Why Mother's Day isn't 'Nazi Crap'

- despite it's dark past in Germany

1928 Postcard for Mother’s Day. ‘To you, dear mother, on your special day: health, happiness and a long life!’

It’s Mother’s Day in the UK today, and that always puts me in an awkward position. While I’m surrounded by guilt-tripping florists and cafes, my German mother lives in Germany, where today is just an ordinary Sunday. For her, Muttertag is 11 May. So, should I ignore the UK version and wait for the German one to do and/or say something nice?

Some Germans would argue that I shouldn’t observe Mother’s Day at all. Alongside concerns over commercialism and the role of women in society, the fact that in Germany the day first became a public holiday under the Nazis sits uncomfortably. In recent years, Muttertag has been called anything from ‘reactionary’ to ‘Nazi crap’.

So, where does that leave me today? Why, telling my Mutti she’s wunderbar, of course. I don’t see why we can’t have flowers and difficult conversations about history, gender and fairness.