This past Valentine’s Day I found myself at the florist, buying flowers, as one is wont to do in a florist on Valentine’s Day, and I struck up a quick conversation with the owner. I asked if Valentine’s Day was her busiest day of the year. She immediately shook her head and said, “No. Mother’s Day is, by far.” Ah yes, of course. Mother’s Day.

In the United States, Mother’s Day always falls on the second Sunday in May, which is this Sunday, May 11. Some quick Mother’s Day history: the first Mother’s Day on record was celebrated 100 years ago as a memorial day for women in a church in Grafton, West Virginia on May 10, 1908. In fact, that church is now known as the Mother’s Day Shrine and is an official national historic site. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother’s Day.

And businesses have been stuffing their Mother’s Day faces ever since.

Florists, greeting card makers, gift shops, restaurants, spas, clothing retailers, are just a few of the businesses that eagerly anticipate the yearly Mother’s Day surge. This year I bought my mom a funny card and a gift card to Bath & Body Works. I hope she doesn’t read this before she gets it in the mail. If you are reading this, Mom—happy early Mother’s Day!