What are you doing this month?
By Joan Cripps (and you)

May 9^th Mother’s Day

May 24^th Victoria Day

The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honour of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods.

This year, Canadians will celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday May 9th, 2004.

Give your mom the day off. Let her relax while the rest of the family does the work. Many families begin Mother's Day with breakfast in bed. Usually Dad and the kids will let Mom sleep late while they prepare her favourite meal. Mother's Day breakfast can consist of anything your mom likes.

After the food is cooked arrange everything nicely on a tray. Don't forget the vase with a single flower. With spring here, the children can pick a tulip or daffodil from the garden outside. When everything is ready carefully carry the tray and Mom's favourite sections from the newspaper up to her bedroom. Cards and small presents from the children can be placed on the tray before it is presented to Mom in bed.

Mother's Day is a time of commemoration and celebration for Mom. It is a time of family gatherings, and crayon scribbled "I Love You's." So, here for your entertainment are some fun things for you, your mom and your family.

Material you will need:

Glue, scissors, string or ribbon, and 3 colours of construction paint. A photo can also be glued in centre of wreath.

There are two ways to do this, one is to trace the child’s hand onto paper, and cut the prints. The second is to paint handprints on the paper and cut those out.

Make 9 handprints. Cut out prints and glue to form a wreath. You can also decorate prints with daffodils or tulips. These can be stickers or hand drawn artwork of the children, pictures from books or fliers.

You might want to attach a little poem like this one:

Sometimes you get discouraged
because I am so small
and always leave my fingerprints
on furniture and walls

But every day I'm growing
I'll be grown someday
and all those tiny handprints
will surely fade away

So here's a little handprint
just so you can recall
exactly how my fingers looked
when I was very small.

Make a beautiful card from a brown paper bag and some ribbon.

Supplies needed:

Brown paper (from a grocery bag) or construction paper

Pinking shears or Scissors

A hole punch

Ribbon (about 1/4 inch wide) or thick yarn

Markers or crayons

Cut a card from brown paper using pinking shears. Any shape will do. A heart shape is nice. Using a hole punch, make a series of holes around the edges of the card. Make an even number of holes. String ribbon or yarn through the holes. Tie the ends in a bow (this is the hardest part of this project). If the bow doesn't look good, you can glue the ends of the ribbon to the back of the card instead. Write a message (or draw a picture) on your lovely card. Suggestion . . . Print "I Love You, Mom!"

Children can bead a necklace for Mom with real beads and fishing line. Have fun and enjoy!

Always change your underwear; you never know when you'll have an accident.

Don't make that face or it'll freeze in that position.

Be careful or you'll put your eye out.

What if everyone jumped off a cliff? Would you do it, too?

You have enough dirt behind those ears to grow potatoes!

Close that door! Were you born in a barn?

If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

Don't put that in your mouth; you don't know where it's been.

M - O - T - H - E – R (A Word That Means the World to Me)
Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

M is for the million things she gave me,
O means only that she's growing old,
T is for the tears she shed to save me,
H is for her heart of purest gold;
E is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
R means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell MOTHER,
A word that means the world to me.

Victoria Day

In Canada, the celebration of Victoria Day occurs every year on Monday, prior to May 25th. It is the official celebration in Canada of the birthdays of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. Victoria Day was established as a holiday in Canada West (now Ontario) in 1845, and became a national holiday in 1901.

Victoria, queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India was born on May 24^th, 1819.

Queen Victoria's birthday was declared a holiday by the Legislature of the Province of Canada in 1845.

After Confederation, the Queen's birthday was celebrated every year on May 24th unless that date was a Sunday, in which case a proclamation was issued providing for the celebration on May 25th.

After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, an Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada establishing a legal holiday on May 24 in each year (or May 25 if May 24 fell on a Sunday) under the name Victoria Day.

The Santa Maria Ladies celebrated Queen Victoria and the Millennium with a Victorian Garden Tea, Sunday afternoon at Stony Ridge Camp on the Bartibog.

For a brief four or five hours the Victorian party was a step back in time, as 50 ladies arrived to music fitting the theme of the afternoon — waltzes and tunes of the Victorian Era. While the ladies strolled about the grounds in their long gowns, frilly hats and gloves, twirling their fancy fans and coloured parasols, the present seemed to fade away, and all were back in that quaint Victorian Era.

As the ladies sat around fanning themselves and chatting they were greatly surprised by the arrival of Queen Victoria attended by her Aide. Her Majesty addressed the ladies and offered each a calling card.

After the excitement of Her Majesty’s arrival the ladies took a seat to be entertained by the acting out of fan etiquette, poetry readings, the meaning of TIPS and various rules of Victorian Etiquette.

Tables were set among the fir and spruce trees, and the ladies were delightfully served on linen tablecloths and matching serviette. The china cups and saucers and plates tinkled in the soft breeze. The silver service glistened in the sun. The parlour maids served tea from the gazebo to the ladies who poured.

Besides the dainty sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, jams and Victorian small cakes, gracing the tea was a special cake made by one of the ladies. The Nuns first made the recipe for this cake at the turn of the century.

Finally with a walk about, the Victorian afternoon came to a close. For a few brief hours the ladies had really gone back in time to a lifestyle of long ago, and the memory of that day is sure to live forever in their hearts.

If anyone is interested in hosting a Victorian Garden Tea Party, I’d be glad to help with all my information. Call me at (506) 773-5182.

Joan Cripps of Chatham, New Brunswick, is a frequent contributor to Bread 'n Molasses. She's also the founder of the Purple Hat Ladies Tea Society, a group she formed in 2001. Email Joan at rayjoanc@nbnet.nb.ca