FOR some women, Mother’s Day is an occasion that is celebrated once a year. However, that is not the reality for Racquel Warner, a Jamaican living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who has two Mother’s Day celebrations each year.

Across the globe, Mother’s Day is celebrated on more than 10 different days, reflecting the different cultural and historical contexts.

Warner shared that the news came as quite a shock to her, as she was used to celebrating Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May in Jamaica. However, shortly after she moved to Dubai, the mother of two said what she thought was a regular working day turned out to be much more when she received 18 missed calls from her daughter’s school that sent her into panic mode.

“When I called the school, they said, ‘Oh, it was Mother’s Day today and the children in the class had created a spa and all the moms were supposed to come in and you weren’t there, so the school was calling to remind you.’ But I said, ‘It’s not Mother’s Day, it’s March.’ They’re like, ‘But we celebrate Mother’s Day in March,’ ” she recalled.

Luckily, her husband could attend and the day was saved.

Racquel Warner (second right) shares an “ussie” with her husband Konrad and their two daughters Laura (left) and Ashley.

For many Middle Eastern countries, Mother’s Day is celebrated on March 21 because it coincides with the first day of Spring — a season they believe is symbolic of rebirth and new beginnings. Some historians also suggest that the celebration of motherhood in spring in the Middle East may have its origins in ancient Greek traditions in which the goddess Rhea — the mother of Zeus — was honoured in Spring.

Warner shared that in the moment she felt completely blindsided by the cultural differences and was heartbroken that she missed the celebratory activities, but has since embraced the change.

Now she celebrates Mother’s Day on March 21 and the second Sunday in May, a practice she said is popular in the UAE.

“There are two different Mother’s Day celebrations here and they’re equally big,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

“You have all the cards in the gift shops, you have the flowers, you have the promotions on the media, so each day — both in March and in May — gets the same celebratory focus. There is not one that is bigger than the other because the expatriate population is quite large, and so there is maybe half of the population who will celebrate the British or the Emirati Mother’s Day and the other half that will celebrate the US version,” she shared.

Warner shared that over the years her husband, Konrad, and their two daughters, Laura and Ashley, have made it their mission to ensure that she is celebrated on both days. From breakfast in bed to receiving flowers or going out to eat, she said both days are always special.

The giant card filled with hearts Racquel Warner received from her daughters as a Mother’s Day gift when they were younger.

“There was one year where I think my children were seven and 12 years old, and instead of buying a card, they actually made a card, and it was like a giant card that they had to hide under the mattress under their bed because they had been working on it. They’d cut out these little hearts and stuff, and they made breakfast for me. When I woke up, I was greeted with this oversized card that was bigger than they were,” she recalled, laughing.

The following Mother’s Day they went out to brunch to celebrate, and that turned into a tradition.

Now that her children are much older and live in the United States, she said her Mother’s Day celebrations are slightly different as an empty nester. However, she can always look forward to the surprise flowers that would pop up on her doorstep from her daughters and her husband, both in March and May.

She shared that she has also made it a tradition to celebrate both days with her friends, who are also empty nesters, by going out for breakfast.

“Sometimes it’s very hard to explain to people why I’m celebrating Mother’s Day again. The friends who I went out with in March [this year], I’ll be messaging them again [today] to say, ‘Hey, guys, Happy Mother’s Day.’ They’ll be like, ‘But we did that already.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, here we go again,’ ” she chuckled.

A university lecturer in Dubai, she told the Sunday Observer that for her, celebrating both days is a double reminder of the strength and role that mothers play.

“I think it’s also the sense of double gratitude. Twice you get to reflect on the value that you have in people’s lives. Some of my students send me Mother’s Day greetings, and when you open up your e-mail and you get all these Mother’s Day greetings from students and you think, ‘I had no idea that was the impact I had on them,’ ” she said.

WARNER…twice you get to reflect on really the value that you have in people’s lives

“Being from a Christian background, I think giving thanks just for the opportunity to be a mother, for me, is very significant. When my children were much younger, one of the things that we would do was we would just pause to be thankful, and we would also pause to remember those who have perhaps lost their mothers and so on. After I lost my own mother, that act on Mother’s Day became very meaningful for me,” said Warner.

She shared that in the UAE the celebration of motherhood is a grand occasion, and she is happy to be a part of a cultural experience that honours those who have spent their life caring and nurturing others.

“There are people who celebrate who are not mothers because they, perhaps, haven’t given birth biologically, but they have raised children, like the aunts and the sisters. I think it’s a very inclusive celebration that makes everybody who plays that role in the life of someone feel valued and celebrated,” she said.

To the mothers of the world, regardless of when or how they will mark the day, she extended a big thank you for the sacrifices and decisions made to take on that role in society.

“We should not take it lightly. I think in a world where increasingly we see women excelling at the same time as women being oppressed in one way or the other, but still we find a way to be role models, to raise families, to love unconditionally in many circumstances — I think they deserve lots of appreciation. To all the mothers, lots of love from my side to everyone. Thank you so much,” said the mother of two.