Dia de la Madre

There is absolutely no way a person can show enough gratitude for a mother. She is someone who nurtured you in her womb, gave you birth, raised you with all the love there can possibly be, sacrificed her interests and work for you and became your life’s backbone the moment she heard your first cry for her. Such an amazing person deserves all the love in return and Mother’s Day provides us with the opportunity to do just that.

Dia de la Madre, or Mother’s Day is an extremely significant holiday in Costa Rica. Mother’s Day is celebrated on 9^th March worldwide however the catholic origin of Ticos, has made it tradition to share the celebration of this important day with the day of Assumption of Virgin Mary on 15^th August every year. Mother Mary has been looked upon as the definitive role model for all the mothers and thus, this day is celebrated on the date when Virgin Mary rose to the heavens at the end of her life. This influences the people to honor mothers in a physical and spiritual manner.  The day cherishes motherhood in general and acknowledges the supportive influences of mums in their culture.

The importance of this day can be understood alone by the fact that Mother’s Day is declared a national holiday in the country. All government sectors, banks, educational institutes remain closed and the employees are permitted to take the day off with no consequences. However, the restaurants and recreational areas are open for all the mothers to visit and enjoy with their kinfolks.

Mothers play a very central and respected role in Costa Rican households and as expected, the Costa Ricans go all the way to make this holiday one big affair. The mothers are showered with great love and gifts. It is made pretty sure that the gifts are personalized and the routine household stuff is avoided. Make over trips to the salons, a day of pampering at the spa, clothes, jewelry and flowers seem to be on every kid’s list. The families allow their moms to rest as they take over the kitchens and prepare her favorite meals. Families also favor going out and dining in at a place of her choice.

Such an event has led the commercialism to step in. Although disliked by some, most of the public finds it great. Gift shops are well decorated with Mother’s Day gift items to select from, salons and spas offer custom done care packages for all mums and resorts plan adventure activities for families to take part in. Moreover, Mother’s Day events are planned across the country. They include concerts, theatrical plays, adventure tours, yoga workshops and garden tours. The companies arrange parties for all its female employees and the kids clubs organize mother-children days just for fun. This gives children a lot of options to choose from and makes planning a day just for their mothers a lot easier.

Mother’s Day in Costa Rica is yet another day of festivity and merriment and it allows families to come together and honor the one person that binds them all together, a mother.