and hopefully) see smaller gatherings in open spaces.

Mariachi en Plaza. www.marca.com

To celebrate mothers all around Mexico, it is very common to gift them with flowers, chocolates, and/or a special gifts. For some people in Mexico, gifts and celebrations on Día de la Madre are more important and/or bigger than those in birthdays. It is also common to bring them a mariachi serenade, or serenata, where Las Mañanitas are sung. Las Mañanitas is a traditional Mexican folk song used for birthdays and saints, the first verses go like this: 

Feliz Día Mamá! 

So, what do you think? We all now have a reason to celebrate mothers for two days! How do you celebrate Mother's Day? What special traditions do you have to celebrate this day? We would love to hear form you!