My oldest son's first word wasn't "mama," It was "cookie." My second son piped up with "more" before anything else. It was nice to know where I stood in their priorities. It was my daughter Hadley who came up with "mama" (or was it "mommy?") first. Although, as the third child in 38 months, she figured out that if she didn't ask for what she wanted, we'd forget to feed her.  

Now that she's nine, Hadley has graduated from "mommy" and "mama" to just "mom," and since she's taking French, she thinks it's funny to call me "ma mère" or "maman" or "Hey, Julie!" when she wants my attention.  

So I looked up what kids around the world call their moms... because we all want to hear it... most of the time, unless it's 2am, and even then, we don't always mind... as long as it's not every night. I was surprised to see that across so many languages the words for mom are astonishingly similar. Here are a few examples:

• Arabic:  Ahm
• Brazilian Portuguese: Mãe
• Czech: Abatyse
• Dutch: Moeder, Moer 
• English: Mama, Mom
• Finnish: Äiti
• French: Mère, Maman
• German: Mutter
• Greek: Màna
• Hawaiian: Makuahine
• Hindi : Ma, Maji
• Indonesian: Induk, Ibu, Biang
• Japanese: Okaasan, Haha
• Malay: Emak
• Slovak: Mama, Matka
• Persian: Madr, Maman
• Swahili: Mama, Mzazi, Mzaa
• Punjabi: Mai, Mataji, Pabo
• Turkish: Anne, Ana, Valide
• Urdu: Ammee
• Vietnamese: me

No matter what you call your mom, or the moms in your life, make sure you give them a shout this weekend if you can.

I'd also like to thank Julia Ward Howe (of Girl Scout fame) who came up with the idea of Mothers Day in the US, and Woodrow Wilson, our 28th president, who declared the second Sunday in May to be Mothers Day, for all the clay handprints, the preschool music shows, and the misspelled handmade cards that remind me why I'm so happy and grateful to be a mom.

Mother's Day is my favorite holiday of the year and is just around the corner--May 13th!  Early on, my husband realized he was going to be heavily involved in my Mother's Day, setting the stage for the girls when they were tiny toddlers.  He began the tradition of breakfast in bed and it continues now with the girls making it. 

My favorite is seeing what breakfast will appear through the doorway on Mother's Day morning.  When they were toddlers, the breakfast consisted of a piece of bread, maybe with jelly smeared in a little glop in the middle.  Sometimes it was cereal w/ milk spilled a little on the tray.  As they matured, the jelly was spread more evenly, the milk made it into the bowl, and now, they have progressed to scrambled eggs and turkey bacon.  My husband takes a picture each year and one day we will spread them out to see the progression.

As Mother's Day approaches, it is time to start making plans for the day.  If you are a husband, au pair, or child, here are some ideas that might be helpful.

• Best Mother's Day Brunch throughout the U.S.
• Top Ten Mother's Day Gifts from Mother's Day Central
• AAA travel editors list by state of Mother's Day Events
• Movies about motherhood by Mothers.net
• Children's books about mothers

Send us some pictures of your Mother's Day or comment and let us know your favorite family tradition.  If your au pair shares a tradition from her culture, we would especially like to hear about it.

As I open my calendar on this Monday morning, I am excited to see that Cinco de Mayo is coming this weekend.  In our neighborhood, we celebrate the day with a gathering in the cul-de-sac where the kids play while the adults spend some time chatting and getting caught up with each other.  We enjoy these times to connect with our neighbors whom we see often, but rarely have the time for in-depth conversations.  Everyone will bring a Mexican dish and the pinata is a favorite for the children.  But, today, as I was noting Cinco de Mayo, I also noticed that May is truly an international month.

May 5th is also Children's Day in Japan.  This day became an official holiday in 1948 and families in Japan celebrate healthy, happy children.  The day is traditionally called Tango no Sekku for boys and Hina Matsuri for girls.  Each have their own festival with the boys flying huge carp-shaped streamers called koinoboi and the girls festivals focus on dolls.  In 1st Grade, my children's teacher set aside an entire day celebrating girls and another entire day celebrating boys.  They learned Japanese phrases, played Japanese games, and learned about how the Japanese celebrate.

May also marks the end of the winter season and the beginning of warm weather with May Day on May 1st.  This holiday celebrates the planting season and is celebrated in the Americas and Europe with dancing around a Maypole.  In Germany, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, and Estonia, the night is called Walpurgisnacht or Walpurgis Night and there is dancing around bonfires to celebrate the beginning of warm, cultivating weather.  I recently had an au pair from Brazil ask me when the warm weather will come.  Now, I can tell her that it officially starts May 1st. 

Sunday we spent our first holiday with our au pair – Easter.  Mia started asking on Monday when we would color eggs, what we would eat, etc etc.  The kids told her all about where we would be and what we would do with great enthusiasm. 

On Thursday, I heard my son Jack telling Mia about last Easter.  During that particular week, we were housing a Turkish au pair who was Muslim.  Elif was in the process of a rematch and due to some circumstances outside of her control, she was spending a week with us.  I remembered feeling a bit nervous – not wanting to offend her, but it was important that we celebrate as we chose.  I shouldn't have worried.  Elif, like most au pairs, was interested in the cultural exchange opportunity that being here provides.  Though she did not choose to attend church with us, she colored Easter eggs, ate dinner with us, helped the kids find their hidden eggs, and was very interested to hear about the holiday.  All in all, we thought it was a wonderful Easter and we enjoyed sharing it with someone new.

Fast forward to this year.  Now that we are hosting our own au pair, we are again sharing Easter with someone else.  This time she is Catholic and again celebrates the holiday a bit differently.  To her, the hard boiled eggs were amazing and the amount of candy intruiging.  I could tell on Monday that she was relieved when 5pm came and her shift was over – not because she does not enjoy my kids (at least I hope!), but because she was suffering from sugar withdrawls!

Even better than seeing Easter through her eyes was the awesome realization that my kids have had the chance to share their Easter with people around the world.  In fact, Mia’s friend from Spain shared dinner with us Saturday night, and we all spoke at length about our plans for the next day, and what their families at home would do for Easter.  My kids had the chance to explain the holiday, our traditions and what they love most with people who will be forever changed in some way by that interaction, and they themselves were changed too.  Don’t believe me?  Just ask my Jack, who one year later is still talking about the beautiful egg Elif colored.