Here’s what I came up with:

• The percentage of women with 4 or more children – dropped from 36% of American women in 1976 to 11% just 30 years later. 
• The number of new moms each year – 4 million, with 11% being teen mothers and 2.5% accounting for moms over 40+ year old. 
• Percent of births occurring in a hospital – 99+%.
• Number of Mother’s Day cards sent annually - 155 million, the 3rd highest of any holiday.
• Dollars spent on Mom on Mother’s Day – just under $100 on average, including dinner, gifts, flowers and cards.
• World’s youngest mother – Lina Medina, who, in 1939, delivered a 6½-pound boy in Lima, Peru, at an age of 5 years and 7 months.

• World’s oldest mother - Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara of Spain, delivered twins at the age of 66 in 2006.
• Shortest interval between births - Just 208 days (just under 7 months) was how quickly Jayne Bleackley gave birth in 1999 and 2000.
• Longest interval between births - 41½ years, by Elizabeth Buttle, who’s first child came in  1956 when she was 19 and her second child was born in 1997, when she was 60.
• Most children born to a mother - An unbelievable 69 by Feodor Vassilyev in 18th century Russia. Her family (actually a small city) included 16 sets of twins (32), seven sets of triplets (21), and four sets of quadruplets (16).  All but two survived infancy. But that’s nothing compared to the female oyster, who can produce 100 million offspring during her lifetime.

Images – Mom & son, hippos, geese 

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Post from: The DC Traveler

The fact that I didn’t drive her to drink, cause her to ring my neck or cause her to end up in a padded cell with a monogrammed straight jacket, is testament to her undying patience and love.

So to you Mom, thanks for being the best mother a kid could have.

And cheers to all the 80 million Moms in the U.S. on their special day.

The history of Mother’s Day in America actually dates back to the Civil War. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother’s Day. It was intended as a day for Americans to fly the American flag in honor of mothers whose sons had died in war.  Within ten year, the person who had promoted the concept of a day honoring mothers who lost sons in battle, was so fed up with the commercialism of the day, that she filed suit to get the holiday canceled.

Mother’s Day is the most popular day to dine out and historically, more phone calls are placed on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year.

                   Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Images – Pulmeria

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Post from: The DC Traveler

Using wild asparagus, Maryland crab and citrus fruits, learn to prepare healthy summer soups and salads while enjoying champagne cocktails in The Oz’s dining room.

Mother-Daughter Cooking Lesson
The Oz Restaurant
Doubletree Hotel Bethesda
8120 Wisconsin Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814  (map it)

Dates and Times – Saturday, May 10 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Tickets – $50.00 per person, reservations required. Attendees also receive recipe cards, an OZ cooking apron, and discount certificates.  Call The OZ at 301-664-7300 for reservations.

Nearest Metro Subway Station – Medical Center, Red line, then a ½-mile walk.

Parking – Free.

Image – Flickr – salad

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Post from: The DC Traveler

Happy Mother’s Day!!

President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother’s Day in 1914.  It was designated as a day for all Americans to display the U.S. flag to honor mothers whose sons had died in the First World War.  Since then, it has become a holiday for all kids to recognize and thank their Mothers.

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Post from: The DC Traveler