Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday, which means that, if you forgot to send flowers and hit up your local Hallmark store THERE IS STILL TIME.

Well, unless you are reading this on Mother’s Day, of course. In that case, we’re guessing that you are already planning that carefully-crafted apology letter or phone call to your mother, saying sorry that you have forgotten about the biggest day of the year for moms. Yep, we’ve totally been there before!

Or, maybe, just maybe you can revisit your old teenaged tactics of flipping the situation on its head by presenting the little-known history of the the second Sunday in May— one that involves the long-ignored pleas from the day’s creator, who never quite came to terms with the fact that Mother’s Day had transformed into a commercialized holiday.

You can tell your long-suffering mother that you didn’t merely “forget” to send over your requisite gift of chocolates and a handwritten card. Instead, this year, you decided to put your foot down and finally honor the creator of Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis’, wishes for an anti-capitalistic day of remembrance once and for all.

Not a bad cop-out, huh?

But, before you use it, let’s take a quick history course to ensure that you have all of your facts straight, in case your beloved madre starts asking too many questions…

Mother’s Day’s long-forgotten creator

Believe it or not, there was a time in history when Mother’s Day was not yet a thing. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t until 1914 that President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating that Mother’s Day would be held annually and recognized as a national holiday.

Anna Jarvis, the woman who is most often credited for making that presidential decree happen, first began her crusade three years after her own mother’s death, in 1908, when she held a memorial ceremony at a Grafton, West Virginia church to celebrate all mothers in the country.

While Jarvis was ultimately successful in winning her Mother’s Day bid, she became more and more disturbed by the rampant consumerism that quickly attached itself to the holiday. In fact, she spent much of the rest of her life fighting it, until she died penniless in a sanitarium in 1948. Sad stuff!

Now, unless you’re a real expert on national holidays, we’re guessing that all of that business was news to you! But, of course, if it wasn’t, we think you might become stumped over at least SOME Mother’s Days facts. Take this quiz to see if you truly are a Mother’s Day whiz!

And, while you’re at it, watch the video below to nab even more interesting deets about Anna Jarvis’ contribution to the Mother’s Day holiday. Although the end of her life was rather heartbreaking, we know that we’ll do our best from now on to ignore some of the money-grubbing aspects of the special day. Let’s do our parts for Anna, guys!

We’d love to hear your take on the fascinating history of Mother’s Day. Are you surprised that its creator was disturbed by the commercialism that became associated with the holiday? How do you celebrate Mother’s Day? Are you a mother who has any sage advice to pass down to the next generation?