Like mothers themselves, Mother’s Day started out all stern and serious and then quickly turned all sweet and squishy.

Julia Ward Howe was fed up.  She was a firebrand, a leading abolitionist, and a suffragette.  She is perhaps best known as the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.  In 1870, she wrote a proclamation calling for a “Mother’s Day” when all women should rise up and protest the stupidity of men.  (Don’t know if she meant that to include the use of a “terrible swift sword” but, wow, she wasn’t messing around.)

Her radical idea of Mother’s Day didn’t catch on.  But in 1908, a kinder, gentler version took hold when a Mrs. Anna Reese Jarvis was memorialized by her daughter in church services in Philadelphia and West Virginia. The elder Jarvis’ favorite flower was the carnation (representing sweetness, purity and endurance), so the churches were decorated with white carnations. The idea grabbed the public’s fancy, and began to spread.  By 1913 the practice had become so pervasive that President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official.

Since then, the second Sunday in May has become a mother of a holiday. It is recognized in about a dozen countries around the world. It is the busiest day of the year for making phone calls, and the second biggest gift-giving event of the year. Over 1 billion dollars of greeting cards are sold. Carnations are trucked in from California, and flown in from Colombia, by the millions.

But there is an irony here: Mother’s Day has grown concurrent with the biggest drop in child-bearing in human history. In the United States in 1908, the average mom had her first child by age 21 and had 4 kids in her lifetime. Today, the average age of first delivery is 25, with a total of only 2 kids in the average family (except for Utah, where the average is 3). Today, more than half of all women return to the workforce when their kids are still infants, and 75% of women with older kids do so. 1 out of every 5 preschool kids is “raised” in a day-care center.

All of which means that Moms are spending less time with their kids than ever before. So here are some entertainment ideas to make this Sunday super-special.  Go on NetFlix and download all this year’s episodes of “Bates Motel.”  Of course, there’s always “Mommie Dearest.”  And if you are truly dedicated, see if you can find the rare 1968 version of “Oedipus Rex” starring Christopher Plummer.

She’ll love you for it.  You’re welcome.  Happy Mother’s Day.