Yesterday, I saw Vanessa Carlton perform live in Makati, Glorietta. It was amazing to see her - she was definitely gorgeous and talented. After a series of songs from her recent and latest album, she then played my favorite song "A Thousand Miles" and then there it struck me that Mother's day was the next day.

My mom right now is in Virginia, USA to visit my dad. She left 3 months ago and will be back at the end of May. Half way around the world there she was, consistently calling every 8 hours and driving us crazy with her countless advices and reminders - don’t do this or that, don’t eat too much pork, no late night parties, dont get someone pregnant, no drugs - The list of no's and dont's went on and on and on…

Even though she was driving us crazy, I just knew a thousand miles away, she still had the right words to say, she still had that “parent authority," and she still is my mom. A thousand miles away she still knows what we were eating, our schedule – it was seems she never really left at all. Parenthood is such a wonderful thing - its amazing that parents near or far, dead or alive, still in some ways have a hold on there children.

It made me think what kind of parent I will be. Somehow it scares and excites me - becoming a parent – a lot of questions indeed. Sometimes I wish parenthood was taught in school as a subject or elective. Honestly, I have always been afraid to become a parent, I have always thought my parents have done a great job of raising us and I cannot settle for anything less – when I become a parent, can I be as "good" or even "better" than my parents?

I have always admired "parents my age" that have sacrificed so much for there children. There is definitely no greater sacrifice than the development of human life.

I love my mama and papa with all my heart and soul. I am thankful that God has given me parents that I can love forever, parents that I can write about and tell the whole world of how blessed I am. A thousand miles away my parents are there, sitting, walking, sleeping, eating, dreaming, and I know thinking about me.

Start:	May 11, '08 02:00a
End:	May 11, '08 11:45p
Location:	your own home

May God bless our beautiful mothers! Thank you for the love and care! I love you my dear mama! ^_^

Mother's Day is a day honoring mothers, celebrated on various days in many places around the world.

Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins.

One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece, which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. This festival was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (15 March) to 18 March.

The ancient Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.

In some countries Mother's Day began not as a celebration for individual mothers but rather for Christians.

In most countries, Mother's Day is a new concept copied from western civilization. In many African countries, the idea of one Mother's Day has its origins in copying the British concept, although there are many festivals and events celebrating mothers within the many diverse cultures on the African continent that have been there centuries before the colonials arrived. In most of East Asia, Mother's Day is a heavily marketed and commercialized concept copied straight from Mother's Day in the USA.

Mother's Day is celebrated on different days throughout the world. Examining the trends in Google searches for the term "mother's day" shows two major blips, the smaller one on the fourth Sunday in Lent (it is also called ladies day and women's day), and the larger one on the second Sunday in May

Second Sunday in May - (May 11 in 2008) Mother's Day Celebration
Anguilla, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, St. Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.

Some Mother's Day Figures:

• In the United States, there are about 82.5 million mothers. (source: US Census Bureau)

• about 96% of American consumers take part in some way in Mother's Day (source: Hallmark)

• Mother's Day is widely reported as the peak day of the year for long distance telephone calls

• There are more than 23,000 florists in the United States with a total of more than 125,000 employees. Colombia is the leading foreign supplier of cut flowers and fresh flower buds to the US. California produces two-thirds of domestic production of cut flowers. (source: US Census Bureau)

• Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for many restaurants

• Retailers report that Mother's Day is the second highest gift-giving holiday in the United States (Christmas is the highest).

• Most popular month for having babies in the US is August, and most popular weekday is Tuesday. (source: US Census Bureau)

• about twice as many young women were childfree in the year 2000 as in the 1950s (source: Ralph Fevre, The Guardian, Manchester, March 26, 2001)

• In the US, 82% of women ages 40-44 are mothers. This compares to 90% in 1976. (source: US Census Bureau)

• In Utah and Alaska, women on the average will have three children before the end of their childbearing years. Overall, the average in the United States is two. (source: US Census Bureau)

• In 2002, the 55% of American women with infant children were in the workforce, compared to 31% in 1976, and down from 59% in 1998. In 2002, there were 5.4 million stay-at-home mothers in the US. (source: US Census Bureau)